Studies on the Yield of Catch Crops Grown for Fuel

Summary

Growing catch crops for fuel is one of a number of biofuel strategies within U.K. agriculture; the main advantage is that the system does not displace food production. Productivity is determined by land-time availability, crop yield and conversion efficiency. Crop yield has been investigated theoretically and experimentally; a descriptive model of the catch fuel crop system has been constructed and the effect of species, seed rate and sowing date on growth and yield investigated in a field experiment. Preliminary analyses reveal a strong effect of sowing date and seed rate at later sowing dates on yield. It is hoped to use data from this experiment and an experiment to be carried out later this year to construct a model to predict catch crop yield in various environments.