Evaluation of maize and hemp cultivars as bioenergy crop

We are cultivating annual and perennial crops as monoculture and as mixed culture to investigate plant biomass use for production of renewable energy sources in northern latitudes. We have grown different hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and bioenergy maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars in 2007-2009 at Viikki Experimental Farm, University of Helsinki

Recycling sludge on cropland as fertilizer – advantages and risks

Background: Digested sludge is a good source of plant nutrients. However, depending on the feedstock, it might contain heavy metals, metalloids, organic compounds, pathogens, and pharmaceuticals, which can cause adverse effects on crop growth and contaminate the groundwater, soil, and food chain. Scope: The aim of this review is to focus on the potential risks of inorganic and organic contaminants to plant growth, soil, groundwater, and consequently the food chain and environment related to the utilization of digested sludge as a fertilizer on cropland. Conclusions: Inorganic compounds, such as metals and metalloids, in sludge can occasionally cause reductions in soil microbial biomass. In general, the uptake of metals and organic contaminants does not appear to cause a significant hazard to the plants and the concentrations do not surpass the maximum values allowed in soil. Organic compounds, harmful for human health or the environment, are to a large extent decomposed or volatilized from the land treated with sludge, which decreases their leaching into the environment. Many of the organic compounds are lipophilic and can be bound to soil organic matter. In conclusion, the application of sludge on cropland might be a sustainable management practice; however, further investigations are needed to determine the accumulation and persistence of possible hazardous emerging chemicals and pathogens in the environment and formation of harmful intermediate reaction of inorganic and organic compound products.Peer reviewe

Genetic variability in the physiological responses of Andean lupin to drought stress

Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses that causes significant reductions in crop yield, and thushinders the food security of the growing world population. In consequence, it is urgent to select crops able toresist drought, maintain high yield and have a good nutritive content. The purpose of this project was toevaluate the responses of different accessions of Andean lupin to drought stress, and identify if there aresignificant differences in their physiological responses.To identify germplasm for further investigation, thirty accessions of Lupinus mutabilis Sweet. and oneaccession of L. albococcineus Hort. were screened in two sets, A of 15 and B of 16 accessions. From thesesets, four lines were chosen on the basis of extreme values in the measurements, and this set of four wasinvestigated in depth (set C). Water stress consisted of controlled water loss from the soil (at 2% per day).The screening techniques used were: leaf temperature, stomatal conductance, relative water content, waterpotential, ion membrane leakage, and shoot dry weight were measured and transpiration efficiency wascalculated. In addition, carbon isotope discrimination, root length, root dry matter, proline content andsoluble sugar content were included in only set C.Based on the results from set A and set B, accessions PI 457981, PI 457972, and AC 2792 were consideredas being drought resistant and PI 510572 was considered as drought sensitive. However, the results from setC showed that accession PI 510572 is able to adapt its cell membrane to the drought stress so that its ionleakage is less than in the other accessions, and in addition it has the ability to accumulate higherconcentrations of osmoprotectants.Thus, this survey identified that some accessions of Andean lupin were able to avoid drought stress throughstomatal traits and root traits, and others that were able to tolerate drought through the accumulation ofosmotically active substances. Consequently, there are good prospects for breeding of Andean lupin toimprove its drought resistance

Nutritive quality of Finnish grown grain legumes

Grain legumes have excellent nutritional quality that makes them a staple ingredient for feeding ruminants, pigs and poultry. Legumes are known for their high protein content, and although they are low in the sulphur-containing amino acids and tryptophan, they have a high content of lysine; thus they are an ideal supplement to cereal-based diets and food products (Duranti & Cius 1997). Legumes have many beneficial effects in human diet. There is potential and sufficient farmer interest to establish grain legume crops in the Nordic-Baltic region through screening imported germplasm for adaptation. There are many potential uses of legume seeds as functional ingredients, thus further research is needed to design legume-supplemented food products. In addition, it is very important to publicize their health benefits, to assure consumer acceptance

