Energycane ( Saccharum spp. × Saccharum spontaneum L.) Biomass Production, Reproduction, and Weed Risk Assessment Scoring in the Humid Tropics and Subtropics

Leon, Ramon G.; Gilbert, Robert A.; Comstock, Jack C.

doi:10.2134/agronj14.0388

Energycane ( Saccharum spp. × Saccharum spontaneum L.) Biomass Production, Reproduction, and Weed Risk Assessment Scoring in the Humid Tropics and Subtropics

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Agronomy Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj14.0388· OSTI ID:1582117

Leon, Ramon G. ^[1]; Gilbert, Robert A. ^[2]; Comstock, Jack C. ^[3]

West Florida Research and Education Center Univ. of Florida Jay FL 32565
Agronomy Dep. Univ. of Florida Gainesville FL 32611
USDA‐ARS Sugarcane Field Station Canal Point FL 33438

There is growing interest in biofuel production, and energycane ( Saccharum spp. × S. spontaneum L.) has been proposed as an important biofuel and biomass crop. However, little is known about the growth and ecology of this new crop, especially in the tropics. The present study evaluated the performance of 14 energycane clones, elephantgrass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.), and two sugarcane ( S. officinarum L.) varieties in the humid tropics of Costa Rica, and eight energycane clones in the subtropics of Florida. In the tropics, energycane's growth and biomass production were highly variable when comparing clones. However, the best performing clones US85‐1006, US88‐1006, and US78‐1014 produced almost twice the dry biomass (>64 Mg ha ⁻¹ ) compared with sugarcane varieties Pindar and Q‐132 (21–39 Mg ha ⁻¹ ). In the subtropics, energycane fresh (52–79 Mg ha ⁻¹ ) and dry (20–30 Mg ha ⁻¹ ) weights were less than half of those in the tropics. Energycane clones flowered in both environments, but pollen viability was three to four times higher (>40%) in the tropics than in the subtropics, although viable seeds were found only in the tropics. Weed risk assessment (WRA) scores were higher in the tropics than in the subtropics and varied among clones. The results confirmed that energycane is a promising feedstock for biomass production and could play an important role as a bioenergy crop when grown in the tropics and subtropics, but due to genotype × environment interactions, the tradeoff between biomass production and weedy and invasive risk must be assessed for each individual clone and environment.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FG36-08GO88044

OSTI ID:: 1582117

Journal Information:: Agronomy Journal, Journal Name: Agronomy Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 107; ISSN 0002-1962

Publisher:: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (30)

