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Home > Iowa Academy of Science > Journals & Newsletters > Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science > Volume 105 (1998) > Number 1

 

Document Type

Research

Keywords

Cuphea, new crops, alternative crops, oilseeds, agronomic practices

Abstract

Cuphea, a western hemisphere genus of some 260 species, has been proposed as a domestic source of medium-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are used primarily in soap and detergent manufacture and are presently extracted from imported tropical oils or from petroleum. Considerable difficulty in obtaining consistent plant stands with direct seeding has been experienced at two Iowa locations. Trials were initiated in 1987 and continued through 1994 to test various treatments upon seedling emergence of C. laminuligera Koehne, C lanceolata Ait., and hybrid C. viscosissima Jacq. X C. lanceolata. These treatments included planting depths from 1.3 to 6.4 cm, seeing rates of 1.5 to 10 kg ha-1, and soil packing or not. Emerged seedlings from pure live seed planted remained less than 60% with all treatments. Increased seeding depth decreased seedling emergence from 29% to 0. Increased seeding-rate increased the number of emerged seedlings, but significant increases were dependent upon the year. Soil packing significantly increased the number of emerged seedlings in 1994 by 14%. Heavy rainfall immediately after planting caused severe stand-losses in 1989, 1991, and 1993. Additional research on seedling emergence under differing conditions would be necessary prior to commercial planting of Cuphea in Iowa.

Publication Date

March 1998

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

105

Issue

1

First Page

23

Last Page

26

Copyright

© Copyright 1998 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

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