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Response of Switchgrass Yield and Quality to Harvest Season and Nitrogen Fertilizer
Author(s) -
Sadeghpour A.,
Gorlitsky L. E.,
Hashemi M.,
Weis S. A.,
Herbert S. J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2013.0183
Subject(s) - panicum virgatum , agronomy , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , growing season , fertilizer , panicum , nutrient , yield (engineering) , biofuel , nitrogen , cultivar , bioenergy , biology , chemistry , ecology , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Attaining high switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) yields with optimum quality for combustion while also maintaining crop health is challenging. A 3‐yr study was conducted at the Crops and Animal Research and Education Farm of the University of Massachusetts in South Deerfield, MA, from 2009 to 2012 to assess the influence of harvesting season and N application rates on biomass yield, mineral content of the grass, non‐structural carbohydrate (NSC) reserves in the roots, as well as nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of switchgrass (cultivar Cave‐in‐Rock) grown for combustion. Delaying harvest from summer until spring reduced the biomass yield by 27%. The highest biomass production (7.82 Mg ha –1 ) was obtained from summer harvest in the first growing season. Averaged over 3 yr, increasing N application rate up to 134 kg ha –1 resulted in the highest biomass production in the summer harvest with 7.41 Mg ha –1 . Nutrient concentrations in the grass were dependent on the season of harvest. In general, delaying the harvest reduced N, P, K, and Mg content in the feedstock. Lower N application rate resulted in higher agronomic efficiency (AE) and NUE. Peak NSC concentrations in belowground tissues were measured in fall and were two times higher than those in summer and spring. These data suggest that not more than 67 kg N ha –1 combined with fall harvest maintain switchgrass yield and quality for combustion processes.