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Bioenergy and Agriculture:Promises and Challenges.Bioenergy and Agricultural Research for Development.Policy Brief No 7 of 12

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/3896/
 
Title Bioenergy and Agriculture:Promises and Challenges.Bioenergy and Agricultural Research for Development.Policy Brief No 7 of 12
 
Creator Ortiz, R
Crouch, J H
Iwanaga, M
Sayre, K
Warburton, M
Araus, J L
Dixon, J
Bohn, M
Reddy, B V S
Ramesh, S
Wani, S P
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
 
Description Converting agriculture to produce energy as well as food has
become an important and well-funded global research goal
as petroleum reserves fall and fuel prices rise. But the use of crop
biomass—both grain and other plant parts—as a raw material for
bioenergy production may compete with food and feed supplies and
remove valuable plant residues that help sustain soil productivity
and structure and avoid erosion. Agricultural research can mitigate
these trade-offs by enhancing the biomass traits of dual-purpose
food crops, developing new biomass crops for marginal lands where
there is less competition with food crops, and developing sustainable
livestock management systems that are less dependent on biomass
residuals for feeds. Agronomists will need to define the minimum
thresholds of crop residues for sustainable production in particular
farming systems, especially in low-yield rainfed systems (that
produce less than 5–6 metric tons of grain and straw per hectare),
and to establish the level of additional residues that may be removed
for other purposes, including biofuel production. Enhanced root
growth offers another avenue for maintaining soil organic matter.
Agricultural research can also help improve the energy efficiency of
biomass crops, enhancing their value as renewable energy sources
with low net carbon emissions.
 
Publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
 
Date 2006
 
Type Monograph
NonPeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
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Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/3896/1/Policy_Brief7_IFPRI.pdf
Ortiz, R and Crouch, J H and Iwanaga, M and Sayre, K and Warburton, M and Araus, J L and Dixon, J and Bohn, M and Reddy, B V S and Ramesh, S and Wani, S P (2006) Bioenergy and Agriculture:Promises and Challenges.Bioenergy and Agricultural Research for Development.Policy Brief No 7 of 12. Monograph. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C, USA.