Silphium perfoliatum —A Herbaceous Crop with Increased Interest in Recent Years for Multi-Purpose Use

Dumitru Peni, Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski, Anna Bordiean, Michał Krzyżaniak and Marcin Dębowski
Additional contact information
Dumitru Peni: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Anna Bordiean: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Michał Krzyżaniak: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-724 Olsztyn, Poland
Marcin Dębowski: Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Warszawska 117, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-22

Abstract: Silphium perfoliatum is a perennial crop native to North America that has been the subject of increased scientific interest in recent years, especially in Europe. It is drought- and frost-resistant, which makes it suitable for cultivation in Europe on marginal lands that are not used for growing other crops. This review analyzed the distribution and purposes of the cultivation of Silphium perfoliatum worldwide, as well as its biomass yields and characteristics as a feedstock for biogas production and other purposes. A total of 121 scientific publications on Silphium perfoliatum were identified, with the highest number (20 papers) published in 2019. It was found that higher biomass yields can be obtained at higher precipitation levels, with the use of fertilizers and an adequate type of plantation. The mean dry matter yield of Silphium perfoliatum was 13.3 Mg ha −1 DM (dry matter), and it ranged from 2 to over 32 Mg ha −1 DM. In some countries, Silphium is used as a forage crop mainly due to its high crude protein content (from 4.9% to 15% DM), depending on the vegetation phase. Silphium perfoliatum is a promising perennial crop in terms of energy and other benefits for biodiversity, soil quality and applications in medicine and pharmacology.

Keywords: cup plant; perennial energy crop; energy expenses; biogas; biomass yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/12/640/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/12/640/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:12:p:640-:d:463111

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().