Abstract
The plantation of willow varieties was established in 2009. The 40 different varieties and clones of Salix were planted at a research field in Kolíňany (Nitra district). The paper evaluates results from the first growing season in 2009. The survival rate of planted cuttings ranged from 55.56 % to 100.00 % after the first year. The lowest survival rate was reached by Terra Nova variety. The stem numbers per plant ranged from 1.17 ±0.37 to 2.53 ±0.98. The average height of one-year old stem varied from 65.82 ±36.60 cm to 225.58 ±68.61 cm. The average stem diameter ranged from 6.90 ±2.63 mm to 14.34 ±3.39 mm. There were statistically very significant differences in parameters of stem height stem diameter and stem numbers per plant among studied varieties/clones. The statistic method used was analysis of variance ANOVA. The varieties were then divided into 6 groups according to their similarity in observed parameters after the first growing season by cluster analysis. The best results were reached by varieties/clones classified in the second group. The survival rate, stem diameter and stem height values of these varieties/clones were above average.
Highlights
The use of biomass is expected to increase in the future and cellulose plants might became dominant in this process in the second half of the 21st century (Luckow et al, 2010)
Survival rate of planted cuttings ranged from 55.56% to 100% (16 varieties/clones) at the end of the growing season
The paper presents partial results of verifying the suitability of 40 fast growing energy willows (Salix) varieties and clones cultivated in conditions of south-west Slovakia during one-year old growing season in 2009
Summary
The use of biomass is expected to increase in the future and cellulose plants might became dominant in this process in the second half of the 21st century (Luckow et al, 2010). The selection of appropriate varieties and clones well adaptable for the environmental conditions is necessary to ensure a sufficient choice for producers of fast-growing plants. This is the task of breeding experiments, where findings of frost resistance, phenological stages, growth, water use efficiency and drought resistance are the most studied. The evaluations of willow varieties/clones performances are carrying out for different environmental conditions in which they are directly tested (Tharakan et al, 2001). The purpose of these programs is breeding of suitable varieties/clones and development of methodologies for intensive farming. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the partial results from the first growing season is 2009 of a three-year testing cycle (20092011) of 40 fast-growing willows varieties and clones by using cluster analysis
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