Company plans jumbo crop of elephant grass

A LIMERICK company is planning to help plant 10,000 acres of elephant grass.

JHM Crops has grown the country’s first commercial crop of the grass, which is being seen as a fuel of the future. It has a five-year target to help growers nationwide.

Increasing demand for alternative, renewable energy sources, and its potential for other uses, are boosting interest in the bamboo-type crop, also known as miscanthus.

JHM founder and general manager Joe Hogan told a conference in Adare yesterday he was delighted with the interest being shown in the crop as a versatile alternative farm enterprise.

“There are now 60 growers in Ireland. The interest is phenomenal,” he said.

He pointed out that miscanthus is environmentally friendly, low-maintenance and gives greater profit margins than other crops. It is seen as having vast potential through the production of pellets for industrial and domestic heating and also for use as animal bedding and in gardens and thatching.

Located in Adare, the company is working with Bical, based in England, in promoting the growing of the crop in Ireland. Achieving a return of at least €250-€300 per acre is one of its aims.

Dr JJ Leahy, University of Limerick and JHM Crops, said biomass energy is increasingly accepted as a possible alternative to fossil fuels.