USDA Researcher Finds Double-Cropping Can Boost Yields

In Illinois, researchers have realized that if they are to meet the demand for biofuels, feedstocks will need to come from many different sources, according to Marty Williams, from University of Illinois and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. The use of double-cropping systems, where a winter annual crop is grown then harvested in the spring, followed by a summer annual crop, was suggested as an option.

Williams tried developing a bioenergy feedstock/vegetable double-cropping system as no such system had been developed yet. During the study, Williams compared crop productivity and weed communities in four different pumpkin production systems. Interestingly, the researchers saw pumpkin yields in the double-cropping system were comparable to conventional pumpkin production. However, the biomass feedstock also yielded an average of 4.4 tons per acre of dry biomass prior to pumpkin planting.

"We saw a theoretical yield of 349 gallons of ethanol per acre, and a higher farm gate value than typical pumpkin production," Williams said.