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Echinochloa scabra (Lam.) Roem. and Schult. |
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Graminae E. stagnina (auct.). Bourgou, gamarawal (West Africa), banti (India), hippo grass (Zimbabwe), long-awned water grass (South Africa). A perennial or sometimes annual grass, usually growing in deep water, the culms rooted on the bottom and floating (lengths up to 10 m are reported); panicle resembling E. crus-galli but the racemes simple or only slightly compound, and often up to 5 cm long; spikelets 4-6 mm long, 3-6 mm wide and distant. Ligules of the lower leaves a fringe of long hairs, absent on the upper leaves. Tropical Africa and Asia, in Sepik and Western districts of Papua New Guinea, tropical Australia. Summer. 1 000-2 000 m in Tanzania. It is aquatic, which presupposes plenty of available water. By reason of its adaptation to swamps it escapes the ravages of all but the most severe droughts in which the soil moisture disappears. It prefers clay soils of high lime content.Land preparation for establishment In India it is grown as a crop known as banti, on fully prepared land. It is drilled in rows 30 cm apart and thinned later (Solomon, 1953). It can also be sown by cuttings in prepared soil (Boudet, 1975). It is sown at about 1 -1.5 cm deep and lightly covered. In India it is sown in June and July at 7 kg/ha.Vigour of growth and growth rhythm In India it is planted in June and July and is ready for harvest in October. In the dry season the pasture is grazed as the waters recede, cattle feeding in the deeper water followed later by sheep as the waters dry up.Dry-matter and green-matter yields 4 000 kg DM/ha in young growth, 13 000 kg DM/ha at complete maturity, 150 kg DM/ha in 30 days' regrowth in the dry season and 2 500 kg/ha in 30 days' regrowth after irrigation (Boudet, 1975).Suitability for hay and silage The long trailing leafy stems have a high sugar content. If dried they make coarse, though palatable, hay (Göhl, 1975).Value as a standover or deferred feed When the water recedes the stems root at the nodes and produce excellent regrowth for grazing during the dry season. In Zambia, scouring occurs when cattle move from the fibrous forest grazing to the rich plains grasses consisting of Echinochloa scabra, E. pyramidalis, Acroceras macrum, Hemarthria altissima, Leersia hexandra and Vossia cuspidata, and it may be three to four months before they regain condition (Verboom & Brunt, 1970). No diseases have been reported for this crop (Solomon, 1953). Its quick growth and adaptability to clay depressions and lake shores in the dry Sahel for dry-season grazing. In India it is grown as a crop and inter-cultivated and weeded. It competes well with weeds in swamps. Excellent. The long trailing stems floating on water have a high sugar content. It is still palatable when dry. Seasonally flooded grassland, lake shores and swamps in water up to 3 m deep. Excellent. 2n=36, 54, 108, 126 (Fedorov, 1974).Seed production and harvesting It ripens in October in India and the grain is separated from the husk by pounding. It does not produce much seed. It is mostly a dry-season reserve for animal grazing because the swamps dry out gradually at that time and livestock gain access. In India it is cultivated mainly by the poor and the seed is usually boiled and eaten like rice. It is wholesome (Solomon, 1953). In the Niger area of West Africa it yields excellent fodder and is used for thatching and caulking, and is burnt to produce a "salt" for making soap and indigo. It is also used to extract a sugary sap for making vinegar (Chippendall & Crook, 1976). It is abundant on the shores of Lake Volta in Ghana along with Brachiaria mutica. In the interior delta of the Niger it provides a most important source of green grazing for livestock during the dry season. The livestock graze the fodder as the waters recede under high evaporation, the cattle grazing first and then the sheep as the waters become more shallow. The grass is similarly utilized where it occurs in moist areas in other semi-arid and arid countries.Grass genera of the world: Information about botany, ecology etc. of the Eriochloa genus; links to photographs and drawings Boudet, 1975; Solomon, 1953. |