A weed risk assessment model for use as a biosecurity tool evaluating plant introductions Pheloung, P. C.; Williams, P. A.; Halloy, S. R. Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 57, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.1999.0297	journal	December 1999
Biomass Production and Composition of Perennial Grasses Grown for Bioenergy in a Subtropical Climate Across Florida, USA Fedenko, Jeffrey R.; Erickson, John E.; Woodard, Kenneth R. BioEnergy Research, Vol. 6, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-013-9342-3	journal	June 2013
Biomass yield and composition, and winter survival of tall grasses in Alabama Sladden, S. E.; Bransby, D. I.; Aiken, G. E. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 1, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0961-9534(91)90035-B	journal	January 1991
Agronomic characteristics of US 72-1153 energycane for biomass Mislevy, P.; Martin, F. G.; Adjei, M. B. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 9, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/0961-9534(95)00050-X	journal	January 1995
Meta-analysis of the effects of management factors on Miscanthus×giganteus growth and biomass production Miguez, Fernando E.; Villamil, María Bonita; Long, Stephen P. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 148, Issue 8-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.03.010	journal	July 2008
Dry matter partitioning and quality of Miscanthus, Panicum, and Saccharum genotypes in Arkansas, USA Burner, David M.; Tew, Thomas L.; Harvey, Jonathan J. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 33, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2008.10.002	journal	April 2009
White paper report from working groups attending the international conference on research and educational opportunities in bio-fuel crop production Morgan, K. T.; Gilbert, R. A.; Helsel, Z. A. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 34, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.07.004	journal	December 2010
Assessing the invasive potential of biofuel species proposed for Florida and the United States using the Australian Weed Risk Assessment Gordon, D. R.; Tancig, K. J.; Onderdonk, D. A. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 35, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.08.029	journal	January 2011
Biomass yield and energy balance of three perennial crops for energy use in the semi-arid Mediterranean environment Mantineo, M.; D’Agosta, G. M.; Copani, V. Field Crops Research, Vol. 114, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2009.07.020	journal	November 2009
An analysis of assessment outcomes from eight years’ operation of the Australian border weed risk assessment system Weber, Jason; Dane Panetta, F.; Virtue, John Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 90, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.01.012	journal	February 2009
More than taking the heat: crops and global change Long, Stephen P.; Ort, Donald R. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, Vol. 13, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2010.04.008	journal	June 2010
The water footprint of bioenergy Gerbens-Leenes, W.; Hoekstra, A. Y.; van der Meer, T. H. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812619106	journal	June 2009
Climate change and health costs of air emissions from biofuels and gasoline Hill, Jason; Polasky, Stephen; Nelson, Erik Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812835106	journal	February 2009
Studies in Saccharum spontaneum. The Flowering Behavior of Latitudinally Displaced Populations Panje, R. R.; Srinivasan, K. Botanical Gazette, Vol. 120, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1086/336026	journal	June 1959
The estimation of pollen viability in rice Khatun, S.; Flowers, T. J. Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 46, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/46.1.151	journal	January 1995
Meeting US biofuel goals with less land: the potential of Miscanthus Heaton, Emily A.; Dohleman, Frank G.; Long, Stephen P. Global Change Biology, Vol. 14, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01662.x	journal	September 2008
Weed risk assessment: a way forward or a waste of time? Hulme, Philip E. Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02069.x	journal	November 2011
Sustainable liquid biofuels from biomass: the writing's on the walls Gomez, Leonardo D.; Steele-King, Clare G.; McQueen-Mason, Simon J. New Phytologist, Vol. 178, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02422.x	journal	May 2008
Driving on Biomass Ohlrogge, J.; Allen, D.; Berguson, B. Science, Vol. 324, Issue 5930 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1171740	journal	May 2009
Beneficial Biofuels--The Food, Energy, and Environment Trilemma Tilman, D.; Socolow, R.; Foley, J. A. Science, Vol. 325, Issue 5938 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177970	journal	July 2009
The Relative Risk of Invasion: Evaluation of Miscanthus × giganteus Seed Establishment Smith, Larissa L.; Barney, Jacob N. Invasive Plant Science and Management, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1614/IPSM-D-13-00051.1	journal	March 2014
Biomass Production in Switchgrass across the United States: Database Description and Determinants of Yield Wullschleger, S. D.; Davis, E. B.; Borsuk, M. E. Agronomy Journal, Vol. 102, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2010.0087	journal	January 2010
Seasonal Fiber Content of Three Sugarcane Cultivars in Three Crop Cycles on Sand and Muck Soils Glaz, Barry; Shine, James M.; Irey, Michael S. Agronomy Journal, Vol. 103, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2010.0353	journal	January 2011
Registration of ‘Merkeron’ Napiergrass Burton, Glenn W. Crop Science, Vol. 29, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1989.0011183X002900050050x	journal	September 1989
Inheritance of Sugarcane Ratooning Ability and the Relationship of Younger Crop Traits to Older Crop Traits Milligan, S. B.; Martin, F. A.; Gravois, K. A. Crop Science, Vol. 36, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1996.0011183X003600010008x	journal	January 1996
A Core Collection for Saccharum spontaneum L. from the World Collection of Sugarcane Tai, P. Y. P.; Miller, J. D. Crop Science, Vol. 41, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2001.413879x	journal	May 2001
Evaluation of Sugarcane × Progeny for Biomass Composition and Yield Components Wang, Li-Ping; Jackson, Phillip A.; Lu, Xin Crop Science, Vol. 48, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2007.10.0555	journal	January 2008
Sugarcane Postharvest Residue Management in a Temperate Climate Viator, Ryan P.; Johnson, Richard M.; Boykin, Deborah L. Crop Science, Vol. 49, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2008.07.0406	journal	May 2009
The Cytochemical Reduction of Nitro Blue Tetrazolium as an Index of Pollen Viability Hauser, Edward J. P.; Morrison, John H. American Journal of Botany, Vol. 51, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.2307/2440215	journal	August 1964
Selection Criteria and Performance of Energycane Clones (Saccharum spp. × S. spontaneum) for Biomass Production Under Tropical and Sub-tropical Conditions León, Ramón G.; Gilber, Robert A.; Korndorfer, Pedro H. Ceiba, Vol. 51, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.5377/ceiba.v51i1.641	journal	May 2012

Similar Records

Physiological and morphological effects of high water tables on early growth of giant reed (Arundo donax), elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), energycane and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.)

Other · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2012 · University of Florida Theses & Dissertation Collection · OSTI ID:1337166

Herbaceous energy crops in humid lower South USA

Conference · Thu Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1993 · OSTI ID:140298

Leucaena and tall grasses as energy crops in humid lower south USA

Conference · Fri Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1994 · OSTI ID:135713

Energycane ( Saccharum spp. × Saccharum spontaneum L.) Biomass Production, Reproduction, and Weed Risk Assessment Scoring in the Humid Tropics and Subtropics

Citation Formats

References (30)

Similar Records

Related Subjects