Novel Cropping Technologies and Management Applied to Energy Crops

Dedicated energy crops are undergoing a rapid development. Progress is not only sought in increasing crop surface and biomass utilization, but also in advanced techniques for increasing the efficiency in the agricultural phase while restraining the drawbacks in energy cropping. The use of traditional food crops as an energy source only needs minor changes, whereas novel energy crops often necessitate starting from scratch in laying out their husbandry. Therefore, continuous improvement in large-scale food crops such as cereals and oilseeds also benefits their energy uses, whereas a variable gap remains to be filled in novel crops such as perennial rhizomatous grasses to keep abreast of current agricultural progress. Energy crops are aimed for a high efficiency in converting subsidiary energy, and are devised to originate positive externalities in environmental sustainability and global warming abatement. The ongoing progress in crop techniques is therefore confronted with these two delicate topics. Water footprint and land use are two other foremost issues related to energy crops at present. The fears for the depletions of specific resources such as fertilizer phosphates and for negative externalities such as land grabbing will likely be new issues to be discussed as regards energy crops. All these issues increase the pressure to improve the efficiencies per unit land cultivated and per unit input of energy, seed, fertilizer, etc. in energy crop production. The agricultural practices reviewed in the five categories of planting, nutrition, water management, protection and harvest are equally involved in the process. The potential echoed in several scientific sources is the best premise for optimistic prospects; the commitment in pursuing the current efforts is the best assurance to achieve them.