3. Test Locations, Sizes, and Durations

The total area of miscanthus trials in Europe in 1995/96 was about 170 ha (Jorgensen and Venendaal 1997); in 1998 the total was still modest, with Switzerland (300 ha) having the largest area under cultivation (Lewandowski 1998b). The European Miscanthus Productivity Network was established around 1993, with 18 sites participating from 10 countries. Results of these trials have been summarized in a 1997 European Commission (EC) publication, the Miscanthus Handbook (Walsh and McCarthy 1998). However, this publication has not yet been released by the EC for worldwide distribution. The results given here in note form have been drawn from the available literature. Country names are in alphabetical order. MAP=mean annual precipitation, MAT=mean annual temperature, where reported.

Austria (lat. about 48 N, MAP about 700 mm, MAT 8.8 C), M. x giganteus, 3-year old stands @ 10,000/ha, est. 1989, gave 22 t/ha (dry weight). No response to nitrogen fertilizer above 90 kg N/ha, despite added P, K, Mg - possibly due to fertile soil (Schwarz et al. 1994).

Southern Britain (lat. 51-52 N), 4 locations (MAP 500-700 mm), various soil types. M. x giganteus, 10-15 t/ha at spring harvest in year 3 (Note low yields because of drought). No response to N fertilizer (Bullard et al. 1996).

Denmark (Hornum, lat. about 56 N). M. x giganteus est. 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, and M. sinensis (15 varieties) est. 1990. 70-100 kg N/ha applied. Annual dry matter production 15-25 t/ha, but spring (April) harvesting when drier and more minerals recycled gives 7-10 t/ha. Farmers' trials give 7-9 t/ha (Jorgensen 1996).

Southern Germany, 3 locations (MAP 800-1000 mm, MAT 7.5-10.0 C). M. x giganteus. 8-30 t/ha, depending on soil fertility (Lewandowski and Kicherer 1997).

Southern Germany (MAP 606 mm, MAT 9.1 C), 6 genotypes, 3-8 years old, yields as noted in the table below (Hotz et al. 1996).

Western Germany (lat. 51 N, MAP 715 mm, MAT 9.3 C). M. x giganteus, 3-year-old stands @ 10,000/ha, est. 1989, gave 30 t/ha dry matter (max.); final spring yield 15-18 t/ha. Low fertilizer requirements -- 60 kg N, 8 kg P, 80 kg K, 15 kg magnesium per hectare (Himken et al. 1997)

Germany (4 sites, clay to sand, MAP 565-603 mm, MAT 7.9-9.5 C). M. x giganteus. 4- to 6-year-old stands produced 17.0-30.3 t/ha (mean of 3 years). Harvested biomass averaged 10-15 t/ha as a result of preharvest loss of leaves and shoot tips (4-5 t/ha), stubble/residues left in field (1.3-3.1 t/ha), and other loss of stems due to harvesting limitations. Carbon/nitrogen ratio of harvested biomass=110 (nitrogen content=0.44%). Nitrogen requirements met by soil mineralization, so nitrogen fertilizer not required (under these temperature/rainfall limited conditions). High transpiration water requirement was confirmed by crop modeling showing soil water depletion. However, miscanthus tended to increase soil organic matter and nitrogen content for sandy soils (further details not available; cited in Boelcke et al. 1998).

Northern Greece (lat. 41 N), M. x giganteus, planted on 1.0-m grid, 0.2-ha plot, fertilized and irrigated. Second-year maximum yield (September)=44 t/ha (Danalatos et al. 1996).

Central Greece (lat. 38 N), M. x giganteus, planted at 0.5-m spacing on small plots. 2- to 3-year-old stands yielded 26 t/ha, with little effect of added nitrogen fertilizer or irrigation (Christou et al. 1998).

Southern Italy (lat. 37 N), M. x giganteus, small plots, irrigated and fertilized. 30-32 t/ha final (spring) yield in years 2-3 (Foti et al. 1996).

Northwestern Spain (lat. 43 N), M. x giganteus, small plots. Mixed results, but no fertilizer effect observed. Demonstrated that 30 t/ha is achievable (Bao Iglesias et al. 1996).

Western Turkey (lat. 38 N, MAP 698 mm, MAT 17.6 C), M. x giganteus. 3-year-old stands yielded 28 t/ha, with little effect of added nitrogen fertilizer (Acaroglu and Aksoy 1998).