M i s c a n t h u s B r e e d i n g
OPTIMISC : Optimisation of Miscanthus as an energy crop in Europe
2012 - 2015
Miscanthus has been identified as a leading energy crop in Europe and globally. It is of great interest as it produces high biomass yields, yet requires little or no inputs in the way of fertilizer, which is expensive in both economic and energetic terms. There is currently a single commercial clone, M. x giganteus which represents the majority of what is planted. However M. x giganteus has a number of limitations in some environments inluding under drought.
Research focused on:
- evaluating new germplasm from recent Asian collections and creating novel hybridisations through breeding, and
- dissecting the mechansim of drought tolerenace in Miscanthus.
OPTIMISC was a collaborative EU Framework 7 project.
The overall objective of this project was to optimise the Miscanthus bioenergy and bioproduct chain by:
- trialling elite germplasm types over a range of sites across Europe
- analysing the key traits that currently limit the potential of Miscanthus
- identifying high-value bioproducts, and
- modelling the combined results to provide recommendations to policy makers, growers and industry.
M i s c a n t h u s B r e e d i n g t o p r o v i d e s u s t a i n a b l e g l o b a l b i o e n e r g y f o r t h e f u t u r e