Influence of Soil Quality for Yield and Biometric Features of Sida hermaphrodita L. Rusby

Abstract

Although the domain role of agriculture is food production, a part of agricultural land has always been devoted to non-food products, mainly within the framework of emerging technologies. One of the plants that can be used for various non-food purposes is Virginia mallow (Sida hermaphrodita L. Rusby). Following this study it was found that Sida hermaphrodita yields less on poor soil and on soils of good quality, but is too heavy. This plant has best yields on good soils with proper water-air relations. Nevertheless, good yields were also obtained on poorer and medium-quality soils. This is particularly important from the standpoint of competition for land resources between production for food and non-food products. Achieving yield at 1-2 kg DM (m 2)-1 is possible in the case of plants that grow from 16 to 24 shoots for stumps with a diameter of 11-13 mm and a height of 2.2-2.6 m.

Two Novel Energy Crops: Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby and Silphium perfoliatum L.—State of Knowledge

“…Similar stem densities have generally been reported in other studies. Shoots reached a constant density of around 24 shoots per m 2 [20] and 16-24 shoots per m 2 [43], although Borkowska and Molas [41] reported a relatively high density of 37 shoots per m 2 .…”

“…As such, Dr. G. Bedlan [44] recommended the use of the antagonist Coniothyrium minitans (Contans WG, ©2020 Bayer Crop Science). Matyka and Kuś [43] applied a fungicide (Horizon 250 EW 0.018%) with the active ingredient tebuconazole, in June of the first year after planting to control the disease. As Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is commonly found in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), Nahm and Morhart [14] recommend that S. hermaphrodita should not be grown in fields previously used for oilseed rape should be avoided.…”

“…The yield of S. hermaphrodita, for a given plant spacing, has been related to the number of shoots per plant and the mean diameter of the shoots [43]. For S. hermaphrodita, yields vary greatly depending on soil type, climatic conditions, fertilization, and weed control [14].…”

“…From a nine years experiment, Matyka and Kuś [43] reported average yields of 1-2 kg DM m −2 y −1 , corresponding to 10-20 t DM ha −1 y −1 . From their fifteen years experiment, Krzyżaniak et al [38] report total yields from 42.9 t ha −1 (lowest) to 86.7 t DM ha −1 (highest), equivalent to 2.9-5.8 t ha −1 y −1 for the control and dried digestate fertilised options respectively.…”

“…The highest S. hermaphrodita yields are obtained when it is grown on rich soils but not too heavy, with good water supply and aeration, under favourable weather conditions [43]. Yields of 15-20 t DM ha −1 y −1 are reported for water-retentive clay loamy soils (Borkowska, 2007, cited in [20]), compared to 13 t DM ha −1 y −1 on clay sandy soils [41] and 8.4 t DM ha −1 y −1 on light sandy loams [20].…”