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Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2021) | Viewed by 11715

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cristina Patanè

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Guest Editor

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto per la BioEconomia (IBE), 95126 Catania, Italy
Interests: seed germination; abiotic stresses; deficit irrigation; agronomy; crop management; energy biomass crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Salvatore Cosentino

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Guest Editor

Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Interests: agronomy; crop production; biomass crops; bioenergy and bioproducts; crop physiology and modeling; crop management; agrometeorology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In agricultural activities, efficiency in productivity was mostly expressed in terms of yield in the past. More recently, water and energy-saving production systems have become increasingly important in a global climate change context, where a greater sustainability in the use of natural resources in food and agricultural production systems is required.

Biomass crops are increasing in importance and area around the world. They have the potential to supply a significant portion of the world’s energy needs, as well as raw material for paper, textile, food industries, green building, panel furniture, etc. (bioproducts). An important step in promoting the use of crop biomass for bioenergy and bioproducts is to increase the sustainability of their production chain.

This Special Issue will focus on “Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts”. We invite authors to contribute to this Special Issue with novel research articles and reviews covering all topics in crop biomass production. Topics of particular interest for this issue concern the sustainable use of natural resources, the use of environmentally friendly fertilization strategies, the adoption of water-saving methods, and modeling, crop physiology, climatic adaptation, lifecycle assessment, biomass for energy and bioproduct quality, biomass crops for phytoremediation, and germplasm exploitation for a sustainable agriculture. Articles concerning all aspects of agronomic management and the adoption of new technologies applied to crop biomass production for natural resource use efficiency improvement in marginal lands are also welcome.

Papers submitted to this Special Issue will be subject to peer review in order to allow a rapid dissemination of results.

Dr. Cristina Patanè
Prof. Salvatore Cosentino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

agronomic management;

bioenergy;

biomass crops;

bioproducts;

sustainability;

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nitrogen Balance in a Sweet Sorghum Crop in a Mediterranean Environment

by Danilo Scordia, Salvatore Luciano Cosentino, Mariadaniela Mantineo, Giorgio Testa and Cristina Patanè

Agronomy 2021, 11(7), 1292; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11071292 - 25 Jun 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1695

Abstract

Sweet sorghum is a C4 plant with great biomass potential yield in semi-arid environments. Under growing conditions affected by water shortage and nutrient deficiency, the optimal combination of irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization rate is a central issue for sustainable farming systems. In this paper, a N balance study was applied to sweet sorghum cv. Keller, managed under three irrigation levels (I0, I50, I100: 0, 50, and 100% crop evapotranspiration—ETc restoration) and four N-fertilization rates (N0, N60, N120, N180: 0, 60, 120, and 180 kg ha⁻¹). The ¹⁵N-labelled fertilization technique was used to assess the fate of N fertilizer within the agroecosystem. Dry biomass yield was significantly affected by the irrigation, while N rates had no effect. Across N and irrigation levels, the isotopic composition showed that approximately 34% of N applied by fertilization was used by the crop, 56% remained in the soil at the end of the cropping season, 1.83% was leached as nitrate, and 1.72% was volatilized as ammonia. N-fertilizer uptake was the lowest in I0, while in N0, the soil was strongly N-impoverished since sorghum showed a great aptitude to benefit from the soil N reserve. An even N input/output system (i.e., N-output corresponded to N-input) was observed in the N120 treatment, and the soil N reserve remained unchanged, while the system was N-enriched (positive input/output) in N180. However, although beneficial for crop nutrition and soil N reserve for subsequent crops in rotation, the N180 treatment is unsustainable due to many environmental side effects in the agroecosystem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts)

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16 pages, 1337 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Screening for Cold Tolerance during Germination within Sweet and Fiber Sorghums [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] for Energy Biomass

by Cristina Patanè, Salvatore L. Cosentino, Valeria Cavallaro and Alessandro Saita

Agronomy 2021, 11(4), 620; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040620 - 25 Mar 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2011

Abstract

Within the project “BIOSEA” funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, a preliminary laboratory test was conducted to assess the variability for cold tolerance during germination in 30 cultivars of biomass sorghum, among fiber and sweet types. Seed germination (%) and mean germination time (MGT) were examined at seven constant temperatures (from 8 °C to 35 °C) and base temperature (Tb) and thermal time (θ_T) for 50% germination were calculated. A wide genetic diversity in the germination response of sorghum was ascertained at 8 °C (CV 45%) and 10 °C (CV 25.4%). At 8 °C, in cultivars of ‘Padana 4’, ‘PR811F’, ‘PSE24213’, ‘PR849’ and ‘Zerberus’, seed germination exceeded 80%. Seeds of ‘Zerberus’ were also the fastest, requiring less than 13 days for final germination at this low temperature. Great differences were found in Tb and θ_T among cultivars. Tb varied between 7.44 °C (‘PR811F’) and 13.48 °C (‘Nectar’). Thermal time (θ_T) was, on average, 24.09 °Cd⁻¹, and ranged between 16.62 (‘Nectar’) and 33.42 °Cd⁻¹ (‘PSE24213’). The best combination of the two germination parameters (i.e., low Tb and θ_T) corresponded to ‘Zerberus’, ‘Sucrosorgo 506’, ‘Jumbo’ and ‘PR811F’. Accordingly, these cultivars are more tolerant to cold stress during germination and, thus, more adapt to early spring sowings in Mediterranean areas (March-April). Cultivars ‘PR811F’ (fiber type) and ‘Sucrosorgo 506’ (sweet type) also combine high cold tolerance with good productivity in terms of final dry biomass, as assessed in open-field conditions (late spring sowing). The genetic variation in the germination response to a low temperature is useful for the identification of genotypes of sorghum suitable to early sowings in semi-arid areas. Selection within existing cultivars for cold tolerance during germination may also contribute to the expansion of biomass sorghum into cooler cultivation areas, such as those of Northern Europe, which are less suitable to this warm season crop. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts)