Sustainable bioenergy cropping: growing reed canarygrass in acid suphate soils

The response of reed canary grass to water logging, acidity and dissolved metals will be studied in the field as well as in a controlled environment using large monoliths of undisturbed acid suphate soil taken into PVC tubes

Seedling Growth and Phosphorus Uptake in Response to Different Phosphorus Sources

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for plant growth and development. Finding new P sources and ways to improve crop P utilization are necessary due to the depletion of phosphate reserves. Five crop species, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), oilseed rape (Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera (Moench) Metzg.), spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.), and white lupine (Lupinus albus L.), were grown in pots containing sandy soil with chemical nutrients, digestate, and meat bone meal (MBM) without added nutrients. Thirty days after the seeding plants were harvested, the growth stage, soil-plant analysis development (SPAD) value, biomass, P content of the plants, colonization of the roots with endomycorrhiza, and soil pH were analyzed, and the number of fungal spores in the soil was counted. All species showed interaction with the P sources for measured traits, except for the rhizosphere pH. A high biomass was recorded in all species fertilized with various P sources compared to the unfertilized treatment. Buckwheat and spelt wheat showed a higher P uptake with MBM, and the mycorrhizal symbiosis improved with digestate or MBM compared to synthetic P. The results indicate that different species have adaptative mechanisms to various P sources which could improve the resilience and sustainability of cropping systems

Genotypic variation in leaf epicuticular wax quantity in a large faba bean (Vicia faba L.) germplasm collection

Among grain legumes, faba bean is reputed to be relatively sensitive to drought stress. Epicuticular wax (ECW) quantity is considered as an important drought adaptation strategy in plant species. This study aimed to define variation in leaf ECW concentration as a drought-adaptive trait in 197 faba bean accessions under well-watered conditions. The relationship between ECW and stomatal characteristics was also investigated. Highly significant differences were found in the ECW concentration, which ranged from 0.680 to 2.104 mg/dm(2). No relationships were found between ECW and any measure of stomatal morphology and function. This study provides evidence of the wide variation in ECW in faba bean germplasm, which is independent of stomatal characteristics and leaf water content. This variation may allow the genetic improvement of ECW as a drought-adaptive character in faba bean breeding programs aiming at the economical use of water.Peer reviewe

SEWAGE SLUDGE AS NUTRIENT SOURCE FOR BIOENERGY CROPS

Sewage sludge is rich in organic matter, and plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium. Nevertheless, using sludge as fertilizer for crops to produce food or feed is limited due to thepresence of trace contaminants such as heavy metals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigatethe use of sewage sludge as a nutrient source for bioenergy crops such as fibre hemp, oilseed rape andwhite lupin. Specific attention is paid to the biomass accumulation and the quality of the plant material aswell as the ability of the crops to take up the heavy metals from soils in order to ensure that the amount ofpollutant does not cumulate.Fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cv. Uso, oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) cv. Wildcat and whitelupin (Lupinus albus L.) cv. Amiga were sown in 5-L pots in a greenhouse. Three potting mixes wereused: a standard peat-based potting compost with 50% sludge, sludge with peat (50%:50% by weight), or100% sludge, and a constant mass of 666 g potting mix per pot. Dry weight of plants and leaf area weremeasured four times during the growth of fibre hemp and oilseed rape and at maturity of white lupin. Netphotosynthesis and leaf temperature of plants were measured three times. Ash content and elementalanalysis was made from samples collected at harvest.Sewage sludge application significantly affected most parameters measured. In fibre hemp,maximum dry weight, leaf area and photosynthesis values were obtained from the sludge – peat treatment.In oilseed rape, the maximum values of dry weight of plant, leaf area, photosynthesis, number of siliquesper plant and number of seeds per plant were obtained from the 100% sludge treatment. However, thehighest number of branches per plant, weight of siliques per plant, seed weight per plant and whole plantweight were obtained from the sludge – peat treatment. In white lupin, the sludge – peat treatment resultedin highest net photosynthesis, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant and whole weight plantat harvest. Highest sludge application resulted in highest heavy metal concentration in plant material offibre hemp and white lupin. However, high heavy metal concentration in oilseed rape were obtained whensludge was mixed with peat.It is concluded that sewage sludge is suitable for use as a nutrient source for bioenergy cropsstudied. In future experiments we will estimate the optimum level of sewage sludge for each one of thesecrops and determine its potential for use in field conditions

