Dry-farming yield of herbaceous crops for energy grown in Mediterranean environment. First results.

Results of a two-year trial carried out in southern Italy to compare the biomass production of different herbaceous crops for energy under rainfed conditions are reported. The compared species were: Cynara cardunculus, Crambe abyssinica, Brassica napus var. oleifera, Brassica carinata, Carthamus tinctorius, Helianthus annuus, Helianthus tuberosus, Arundo donax, Sorghum bicolor var. saccharatum, Sorghum bicolor x S. dochna. Very different rain courses were recorded in the two years. In the first year, B. carinata, B. napus, C. tinctorius, C. abyssinica produced 1.3, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.3 t ha-1 of seed respectively, while in the second year such values raised to 2.4, 2.1, 1.8 and 1.9 t ha-1. C. cardunculus showed the higher yield of 20.6 t ha-1 d.m. in the second year. Also H. annuus, H tuberosus, S. bicolor saccharatum and S. bicolor x S. dochna showed higher productions in the second year, with values of 1.4, 4.2, 16.4 and 19.5 t ha-1 respectively for seed, dry tubers and dry biomass. A. donax reached 9.2 t ha-1 d.m. at the first harvesting, in the second year.