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15 pages, 835 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biomass, Seed and Energy Yield of Cynara cardunculus L. as Affected by Environment and Season

by Anita Ierna, Orazio Sortino and Giovanni Mauromicale

Agronomy 2020, 10(10), 1548; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101548 - 11 Oct 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2462

Abstract

Cynara cardunculus is a perennial plant that adapts well to Mediterranean climate conditions. The possibility of cultivating C. cardunculus with low or zero input and in low productivity or marginal lands makes it one of the most promising crops for bioenergy production in the Mediterranean areas. The objective of the research was to study the effects of two marginal and contrasting southern Italian environments (plain, 42 m a.s.l. and hilly area, 419 m a.s.l.) during a three-year period on biomass, seed, energy yield, and oil composition of two genotypes of C. cardunculus (cultivated cardoon and wild cardoon). When compared to the plain, plants that were grown in the hills gave higher biomass yield (10.9 vs. 9.7 t DM ha⁻¹ year⁻¹), higher seed yield (0.46 vs. 0.44 t DM ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) and, consequently, higher total energy yield (190 vs. 172 GJ ha⁻¹ year⁻¹), attributable to higher average annual rainfall (680 vs. 565 mm year⁻¹). The season, although only evaluated for three years (short cycle), showed a different effect based on the genotype, highlighting a greater over-time production constancy of wild cardoon (though less yielding) as compared to cultivated cardoon. Oil yield and composition were only slightly affected by environment and genotype. Overall, the results of this research suggest using C. cardunculus in marginal hilly areas, where, in addition to the production of bioenergy, it may represent a good chance to fight erosion and improve soil fertility, without competing with food crops. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts)

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15 pages, 2501 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparison of Two Methodological Approaches for Determining Castor Bean Suitability in Chile

by Celián Román-Figueroa, Donna Cortez and Manuel Paneque

Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1259; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091259 - 26 Aug 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2418

Abstract

Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) contains ricinoleic acid, making it one of the world’s most important oil-seeds. There are few studies on this species in Chile, despite its potential as an industrial crop. This study evaluated two methodologies (simplistic and presence-species) for determining the aptitude of land for growing castor beans, both of which use climatic information. The simplistic and presence-species methodologies identified 27.89 and 13.19 million ha, respectively. The most important difference between both methodologies was that the mean minimum annual temperature (TNA) was −8.0 °C in the simplistic method, meaning that some areas in the southernmost regions of Chile (Aysén and Magallanes) should be able to grow the plant. Therefore, TNA = 8.0 °C was selected, and the zonation by simplistic methodology was updated. Consequently, both zonations showed similar results, although the presence-species method included northern coastlines, precisely where castor bean has been recorded, while the simplistic method did not. Finally, both methodologies determined the best condition to be central-south Chile, between the Maule and Araucanía regions, even though castor bean presence has only been recorded up to the Maule region. These regions have a huge potential to establish castor beans, but more information about agronomic practices is necessary for its development in Chile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts)

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16 pages, 1624 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Soil Water Content on Yield, Composition, Energy, and Water Indicators of the Bioenergy Grass Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum under Three-Growing Seasons

by Danilo Scordia, Silvio Calcagno, Alessandra Piccitto, Cristina Patanè and Salvatore Luciano Cosentino

Agronomy 2020, 10(8), 1105; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081105 - 30 Jul 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2169

Abstract

Raising water and energy productivity in agriculture can contribute to reducing the pressure on the limited freshwater availability and non-renewable energy sources. Bioenergy perennial grasses are efficient from a water perspective and can afford a low-energy cultivation system; however, crop selection and cultivation practices for minimizing land use change and maximizing resource use efficiencies remain a challenging task in view of sustainable bioeconomy development. The present work investigated the soil water effect on a long-term plantation of Saccharum (Saccharum spontaneum ssp. aegyptiacum), a bioenergy perennial grass holding great promise for semiarid Mediterranean areas. The plantation was in its 13th year following establishment and was subjected to three levels of irrigation for three successive growing seasons. Regression models between crop water use (CWU) and productivity, biomass composition, energy, and water indicators showed different prediction curves. Raising CWU (from 230 to 920 mm) enhanced the dry biomass yield (from 14.8 to 30.1 Mg ha⁻¹) and the net energy value (from 257.6 to 511 GJ ha⁻¹). On the same CWU range, unirrigated crops improved the energy efficiency (from 99.8 to 58.5 GJ ha⁻¹), the energy productivity (from 5.6 to 3.4 Mg GJ⁻¹) and the water productivity (from 114.5 to 56.1 MJ m⁻³) by reducing the water footprint (from 8.7 to 17.8 m³ GJ⁻¹). Biomass composition was also superior in unirrigated crops, as the lower heating value, structural polysaccharides, and the acid detergent lignin were higher, while ash and soluble compounds were lower. Present findings demonstrated the good yield levels and persistence of Saccharum, improving our knowledge of plant responses to changing soil water availability to maximize energy and conserve natural resources, paving the way for sustainable bioeconomy development in the Mediterranean area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Crops Biomass Production for Bioenergy and Bioproducts)

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