Cultivation of alternative crops as energy crops

Abstract

Several winter and spring alternative crops are grown in our country. Similar to the yield of staple field crops, the yield of minor cultivated crops is affected by complex climate-soil interactions, abiotic and biotic stress and cultivation technology. If grown solely for the production of plant raw materials (aboveground biomass, grain and/or root) for conversion into biofuels and bioenergy, the alternative crops are energy - crops. Although they have different botanical affiliations, morphologies and origins, energy - crops can be: oilseeds (oil rapeseed, camelina, white mustard, castor), starch-sugar (sorghum, Sudanese grass, corn) and lignocellulosic (miscanthus, hemp). From the point of view of agronomy, the prerequisite for increasing the area under energy - plant species for the production of biofuels in Serbia is the improvement of assortment, cultivation technology and mechanization. The paper provides an overview of agronomic forms and cultivation technology of several specific alternative plant species in the context of using crop biomass for energy purposes.