SIDATIM: ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL OF NEW BIOMASS CROPS AND VALUABLE TIMBER TREES IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

The SidaTim project is investigating new pathways for biomass production for a circular bio-based economy. Part of the project activities are focused on two new bioenergy crops, Sida hermaphrodita and Siphium perfoliatum, both perennial herbaceous crops, not native to Europe. Sida can produce both biomass for biogas, when freshly harvested with leaves, and "woody" biomass during the dormant season with a moisture content lower than 30%. Silphium can be used as an alternative biogas feedstock to maize, with a water use efficiency higher than the latter in dry seasons. A network of experimental plots was established in 2016 and 2017 in Poland, Germany, the UK, and Italy, comparing Sida and Silphium to maize and Salicaceae short rotation coppice. Preliminary results from experimental plots are presented here, along with ecophysiology measurements and biodiversity test. Research activity is being continued concerning the two novel crops on yield, ecology, biodiversity impacts, and their economic integration into agroforestry systems.