Effect of Row Spacing on Biomass Yield of Energy Cane Cultivar HO72-114.

Energycane (Saccharum spp) is a perennial cellulosic feedstock suitable for biofuel industry. It has emerged as one of the non-food and renewable resource of biomass that can be grown on marginal lands with limited input. Limited research is done on spacing of energy cane. It has been planted with sugarcane planting spacing. This research aimed at exploring the impact of row spacing on biomass yield of energy cane cultivar HO72-114. Energy cane was planted in fall 2012 and was harvested after establishment and allowed to ratoon for biomass yield in subsequent years for six years (2013-2018). Six different plant spacing treatment combinations were tested using 3 inter (1.22 m, 1.52 m and 1.83 m) and 2 intra (0.61 m and 0.91 m) row spacing on plant growth and biomass yield. Row spacing of 1.83 m × 0.91 m was used as standard reference similar to sugarcane planting The results showed that the dry matter yield ranged from 13- 25 Mg/ha and spacing treatments had no significant effect on dry matter biomass yields over years. While the dry biomass yield was invariably constant for first three year it declined by 13-30% by sixth year across the treatments. It is evident that existing planting and harvesting farm machinery for sugarcane can be used for energy cane production.