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Abstract

One of the most important resources within agriculture is nitrogen (N), and depletion of N resources is an important element in the evaluation of sustainability in agriculture. Therefore, identifying crops with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is important for the sustainability of the system. In an energy crop context, sustainability in crop production could aim at enhanced energy output with maintained or reduced depletion of N resources. Crops with different photosynthetic pathways (C-3 vs. C-4) and life histories (perennials vs. annuals) are expected to differ in NUE and also energy harvest per unit N lost from the system.The aim is to characterize the growth, NUE and energy output per unit N lost for three common crops frequently used for energy; maize, winter wheat and perennial grassland (ley). These crops differ in photosynthetic and life history strategies.Above ground biomass of wheat, grassland ley and maize was sampled within a long-term experiment in Central Sweden. The experiment has a split-plot design with four replicates. Four aboveground harvests were conducted during the growth period and plant N contents were determined. Biomass growth, yield (above ground biomass in ley and maize, grain biomass in wheat) and some functional traits were assessed, and the NUE components N uptake efficiency, yield-specific N efficiency and yield N concentration were calculated according to Weih, et al. (2011). Energy output per N lost with the harvested product was calculated assuming crop-specific higher heating values for biofuel use.The N uptake efficiency and yield-specific N efficiency were higher in maize than wheat and ley. The yield N concentration was higher in the perennial ley than the annual crops, and lowest in maize. Energy output per N lost in the harvested product was greater in maize compared to wheat and ley. The results are discussed in a agricultural sustainability perspective. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Keywords

nitrogen use efficiency; energy production; sustainability; wheat; maize; perennial grassland

Published in

Procedia Environmental Sciences
2015, volume: 29, pages: 22-23

Conference

4th International Conference on Agriculture and Horticulture (AGRI), Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, FEB 15-17, 2015

SLU Authors

Global goals (SDG)

SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG7 Affordable and clean energy
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2015.07.135

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/84006