Abstract

Reed canary grass is a promising bio-energy crop for northern Scandinavia. However to make it competitive there is a need to reduce costs. Four experiments have been set up at different sites to investigate intercropping with legumes and recycling of wastes to cut fertilization costs. The experiments have a split plot design, with three fertilization treatments, (A) recommended N,P and K, (B) half N, recommended P and K, (C) half N and reed canary grass ash or sewage sludge, and seven species mixtures on the sub-plots. The intercropped legumes were red clover, Alsike clover, goats rue, lucerne and Kura clover. Two of the experiments, located on farms, encountered serious weed problems, couch grass or white clover and Alsike clover. On both sites the reed canary grass suffered much from the combined competition from weeds and sown legume and these experiments were not continued after the second growing season. The two remaining sites were situated on experimental field stations. In Umeå Alsike clover had 27% of the biomass, red clover 31% and goats rue 1%. Kura clover did not survive winter. In Jämtland 16% of the biomass was Alsike clover in the second year, 8% was red clover and 5% was goats rue. The third year the clovers had almost disappeared at the latter site but goats rue remained and contributed 7% of the biomass. In Jämtland the full N fertilization gave higher biomass and lower legume content than half N-fertilization (P<0.05). With a legume content up to 15% and low weed pressure the legume N-fixation provided N to replace up to half of the fertilizer N without impeding the growth of the reed canary grass too much, but with more legumes than 15% the competition was too tough for the grass.

Published in

NJF Report
2011, Volume: 7, number: 3, pages: 167-167
Title: Book of Abstracts of the 24th NJF Congress Food, Feed, Fuel and Fun Nordic Light on Future Land Use and Rural Development
Publisher: Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists

Conference

2nd Nordic Feed Science Conference - Food, Feed, Fuel and Fun, Nordic Light on Future Land Use and Rural Development

SLU Authors

• Palmborg, Cecilia

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Lindvall, Eva

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Renewable Bioenergy Research


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/41689