Assalam o Alaikum!
here you can find the grass that serves as good ground mat as well as a good forage. detailed information can be taken through references mentioned.
thanks
4. Common Names
• west african pennisetum (English);
• kikuyo, pasto africano (Spanish);
• xi fei lang wei cao (Chinese);
• ya-khikhuyu (Thai).
5. Introduction
• Tropical grass species
• Noxious weed
• Popular garden lawn grass in Australia, New
Zealand , South Africa and southern region of
California
• Useful as livestock grazing and food for avian
species
7. Origin and Introduction
• Native to Kenya, East Africa
• Introduced into Asia, Australia, the
Americas, and the
Pacific.
• Used on golf courses
in California, USA
8. Morphological description
• stoloniferous and rhizomatous perennial
• Height: mostly to 30 or 40 cm
• Forms a turf under regular defoliation
• Shoot: Sterile shoots have long leaves; fertile
shoots have shorter leaves.
• Leaf sheath: pale yellow-green, usually glabrous
• Leaf blade: linear, glabrous, finely serrated
margins.
10. Blooming
• Flowering occurs in absence of frost
• In bisexual spikelets, the
stigma emerges 1–3 days
before the stamens of the
same flower, encouraging
outcrossing.
11. Floral Biology
• Inflorescence reduced to a cluster of 2–4 very shortly
stalked spikelets
• Spikelets narrow, comprising 2 florets, the lower one
sterile, the upper one bisexual or functionally male or
female;
• 3 stamens
• single stigma, occasionally bifid.
• Caryopses ovoid, dark brown, about 2.5 mm long and
1.5 mm broad, pointed with persistent short style .
16. Uses
• Its used for:
• Permanent pasture
• ground cover
• amenity turf
• irrigated pasture
• hay or silage
17. Feeding value
Nutritional value:
• >25% cp
• >70% DMD
• 0.02–0.05% Na can be deficient for lactating
cattle
• calcium levels may be inadequate due to “tie-up”
with oxalate.
18. • Palatability:
• Young growths are preferred by animals.
• Toxicity:
• nitrate poisoning
• bloat
• oxalate poisoning
• kikuyu poisoning
19. Production potential
• Dry matter production:
• 30 t/ha/yr provided N and P are available
• Animal production:
• Dairy cows can produce over 15 L milk/hd/day,
and beef animals over 400 kg/ha/year LWG from
vigorous kikuyu pastures.
20. Cultivars
• AZ-1,USA
• Kabete, Kenya
• Molo, Kenya
• Rongai, Kenya
• Noonan, Australia
• Breakwell, Australia
• Crofts, Australia
• Whittet, Australia