Large scale cultivation of Cynara cardunculus L. for biomass production-A case study

Large scale cultivation of the cardoon Cynara cardunculus L. for biomass production was installed using common agricultural practices and machinery in a total of 77.4 ha in southern Portugal in a region characterized by very hot and dry summers. This species is a perennial with an annual growth cycle. Installation by sowing was successful in spite of the extreme drought that occurred during this first cycle (221 mm), and the plants developed well during the second cycle (with 556 mm rainfall) with a mean density of 27 thousand plants per ha. Aerial photographs showed that 45.8 ha of the field had over 50% of ground cover by cardoon plants. The observed differences in soil occupation could be explained by rock outcrops, soil heterogeneity and land topography. The field biomass yield was estimated at 7.5 t ha(-1) and the plants at harvest had on average 2.1 m height and 2.2 cm stalk diameter, with 5.3 capitula per plant. Stalks represented 59.1% of total dry biomass. The capitula contain small oil seeds with an average of 126 seeds per capitulum and weighing 32 g per 1000 seeds. The mean seed yield was 603 kg ha(-1). The results of this experiment confirm that Cynara crops are suitable for biomass production in Mediterranean regions and that large scale operation can be applied including whole plant harvest or field fractionation for seed recovery. Careful attention to cultural practices was deemed important for field homogeneity and production. The observed plant variation, namely in oil seed production, suggests potential improvements through breeding. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.