Identifying new criteria for assessing the impact on the ecosystem generated by the establishment of Jerusalem artichoke crops on difficult and floodable soils

Abstract

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is a technical plant that manages to adapt very well to unfriendly environments, even in polluted or poor in nutrients soils and may serve in the near future as an important raw material for the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, the plant is growing rapidly, producing large amounts of biomass and offers the possibility to be harvested up to 2 times a year, therefore presents a high potential to be used in the field of biofuel production. The plant's capacity to multiply easily by developing small tubers in the soil, allowing the production of economically advantageous crops, can be considered an advantage for biofuel producers, however this feature might be a drawback for agricultural land owners considering the very invasive behavior. The present paper aim to assess two Jerusalem Artichokes crops established on marginal soils, assessing productivity and the extensive impact on the ecosystem, paying a special attention to plant invasiveness tendencies.

Geophytes cultivation dilemma in Indonesia: Climate change disaster mitigation, investment, and impact on the environment

“…Farmers often only do tillage and give manure to the geophytes for the first time before planting. Moreover, some geophytes are productive on marginal land or poor soil such as Jerusalem artichoke, cassava, 'porang', tannia and 'beneng' taro [21,22,35]. Almost all geophytes' crops are self-propagating, produce seedlings or are easy to propagate.…”

“…Geophytes have several advantages, such as being drought resistant [12][13][14], shade tolerant [15][16][17][18][19], easier to maintain [20], and more resistant towards animals than fruits. Moreover, some geophytes such as sweet potatoes, cassava, 'beneng' taro (Xanthosoma undipes K.Koch), 'porang' (Amorphophallus muelleri), and Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is thriving in the marginal land or poor soil [21,22].…”