Harvest systems of Miscanthus x giganteus biomass: A Review

The agricultural biomass classification includes the biomass obtained from fast growing energy crops. One of these crops is the perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus, which after the third and fourth year of plantation forms a high-density stand with exceptionally high and firm shoots. Thus, special emphasis should be put on the harvesting systems. For Miscanthus harvesting, haymaking and silage making machinery is mainly used by applying single-phase or multi-phase techniques. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the Miscanthus x giganteus biomass harvesting systems with regard to the form of harvested biomass, either shredded or/and baled biomass. In addition to application of fertilizers, biomass harvest is the only agro-technical measure that is used when a plantation reaches full maturity and it should be applied with the lowest possible energy input and biomass loss. Due to increased interest in production of energy from Miscanthus x giganteus biomass, the existing machinery is being adjusted to these new requirements and new specialised machines are being developed.