Leucaena and tall grasses as energy crops in humid lower south USA
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
- Center of Sustainable Argoforesty, Gainesville, FL (United States)
The tropical leguminous shrub/tree, leucaena (Leucaena spp. mainly leucocephala), and perennial tropical tall grasses such as elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum), sugarcane, and energycane (Saccharum spp.) are well adapted to the long growing seasons and high rainfall of the humid lower South. In much of the area the topgrowth is killed by frost during winter and plants regenerate from underground parts in spring. Selected accessions from a duplicated 373 accession leucaena nursery had an average annual woody stem dry matter production of 31.4 Mg ha{sup -1}. Average oven dry stem wood yields from selected accessions adjusted for environmental enrichment over the 4 growth seasons were 78.9 Mg ha{sup -1} total and average annual yield of 19.7 Mg ha{sup -1}. The tall perennial grasses have linear growth rates of 18 to 27 g m{sup 2}d{sup -1} for long periods (140 to 196 d and sometimes longer) each season. Oven dry biomass yields of tall grasses have varied from 20 to 45 Mg ha{sup -1} in mild temperature locations to over 60 Mg ha{sup -1} yr{sup -1} in warm subtropics of the lower Florida peninsula. Tall grasses and leucaena, once established, may persist for many seasons. A map showing the possible range of the crops in lower South is shown. Highest biomass yields of tall grasses have been produced when irrigated with sewage effluent or when grown on phosphatic clay and muck soils of south Florida. Several companies are considering using leucaena and/or tall grasses for bioenergy in the phosphatic mining area of Polk County, Florida.
- OSTI ID:
- 135713
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410176-; TRN: 95:006074-0087
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. national bioenergy conference, Reno, NV (United States), 2-6 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Bioenergy `94 using biofuels for a better environment. Technical papers, Volume 1 and Volume 2; Farrell, J.; Sargent, S.; Dwanson, D. [eds.] [and others]; PB: 753 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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