Title:
How to Grow Successfully Camelina: A Valuable Oilseed for Greece
Author(s):
Alexopoulou, E., Kempapidis, K., Iordanoglou, K., Tsiadis, G., León Guadaño, P.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is a novel oilseed crop for the European biobased industry. It has a short growing cycle, it can be grown in most climatic zones of Europe as spring crop, while in the Mediterranean region it can be grown both as winter and spring crop. In the light of 4CE-MED project (www.4cemed.eu) camelina was studied as cash cover crop for the Mediterranean region (Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria) in effective cropping agricultural systems. The cropping scheme that was tested for Greece was: Year 1 - camelina as winter crop and sunflower as summer crop and Year 2: winter cereals. Moreover, a number of cultural practices (seven varieties, two sowing dates, two plant densities and two tillage systems) have been tested for a period of three subsequent growing seasons (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). The field trials had been carried out in central Greece (Aliartos, Viotia). Among the tested camelina varieties provided by CCE (http://camelinacompany.es) the most productive were CCE26 and CCE40 with mean seed yields of 1.41 t/ha and the least one was CCE27 (1.36 t/ha seeds). It can be commented that the difference among the seven under study varieties were small. Among the three sowing dates (early to mid of November and early to mid of December) the highest yields had been recorded when the sowing was done in December (sowing time for the winter cereals in the area of the trials). Between the two plant densities (low: 600 plants/m2 and high: 800 plants/m2) it was found that higher seed yields can be achieved when the plant density was 800 plants/m2 (11% higher compared to the low density). Two tillage systems (tillage, no-tillage) were compared and it was found that camelina worked very well in no-till blocks the seed yields of the till blocks were only 5-11% higher than the no-till ones. The oil content of the seeds varied from 38 to 40.5 %, while the protein content from 25 to 26.5%. Each year the final harvest was done from the mid-May to the beginning of June. Apart from the seeds the residual biomass had been collected. The yields of the residual biomass varied from 3.5 to 4 t/ha (oven dried). The moisture content of the residual biomass was around 10%. All these trials carried out in Greece showed that camelina can work very well as winter crop with seed yields of 1.4 t/ha. Because the crop can be harvested by end of May (2-3 weeks earlier than rapeseed) it can be followed by sunflower (double cropping). The training activities organised in the view of the project proved the high farmers perception that is going to be further increased since camelina has been selected by the Greek Strategic Plan of CAP to receive a subsidy of 600 €/ha.
Keywords:
cultivation, energy crops, feedstock, oilseeds
Topic:
Sustainable Resources for Decarbonising the Economy
Subtopic:
Innovative biomass production for energy integrated into traditional agri-forestry systems
Event:
32nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1DV.4.8
Pages:
148 - 151
ISBN:
978-88-89407-24-0
Paper DOI:
10.5071/32ndEUBCE2024-1DV.4.8
Price:
FREE
