Developing Perennial Grains

Lee DeHaanThe Land Institute

2.8 cm of soil loss reduces productivity by about 7%, due primarily to loss of water infiltration, water holding capacity and nutrient supply

Pimental et al. 2004

No-till croplandCentral IowaJ. Scheibel 2013

Just developing new software will never make a laptop

20% Kernza

0 1 2 30

200

400

600

800

1000

R² = 0.707440209308823

Selection Cycle

Seed

Yie

ld (k

g/Ha

)

Field Performance of Starting and Selected Kernza Plants

Forage Varieties

50 florets

168 florets105

florets

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45 Conventional fertilizer (high amount applied)

3/15/2

011

3/27/2

011

4/8/2

011

4/20/2

011

5/2/2

011

5/14/2

011

5/26/2

011

6/7/2

011

6/19/2

011

7/1/2

011

7/13/2

011

7/25/2

011

8/6/2

011

8/18/2

011

8/30/2

011

9/11/2

011

9/23/2

011

10/5/2

011

10/17/2

0110

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45 Organic system

Annual

Perennial

Nitr

ate

conc

entr

ation

in w

ater

bel

ow th

e ro

ot zo

ne (m

g/L)

Kernza plots in Michigan nearly eliminate leaching of nitrates into the ground water.

Organic fertilizer system has less leaching, but the annual wheat still “leaks” much more than the perennial Kernza.

Culman et al. 2013

wheat Kernza wheat KernzaConventional Organic

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

Grain Vegetation

Yiel

d of

dry

matt

er (k

g pe

r hec

tare

)

Comparison of wheat (annual) and Kernza (perennial) yield in Michigan, 2011 (Michigan State Univ., Culman, et al. 2013)

B1126F3

Ray florets per head: • 2006 average= 30, max = 42• 2008 cross >45; 2010 cross if > 60; • 2012 average = 52, max = 164

Helianthus maxamiliani

Silphium integrifolium

Sorghum bicolorSorghum halepense

PerennialRice

• Soil erosion in uplands of southeast Asia has been a serious problem that led to the project of developing perennial upland rice at IRRI (IRRI 1989)

Upland Rice in Yunnan, China

Also could aid aerobic rice production

Site/harvest no. Perennial Annual Notes

Jinghong

1 5619 5712

2 3905 (birds) 5437

3 4027 4513 3.5% mortality

Simao

1 7350 7145

2 temperatures too cold

3 6720 6810 5.4% mortality

Yields of PR 23 perennial (ratooning) rice over 3 harvests (2 years)

www.landinstitute.org