Reed Canary Grass
Reed canary grass (Phalaris Arundinacea) is a tall perennial bunch — grass that commonly forms extensive single species stands along the margins of lakes, streams, and in wet, open areas. This grass species is found in Europe, Asia, Northern Africa and North America. It grows to between 2-6 feet high and has hairless light-green or whitish-green leaves. Reed canary grass spreads naturally by creeping rhizomes, but plants can be raised from seed. This species
|
Table 3.16 The production yields of reed canarygrass reported in different countries.
|
is being evaluated recently as a fiber — and energy-producing crop in Sweden where there is a breeding program evaluating reed canary grass as a potential source for fiber from pulping, and for fuel. This fast growing grass has produced high yields in trial plots grown in a number of countries, and yields produced in different regions of the world are shown in Table 3.16.
Kull and Roostalu have studied [176] reed canary grass biomass yield and energy use efficiency in Northern European climatic conditions. In this experiment, bioenergy potential was evaluated in a soil specific manner to calculate the production and energy use efficiency. They found that soils with low nitrogen content produced yields of almost 1 Mg ha-1 in a year with unsuitable weather conditions for plant growth. Then, average dry matter yield of 6-7 Mg ha-1 was achievable within a few years on soils with nitrogen contents of more than 0.6%. Fertilization increases the yield and decreases yield variability in humus poor soils, but on soils with high nitrogen content, production risks increase with increasing nitrogen fertilizer applications. Reed canary grass is a potential cel — lulosic ethanol feedstock with one of the highest cellulose content; average compositional analysis of reed canary grass is shown in Table 3.17.