Kasvien fytoremediaatiopotentiaali CCA:lla saastuneen maan puhdistuksessa

Maaperän saastuminen on maailmanlaajuinen ympäristöongelma. Ihmisen toiminnan tuloksenaesimerkiksi raskasmetalleilla pilaantuneita maa-alueita on runsaasti. CCA (chromated copper arsenate)on maailmalla laajasti käytetty puun kyllästysaine, joka on saastuttanut laajoja maa-alueita mm.sahalaitoksilla, tehdasalueilla ja kaatopaikoilla. Kuparin, kromin ja arseenin yhtäaikainen esiintyminenvaikeuttaa maan puhdistamista kemiallisesti. Tästä johtuen fytoremediaatiomenetelmät näyttäisivätolevan paras vaihtoehto CCA:lla saastuneiden maiden puhdistamiseksi.Fytoremediaatiolla tarkoitetaan maanperän puhdistamista kasvien avulla. Tutkimuksentarkoituksena oli tutkia kasvien kykyä puhdistaa maaperää haitta-aineista. Kokeessa kasvatettiin erikasvilajeja sekä selvitettiin niiden kestävyys raskasmetalleja vastaan sekä kyky ottaa raskasmetallejamaasta.Raskasmetallien kertyminen eri kasvinosiin sekä biomassan muodostus määritettiin. Biomassanmuodostumisen sekä kasvien raskasmetallipitoisuuden avulla arvioitiin kasvienfytoremediaatiopotentiaali. Kasveista havainnoitiin lisäksi lehtialan muodostus, itävyysjuurinystyröiden muodostus, juurien rakenne ja anatomia, vesisuhteet, yhteyttäminen, ravinnepitoisuus.Lisäksi tutkitaan antioksidanttiaktiivisuutta, raskasmetallien lokalisoitumimista, fytokelatiinienmuodostusta sekä määritetään kasvien tuhkapitoisuus ja koostumus.Astiakokeissa lupiinit tuottivat noin kolme kertaa suuremman biomassan verrattunahamppukasveihin. Kupari kerääntyi eniten valko- ja sinilupiinin lehtiin, keltalupiinin korsiin sekähampun lehtiin ja siemeniin. Kromia kerääntyi lehtiin ja korsiin, mutta ei palkoihin ja siemeniin.Arseeni kerääntyi suurimmaksi osaksi lupiinien lehtiin sekä hampun korsiin, mutta sitä löydettiinhuomattavasti kohonneina pitoisuuksina jokaisesta kasvinosasta. Raskasmetalleista arseeninkonsentraatio lisääntyi selvästi maan arseenipitoisuuden kasvaessa. Kasveilla näyttäisi sen sijaanolevan raja kuinka paljon kasvi kykenee ottamaan kuparia. Raskasmetalleista kromin otto olirajoitettua ja se näyttäisi haittaavan eniten kasvua.Hamppu ja lupiini näyttäisivät soveltuvan fytoremediaatioon alueilla, joilla saastuneen maankonsentraatio on alle 200 mg kg-1 maata. Viljelemällä kasveja CCA-aineilla pilaantuneilla maillavoitaisiin puhdistaa maata sekä käyttää kasvimateriaali bioenergian lähteenä sekä lisäksi vähentääraskasmetallien ja metalloidien huuhtoutumista estämällä eroosion muodostumine