11729: Wood Chips from Hedgerows: a Potential for On-Farm Mulching and Bioenergy?
(2008) Wood Chips from Hedgerows: a Potential for On-Farm Mulching and Bioenergy?. Paper presented at Cultivating the Future Based on Science: 2nd Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), Modena, Italy, June 18-20, 2008.
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Summary
Hedgerows are landscape elements with high ecological value and with agricultural benefits, and therefore appreciated in Organic Farming. The study quantifies in a model approach the biomass potential of hedgerows for on-farm-mulching of arable land (weed regulation, protection from erosion) or, alternatively, for bio-energy use. The calculations are based on experiments at the Experimental Station for Organic Farming Kleinhohenheim (60 ha). The yield of wood chips from hedgerows was too low to mulch the total arable land, or to mulch several selected crops. Hedgerows in a length of 1.5 km (equal to 1% of the farm area) yielded wood chips to mulch 0.1 ha. With 7.5 km hedgerows, 0.5 ha could be mulched, and with wood from 30 km hedgerows, 2 ha could be mulched. 7.5 km hedgerows used as firewood cover the corresponding fuel oil demand of one household; nevertheless, the yield of bio-energy is clearly lower from hedgerows than from short rotation coppice alternatively grown on the same area. Because of benefits from wood chips mulch for soil protection and weed regulation, the study concludes that mulch should be applied to thoroughly selected areas, such as slopes (protection from soil erosion), crops with wide inter-row-distance and low competition capacity to weeds (e.g. faba beans) or perennial high-value crops (e.g. soft fruits). Alternatively, organic wood chips can be sold for gardening.
| Document Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | agro-eco-systems, soil protection, landscape, bio-energy |
| Subject Areas: | Environmental aspects > Biodiversity and ecosystem services |
| Research affiliation: | Germany > Univ. Hohenheim; Faculty of Agriculture International Conferences > 2008: IFOAM OWC: Research Track / ISOFAR > 6.2 Agro-Ecology |
| Total budget (Euro): | 0 |
| Orgprints ID Number: | 11729 |
| Contact: | Gruber, Dr. Sabine |
| Deposited On: | 10 July 2008 |
| EPrint Type: | Conference paper |
| Published?: | Published |
| Type of presentation: | Paper |
| Peer Review Status: | Not peer-reviewed |
| Additional Publishing Information: | The paper is published in: Daniel Neuhoff, Niels Halberg, Thomas Alföldi, William Lockeretz, Andreas Thommen, Ilse. A. Rasmussen, John Hermansen, Mette Vaarst, Lorna Lueck, Fabio Caporali, Henning Hogh Jensen, Paola Migliorini, Helga Willer (Editors) Cultivating the Future Based on Science. Volume 2 - Livestock, Socio-economy and Cross disciplinary Research in Organic Agriculture. Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), held at the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress in Cooperation with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the Consorzio ModenaBio, 18 – 20 June 2008 in Modena, Italy. International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), DE-Bonn; Institute of Organic Agriculture (IOL), DE-Bonn; Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), CH-Frick, Danish Research Centre for Organic Food and Farming (DARCOF), DK-8830 Tjele ISBN: 978-3-03736-024-8, 863 pages |
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