EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION, PLANTATION DENSITY AND CLONAL COMPOSITION ON WOODY BIOMASS QUALITY FOR BIOENERGY IN A SHORT ROTATION CULTURE SYSTEM WITH WILLOW (Salix spp.)

ACHINELLI FG; DOFFO G; BAROTTO AJ; LUQUEZ V; MONTEOLIVA S

REVISTA ÝRVORE

UNIV FEDERAL VICOSA

Año: 2018 vol. 42

0100-6762

A short rotation intensive system with willows was analyzed with the following aims: a - To determine the effect of irrigation, genotype and plantation density on wood anatomy, wood density, moisture content, lower heating value, total ash content and energy accumulated in the woody biomass; b ? To explore the relationships between anatomical and physical wood properties and the parameters determining their quality as biofuel. A complete factorial experiment was set up, with three factors and two levels for each factor. The factors were: irrigation, plantation density and clone (genotype). The clones were Salix matsudana Koidz. x Salix alba L. `Barrett 13-44 INTA´ (B); and Salix alba L. `Yaguareté INTA - CIEF´(Y). 46 stools of 1 m length were sampled, over these materials the following determinations were carried out: vessel diameter and frequency, fiber walls thickness and area, wood density, moisture content, ash content and heating values. Clone B had higher wood density than clone Y (0.406 vs. 0.395 g/cm3) and lower moisture content (47.11 vs 50.53 %). The plantation density did not affect any of the variables analyzed. Irrigation increased the energy yield to 393.2 Gj/ha compared with 309.15 Gj/ha without irrigation. A system with clone B planted at the lower density (13,000 plants/ha) and under irrigation is the most advantage as energetic crop over the other alternatives evaluated in this work.