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Description
Introduction
Agriculture is currently facing the challenge of ensuring food security. In addition, climate change affects the sustainability of farming systems by decreasing crop yield and soil fertility (Kakabouky, 2021). Novel agriculture practices, such as the inclusion of alternative crops into traditional cropping systems could be a new solution to pursue environmental benefits. In recent years, there has been growing interest in two easy-to-grow oilseed crops belonging to the Brassicaceae family: Camelina sativa (L. Crantz) and Brassica carinata (A. Braun). Camelina is a low agronomic input crop which can adapt to different environments and produce oil suitable for multiple bio-based application (Zanetti et al., 2021). Carinata is a resilient crop with high erucic acid contents, thus suited to produce biofuels, including aviation fuels (Seepaul et al., 2021). The present study was carried out to support the development of these two crops within conventional EU cropping systems, and to provide insights on the use of camelina and carinata oil.
Materials and methods
Camelina and carinata were tested in a multi-location trial (Italy and Serbia) in different cropping systems for two consecutive growing season (2022-24). The trials were carried out at the experimental farm of the University of Bologna (Italy) and at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops at Rimski Šančevi, Novi Sad (Serbia). Three camelina varieties (CCE44 and CCE117 by Camelina Company, Spain, and Lenka by the University of Poznan, Poland) were evaluated in Italy, whereas two camelina varieties (NS Zlatka and NS Slatka) were investigated in Serbia. Each variety was sown in (strip plots of about 5000 m2) at the end of October. At both sites, sunflower and sorghum were double cropped after camelina (harvested in June) and compared with a common sole-crop system (food crops sown in April). Carinata (sown in autumn 2023) (Nujet350 by Nuseed, France) was intercropped with chickpeas in Italy and with barley in Serbia.
Results
During the first growing season, the meteorological conditions in both countries were in line with long-term data. A remarkable difference was recorded in Italy in May 2023 when almost 275 mm of rain caused a soil flooding. In Serbia, temperatures in winter months were higher than long-term data and May 2023 was marked by 131 mm of precipitation. Concerning the cash-cover cropping system, the productivity of camelina significantly changed depending on variety with variety CCE117 which reached the highest seed yield in Italy. In Serbia, the seed yield of camelina was on average 1.6 Mg ha.1. With regard to food crops after camelina, sunflower was successfully in both countries (1.8 and 2.6 t ha-1, in Italy and Serbia, respectively), whereas sorghum showed a too long growing cycle remaining green until November. The harvest of the second-year trial of camelina and the first-year trial of carinata cropping systems is planned in summer 2024.
Discussion
From these first results, camelina confirmed its resilience despite adverse weather conditions characterizing the first growing season and achieved seed yields in line with the literature in Serbia. Although no data are available yet on the carinata intercropping system, the crop seems to fit well combined with food crops in both Italy and Serbia regions. It is necessary to keep on searching for new solutions to diversify the structure of farming systems, integrate alternative crops that are adapted to climate change and mitigate water and nitrogen losses, reduce chemical input and C02 emissions.
References
Kakabouki I., Tataridas A., Mavroeidis A., Kousta A., Roussis I., Katsenios N., Efthimiadou A., Papastylianou P. (2021). Introduction of alternative crops in the Mediterranean to satisfy EU Green Deal goals. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 6: 41-71.
Seepaul, R., Kumar, S., Boote, K.J., Small, I.M., George, S. and Wright, D.L. (2021), Physiological analysis of growth and development of winter carinata (Brassica carinata A. Braun). GCB Bioenergy, 13: 1112-1133.
Zanetti, F., Alberghini, B., Marjanovi´c Jeromela, A., Grahovac, N., Rajkovi´c, D., Ki`erpvski, B., Monti, A., 2021. Camelina, an ancient oilseed crop actively contributing to the rural renaissance in Europe. A review. Agronomy Sustainable Development, 41, 2.
| Keywords | Cropping system; camelina sativa; brassica carinata; oilseed; Brassicaceae |
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