The plant, which originates in the Far East and grows to five metres tall, can be burned to generate electricity in biomass power stations, and in smaller boilers to produce heat for individual farmer's houses, he said.

He said the crop, also known as miscanthus, was quick-growing and yields about 15 tonnes a hectare every year.

Biomass power has been overlooked for years, owing to its expense and a lack of government support, but a new plan called the renewables obligation, which obliges power companies to buy electricity from green sources, is seen as guaranteeing it a market.

Britain currently has about 100 megawatts of biomass generating capacity, and the industry says 10 times this amount is needed if the government is to meet its target of generating 10 percent of the UK's power from green sources by 2010.

Because when plants burn they produce no more carbon dioxide than they absorb in growing, electricity produced from them is a key element of reducing emissions, primarily carbon dioxide, which are blamed by many scientists for causing global warming.

"Miscanthus is part and parcel of how we want to secure a sustainable future," said a spokeswoman for the Department of Farming, the Environment and Rural Affairs.

She said there were currently only 100 hectares - an area smaller than London's Hyde Park - of miscanthus in Britain, but the government intends it to make up 10 percent of power generated from plant matter.

Growers of the crop can receive grants to cover the relatively high costs of planting the rhizomes the perennial plant grows from.

Dr Paul Carver of Bical, a western England-based company which specialises in growing miscanthus, said that to generate enough power under the renewable energy plan, 125,000 hectares of all energy crops were needed.

Carver said it was very easy to harvest with traditional machinery, and required no chemical fertilisers or pesticides.

"Once you plant it you forget about it, and it's a higher earner than winter wheat," he said.

Neil Bond of Energy Power Resources Ltd (EPR), which built and runs the world's largest straw-fuelled power station near Ely, Cambridgeshire, said the company had tried burning miscanthus and was interested in its further use as a fuel.

"In five to 10 years it could be a major fuel ... but no one yet is putting their money where their mouth is," he said.

"Straw and miscanthus are interchangeable in the biofuels industry, and they provide a guaranteed income for farmers," he added.