The objective of this work is to study the accumulation of lignocellulosic biomass of two varieties of rye (Petkus and Askari) and two varieties of triticale (Trujillo and Collegial) during its vegetative period. The plots' size was about 300 m2 for each variety trial. The selected plots were cultivated under rainfed continental conditions in the province of Soria (central-northern Spain) and for one vegetative period. To evaluate the biomass accumulation, a total of 15 samplings were periodically carried out from March to July. 10 sub-samples per sampling and genotype were taken randomly. Results indicated that yield followed an upward trend until reaching 222 days from sowing. At that moment, the greatest biomass production was obtained for the four studied varieties (rye variety cv. Askari: 13.7 oven dried tonnes (odt)/ha; rye variety cv. Petkus: 11.5 odt/ha; triticale variety cv. Collegial: 10.0 odt/ha; triticale variety cv. Trujillo: 11.8 odt/ha). A significant difference was found among species and varieties. Considering total biomass production, the appropriate time to harvest the whole plant was corresponded with the penultimate sampling (222 days from sowing) in which the thermal time was 2106.8 ºC days (degree days). Adjusted models for each studied variety were also defined.

Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 548-553