Growth of spring camelina (Camelina sativa) under deficit irrigation in Western Nebraska

Abstract

The High Plains of the U.S.A. is subject to periodic drought where low-water using crops are desired. Camelina is a potential biofuel crop that may be suitable for this region. The objective was to determine the growth, seed yield, and oil characteristic of camelina exposed to four levels of applied water in western Nebraska. The cultivar Cheyenne was exposed to rain-fed only (RF), and irrigated with 10 (LI), 20 (MI), and 30 (HI) cm water. Irrigation increased plant growth as measured by canopy height, stem length, and canopy weight. Maximum height (70-80 cm) was reached by 10 weeks after planting (WAP) with a total of 23 cm of applied water or 13 cm of irrigation. By 13 WAP, canopy and pod fresh weights were increased by 40 to 50% by the MI and HI irrigations. Likewise, at harvest (13 WAP), plant dry weight was increased by 50% by the two higher irrigation levels. Seed yields were increased by each incremental increase in irrigation from 890 kg/ha for RF to 2540 for HI, a 2.85-fold increase. Oil content was not affected by irrigating at the LI or MI but was increased only by the HI irrigation level. The fatty acid profile was altered by irrigation with an increase in the major constituent, linolenic acid, and a corresponding decrease in two other large constituents, oleic and linoleic acids. There also was a slight increase in the minor constituent of erucic acid. The growth pattern of camelina showed that 23 cm of

Camelina Seed Yield and Fatty Acids as Influenced by Genotype and Environment

“…The oil contents observed in the present study were within the range from 27 to 34% reported in studies conducted in western Nebraska (Pavlista et al, 2011;Pavlista et al, 2016). Nonetheless, camelina oil content >40% has been reported in other environments (Zubr, 2003;Vollmann et al, 2007;Gesch, 2014).…”

“…As regulation of desaturase activity by temperature at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels has been noted in other plant species (Singer et al, 2016), a similar effect on fatty acid desaturase (FAD3) activity in camelina may explain the relatively high levels of linoleic acid grown in Hays. In addition, soil water availability through irrigation was found to increase proportion of linolenic acid in camelina from 32 to 35% but the amount of linoleic acid decreased slightly from 20 to 19%, respectively (Pavlista et al, 2016). The greatest amounts of linolenic acid were observed when precipitation was above normal during flowering and seed filling (Kirkhus et al, 2013).…”

“…Aiken et al (2015) showed yields of oilseed crops including camelina grown under dryland conditions in the central Great Plains to be limited by available soil moisture and heat stress at flowering and during seed formation. In western Nebraska, increased soil moisture availability increased camelina seed yield significantly from 890 kg ha -1 for rain-fed to 2540 kg ha -1 by adding 27 cm of water through irrigation over the season (Pavlista et al, 2016).…”

“…However, recent studies showed camelina could be grown successfully in the central Great Plains region of western Nebraska (Pavlista et al, 2012;Pavlista et al, 2016) and western Kansas (Aiken et al, 2015) with seed yields (900-1000 kg ha -1 ) comparable to that reported under dryland in the northern Great Plains. A maximum yield of 2500 kg ha -1 was achieved under irrigation in western Nebraska (Pavlista et al, 2016). Depending on the climate, camelina yields have been documented to range from 500 to 2880 kg ha -1 (McVay and Lamb, 2008;Vollmann et al, 2007;Moser, 2010).…”

“…Most of the production and research on camelina in the United States has been conducted in the northern Great Plains (Robinson, 1987;Putnam et al, 1993;Budin et al, 1995;Gesch and Cermak, 2011;McVay and Khan, 2011;Chen et al, 2015;Sintim et al, 2016). However, recent studies showed camelina could be grown successfully in the central Great Plains region of western Nebraska (Pavlista et al, 2012;Pavlista et al, 2016) and western Kansas (Aiken et al, 2015) with seed yields (900-1000 kg ha -1 ) comparable to that reported under dryland in the northern Great Plains. A maximum yield of 2500 kg ha -1 was achieved under irrigation in western Nebraska (Pavlista et al, 2016).…”