New cultivation methods of Miscanthus in Europe

There are enormous possibilities for industrial uses of Miscanthus in Europe, e.g. as a construction material and as a source of energy (18; 19). For that reason, there is a high demand for the raw material Miscanthus from the industry. In the next years in Great Britain the cultivation of Miscanthus will reach 10,000 ha, in Switzerland it will be 3,000 ha. Also in Germany the cultivation of Miscanthus increases in Bavaria and NRW (3; 19; 20). Miscanthus is an tropical plant which is not adapted to the north and middle European climate. Earlier experiments showed, that cultivation under harsh environmental conditions, e.g. cold temperatures in winter, was difficult (5; 7). The results of this trial with different genotypes and propagation methods shows, that it is possible to cultivate this tropical plant in Europe. In this trial the establishment of different micro- and macropropagated genotypes on not optimal conditions of location was observed. Planting of micropropagated plants in 1997 (single-, double- or multiple sprouted preparation) revealed, that the selection of multiple sprouted plants by breeding methods and in the autumn matured genotypes are necessary for a good establishment. The cultivation of macropropagated Miscanthus was tested with different rhizome sizes (finger to fist sizes) and different genotypes. The planting time was in autumn 1999 and in spring 2000. Rhizome sizes affected growth of Miscanthus significantly, while there was no difference of growth or resistance to cold temperatures between the different genotypes. By planting in autumn the shatting rate of Miscanthus was only 1.4% when rhizomes are large in comparison to 64.8%, when rhizomes are small. Experiments on cultivation in spring showed a low shatting rate of 6.7% both with big and small rhizomes. In opposite to some references in the literature our cultivation trial have shown that growth of Miscanthus was possible under sub optimal conditions in regard to different factors, such as cultivation methods, genotypes and planting time.