Miscanthus sacchariflorus of the Soranovskiy variety on the Altai chernozem

Abstract

On the trial plots of the Altai State Agricultural University established under the conditions of moderately arid forest-outlier steppe on leached chernozem, Amur silvergrass (Miscanthus sacchariflorus) of the Soranovskiy variety was sown and studied during the first three years of the plantation’s life. The plant quickly begins to grow after sowing and forms bushes up to 0.85 m high and on the first year of growing makes it possible to obtain up to 5 t ha of wet weight or up to 2 t ha of dry weight. The plant survives very well under severe winter conditions. Next year it actively grows and quickly colonizes the plantation. On the second year of growing, at paniculation stage, it forms plants up to 1.40 m high and leaf area of up to 10814.5 cm² per running meter. On the third year, 86 shoots are formed per running meter, all plants begin to flower, and their height at this stage is up to 1.60 m, and the leaf area - up to 11708.9 cm² per running meter. The wet yield weight is up to 5.24 t ha, and dry yield weight - up to 2.24 t ha. Cellulose content in the straw reaches 48.6%; that allows considering the variety under study to be a promising raw material for industry. The total amount of the components of straw chemical composition straw reaches 98.9%. At the same time, the later the plants are cut in the autumn, the higher cellulose and lignin content is, and the content of ash and wax glaze fraction decreases.