Abstract
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) produces substantial shoots not used as food. To test its potential as a sustainable bioenergy crop, we studied the effects of synthetic fertilizer and intercropped legumes as nitrogen (N) sources on the growth, aboveground biomass dry matter yield and energy qualities of this crop. Plant height, leaf area index (LAI), SPAD-value, biomass yield, ash content and mineral element composition were determined. Mean aboveground biomass yields were not significantly affected by N source (legume intercrops and synthetic fertilizer) and ranged from 13 to 17 t ha-1. Remarkably, plants given no fertilizer yielded equally to plants given 90 N kg ha-1. These results confirm that Jerusalem artichoke, compared to other energy crops, have less need for N and can potentially be sustained by N fixing legumes in an intercropped system. This could reduce or eliminate production and environmental cost in cultivation of biomass feedstock for energy use.
Highlights
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is an herbaceous perennial plant, related to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and has long been grown for its edible tubers, as livestock feed and as an ornamental (Ben Chekroun1990, Rodrigues et al 2007, Ma et al 2011)
Legumes in the intercrops did not have a significant effect on total above-ground biomass and energy yields of Jerusalem artichoke (Table 2)
The low N fertilizer requirement of Jerusalem artichoke shown in this study has been reported in earlier studies (Duke 1983, Slimestad et al 2010)
Summary
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is an herbaceous perennial plant, related to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and has long been grown for its edible tubers, as livestock feed and as an ornamental (Ben Chekroun1990, Rodrigues et al 2007, Ma et al 2011). Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is an herbaceous perennial plant, related to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and has long been grown for its edible tubers, as livestock feed and as an ornamental Often managed as an annual, the crop is perennial, and there is potential to manage it in that way in order to maximize the production from a single set of establishment costs. It is highly frost-tolerant (Negro et al 2006), being native to eastern North America as far north as the province of Quebec
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