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Agronomic and Environmental Impacts of Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.): Results from a Long-Term Field Experiment in Hilly Areas Subject to Soil Erosion

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Abstract

Of the various biomass crops, one of the most promising for bioenergy or biochemical production is giant reed (Arundo donax L.): It is tolerant to a wide range of environmental stresses and can therefore be cultivated on marginal lands which cannot be used for traditional food crops. An open field experiment was carried out in a soil subjected to accelerated erosion so as to evaluate the agronomic and environmental impact of giant reed during the first 9 years of cultivation. In a low-input cropping system, the crop gave an interesting biomass yield and gross income when grown on marginal hilly lands in southern Italy affected by climatic constraints and accelerated erosion. Its cultivation had favourable effects on environmental quality, thanks to the improvement in soil fertility (soil organic matter and N increase), mitigation of climate change (C storage in the soil) and reduction in soil loss by erosion (reducing soil erodibility and increasing vegetation cover). Winter harvest was found to be more advisable because it reduced biomass moisture and N content, thus improving biomass quality (fewer problems in storage and industrial use) and cropping system sustainability (higher N return to the soil and hence less need for N fertilization).

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Acknowledgments

The experimental facility was founded in 1993 by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, in the framework of the project PANDA (Agricultural Production in Defence of the Environment). This work was supported until 2010 by the regional Department of Agriculture (research project “Agro-energetic systems for the Campania Region”) and from 2011 by the Italian University and Scientific Research Ministry (Industrial Research Project PON01_01966 “Integrated agro-industrial chains with high energy efficiency for the development of eco-compatible processes of energy and biochemical production from renewable sources and for land improvement-EnerBioChem” in the framework of the Operative National Programme 2007–2013). We also express our thanks to Mark Walters for his revision of English language and to Dario Sacco for his statistical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Naples, Italy

    M. Fagnano, A. Impagliazzo, M. Mori & N. Fiorentino

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  1. M. Fagnano
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  2. A. Impagliazzo
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  3. M. Mori
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  4. N. Fiorentino
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Correspondence to N. Fiorentino.

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Fagnano, M., Impagliazzo, A., Mori, M. et al. Agronomic and Environmental Impacts of Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.): Results from a Long-Term Field Experiment in Hilly Areas Subject to Soil Erosion. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 415–422 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9532-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9532-7

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