Perennial crops are vital contributors to global food production and nutrition. However, the breeding of new perennial crops is an expensive and time-consuming process due to the large size and lengthy juvenile phase of many species. Genomics provides a valuable tool for improving the efficiency of breeding by allowing progeny possessing a trait of interest to be selected at the seed or seedlin...

This study integrates a biophysical model with a county-specific economic analysis of breakeven prices of bioenergy crop production to assess the biophysical and economic potential of biofuel production in the Midwestern United States. The bioenergy crops considered in this study include a genotype of Miscanthus, Miscanthus giganteus, and the Cave-in-Rock breed of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)...

Perennial herbaceous crops can become the main basis for renewable energy production in agricultural ecosystems in future. To determine the plant species that are the most suitable for biomass production, their biological peculiarities and productivity, biochemical composition and thermophysical properties, social and ecological impact must be investigated thoroughly. The local varieties of per...

Mandates for biofuel and renewable electricity are creating incentives for biomass production in agricultural landscapes of the Upper Midwest. Different bioenergy crops are expected to vary in their effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here, we use data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to forecast the impact of potential bioenergy crops on avian species richness and the n...

We study a farmer’s decision to convert traditional crop land into growing dedicated energy crops, taking into account sunk conversion costs, uncertainties in traditional and energy crop returns, and learning. The optimal decision rules differ significantly from the expected net present value rule, which ignores learning, and from real option models that allow only one way conversions into ener...

Published in Agron. J. 103:509–519 (2011) Published online 7 Feb 2011 doi:10.2134/agronj2010.0360 Copyright © 2011 by the American Society of Agronomy, 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retr...

Flowering time is a key target trait for extending the vegetative phase to increase biomass in bioenergy crops such as perennial C4 grasses. Molecular genetic studies allow the identification of genes involved in the control of flowering in different species. Some regulatory factors of the Arabidopsis pathway are conserved in other plant species such as grasses. However, differences in the func...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera) is one of the most widespread and economically important perennial fruit crops in world. Viticulture has changed over years response to changing environmental conditions market demands, triggering development new improved varieties ensure crop’s sustainability. The aim this review provide a perspective on recent developments biotechnology molecular bio...