Sustainable Crop Rotations for the Production of Biodiesel from Rapeseed (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera D.C.) in the Semi-Arid Mediterranean Environment

The production of biofuels represents one of the strategies followed by the European Union to face the strong dependence from the fossil fuels (Com, 2006). The species of the Brassicaceae family can be utilised to this purpose, given also their widespread cultivation in Europe, provided the setting up of low input crop management techniques. In the semiarid condition of the Mediterranean environments many species of this family are native (Kumar and Tsunoda, 1978). Therefore, their cultivation is feasible as they grow during the cold and rainy winter period (Copani et al., 2007). Bearing this in mind, a research was carried out in order to evaluate the behaviour of rapeseed (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera DC.) in crop rotation with local widespread crop: durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).