Biomass Productivity, Developmental Morphology, and Nutrient Removal Rate of Hybrid Napier Grass ( Pennisetum purpureum
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Biomass Productivity, Developmental Morphology, and Nutrient Removal Rate of Hybrid Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum x Pennisetum americanum) in Response to Potassium and Nitrogen Fertilization in a Multiple-Harvest System Bhawit Dokbua 1 & Naroon Waramit 1
&
Jiraporn Chaugool 1 & Chaisit Thongjoo 2
Received: 7 January 2020 / Accepted: 21 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) has been identified as a potential energy crop in Thailand. However, information regarding the biomass production characteristics of napier grass in response to K and N fertilization is required to guide management decisions for biofuel feedstock. Our objective was to determine the effects of K and N rates on biomass yield, developmental morphology, nutrient content and removal. This experiment was conducted during 2016 and 2017 at Kamphaeng Saen (KPS), Thailand. The experimental design was a split plot arranged in a randomized complete block (RCB) with four replications. Three K fertilization rates (0, 250, and 500 kg ha−1) were used for the main plots and four N fertilization rates (0, 250, 500, and 1000 kg ha−1) were arranged as subplots. With increasing N fertilization rate, most growth parameters increased, except leaf to stem ratio and dry matter concentration decreased. Total dry matter yield (TDMY) increased from 16.6 to 43.0 t ha−1 and from 15.2 to 41.6 t ha−1 in 2016 and 2017, respectively, as N rate increased from 0 to 1000 kg ha−1. However, growth and TDMY were not affected by K fertilizer. Increased TDMY resulted from an increase in the proportion of elongating tillers leading to advancing mean stage by count (MSC) from 2.35 to 2.45. Therefore, although napier grass demonstrated large biomass production under multiple harvest regimes, its higher removal rates (285.0–1615. kg K ha−1 and 86.7–422.2 kg N ha−1) were varied with fertilization rates indicating a potential for higher fertilizer requirements and production costs over time. Keywords Bioenergy . Elephant grass . Fertilizer . Lignocellulose . Warm-season grasses
Introduction The perennial C4 grasses have recently been investigated for their potential production of lignocellulosic biomass. In the USA, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a perennial warm-season grass native to North America, has been identified as a model biofuel crop [1], while miscanthus species (Miscanthus x giganteus) have potential for a promising cellulosic feedstock under * Naroon Waramit [email protected] 1
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen campus, Kasetsart University, Nakhon, Pathom 73140, Thailand
2
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen campus, Kasetsart University, Nakhon, Pathom 73140, Thailand
European conditions [2]. Both species of C4 perennial grasses, when grown in temperate climates, provide remarkably high annual biomass and cellulose content with low agricultural inputs. For Thailand, napier grass or elephant grass (Pennisetum
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