http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/research/data/126001-pumpkins-could-be-the-answer-to-the-food-v-biofuel-crop-dilemma.html
Pumpkins could be the answer to the food v biofuel crop dilemma
by ClickGreen staff. Published Sat 09 May 2015 11:54
As concern remains over the need to convert millions of acres of crop
land to meet the ever-increasing biofuel demand, a new study has found
pumpkins could provide the answer to sharing between food and fuel.
Researchers understand that biomass feedstocks will need to come from
many different sources, including crop residues, forest residues, and
municipal waste, said Marty Williams, a University of Illinois crop
scientist and ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. The
use of double-cropping systems - a winter annual biomass crop is grown
then harvested in the spring, followed by a summer annual crop - has
been suggested as an additional option.
Knowing that many large-seeded vegetables in the US Midwest must be
planted later than agronomic crops into warmer soils, Williams was
interested in the possibility of developing a bioenergy
feedstock/vegetable double-cropping system. He explained that no such
system had so far been developed and tested.
"Some vegetables have relatively short growing seasons, too. Rather than
the standard fallow period for certain vegetables, what about
integrating a bioenergy crop as a part of a double-cropping system?"
Williams said.
Williams chose a vegetable crop popular in the state of Illinois,
pumpkin, to be used in the double-cropping system study. "We took a
fairly simplistic look at comparing this bioenergy/vegetable
double-cropping system with traditional vegetable production using
processing pumpkin," Williams explained. "Illinois leads the nation in
pumpkin production, providing some 90 percent of the processing pumpkin
in the United States."
Field trials were conducted over three environments. During the study,
Williams compared crop productivity and weed communities in four
different pumpkin production systems, varying in tillage, cover crop,
and bioenergy feedstock/pumpkin double-cropping. A fall-planted rye
(Secale cereale) mix was used as the biomass feedstock.
"In the end, winter rye may not be the best feedstock crop to use," he
explained. "It was more of a model crop for us for our system. It grows
well and has several desirable traits. Seed is relatively inexpensive
and the plant is hardy."
Interestingly, the researchers saw pumpkin yields in the double-cropping
system were comparable to conventional pumpkin production. However, the
biomass feedstock also yielded an average of 4.4 tons per acre of dry
biomass prior to pumpkin planting. "We saw a theoretical yield of 349
gallons of ethanol per acre, and a higher farm gate value than typical
pumpkin production," Williams said.
"It looks promising," he added. "The biomass yield wasn't as high as
something like Miscanthus, but we're producing feedstock and not taking
land away from food production. Moreover, the cropping systems were not
optimized, such as for soil fertility, so our economic estimates are
likely conservative."
Overall, the biomass yield was comparable to that of 'Shawnee'
switchgrass, but only one-half the yield of a hybrid switchgrass, the
study reported.
"Perhaps some of our vegetable-cropping systems could contribute to
bioenergy production, while still producing veggies," Williams said.
"Also, there may be certain vegetable crops that are better suited to
double-cropping. Given the potential competition between food and fuel
production globally, systems making contributions towards both goals
appear worth further consideration," he added.
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
