Abstract
Camelina sativa is a promising oilseed crop used for dietary oil and as a biofuel feedstock. C. sativa is a highly adaptable, cool season crop that can be grown on marginal lands with minimal inputs, making it potentially suitable for growth in Northern Nevada and other cooler and drier semi-arid regions of North America. A five-year (2011 to 2015) field trial was conducted to evaluate the seed yield, oil content, and oil and biodiesel production potential of eight C. sativa cultivars in semi-arid regions of Northern Nevada. Columbia, Cheyenne, Calena, and Blaine Creek were ranked as the top four varieties based on the five-year study of mean seed yield, oil content, and estimated oil and biodiesel production values, although none of the cultivars were significant (p > 0.05). Overall, Columbia displayed the highest seed yield, harvest index, oil yield and potential biodiesel production of 910 kg ha−1, 0.147, 273.4 kg ha−1, and 86.4 L ha−1, respectively, across five growing seasons. For each individual year across the eight cultivars, seed yield, oil content, oil and potential biodiesel production was highest in 2015, and lowest in 2012 and 2013 (the drier years). The seed yields of this study fall within the ranges of yields reported in both the irrigated and rainfed locations of the Western United States. Based on the seed yield, oil, and the estimated oil and biodiesel productivity reported in this study, C. sativa can be grown successfully with supplemental irrigation in semi-arid environments like Nevada.
Highlights
Camelina sativa, known as false or wild flax, German sesame, gold of pleasure, and linseed dodder, is an oilseed species within the Brassicaceae
Weather data during the five years of the field trial and the 29-year average (1987–2015) obtained from the WRCC, DRIWS (Table 1) showed that the accumulated monthly precipitation, mean air temperature, monthly solar radiation, and growing degree days (GDD) deviated for each growing season and from the
The results from this study revealed that Columbia displayed the highest seed yield average across the five growing seasons, no significant differences were apparent in seed yield, biomass yield, oil content, harvest index, and estimated oil and biodiesel yield for the eight spring cultivars evaluated, which was likely to be due to the greater level of dispersion around the mean of the different C. sativa cultivars (Coefficient of variation > 1)
Summary
Known as false or wild flax, German sesame, gold of pleasure, and linseed dodder, is an oilseed species within the Brassicaceae. C. sativa center of diversity is in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Central Asia, where it has been cultivated since. C. sativa has received considerable interest as an alternative oilseed crop for biofuel production [5,6,7,8], for on-farm biodiesel production, to increase farm income, diversify rural economies, and promote renewable biofuel use [9]. C. sativa is a rapidly maturing (85–120 days) short-season species typically planted as a winter or spring annual crop best adapted to cooler climates. The rapid-cycling oilseed can be used in crop rotations [11,12] or in mixed intercropping systems, often with soybean, maize, or winter wheat [12,13,14]
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