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Graminae
Synonyms
Urochloa uniseta Presl; Panicum unisetum Trin.; Setaria uniseta
Fourn.
Common names
Honduras grass (Costa Rica), Mexican grass (Hawaii).
Description
Erect or spreading, 50-150 cm tall, blades 15-30 cm or even
as much as 60 cm long, as much as 4 cm wide, panicles 10-20 cm long, the
racemes approximately 3-6 cm long; spikelets about 4 mm long, the bristles
3-10 mm long (Hitchcock, 1930). It forms closed clusters of succulent stems.
The leaves wrap around the stems from base to top.
Distribution
Native to America between Mexico and Colombia.
Season of growth
Summer.
Altitude range
Sea-level to 1 500 m; does best in warm coastal areas.
Rainfall requirements
It requires heavy rainfall.
Drought tolerance
Growth stops in dry weather.
Soil requirements
It requires fertile, moist soils, well supplied with organic
matter.
Land preparation for establishment
Fully prepare and cultivate land or burn and sow in ashes.
Sowing methods
Drill into a prepared seed-bed or broadcast in ashes of burn.
It can be propagated vegetatively, in rows 75-100 cm apart, cuttings 60
cm apart in row.
Sowing time and rate
Sow in early summer at 20 kg/ha.
Response to defoliation
It will not stand soil compaction by trampling, so heavy defoliation
will affect the stand, and overgrazing should be avoided. It is better
used as a soilage crop, cut and fed green.
Grazing management
Graze the grass when it reaches 70-100 cm in height, or when
the first florets appear, and cease grazing when the pasture is reduced
to a height of 30-40 cm (Gonzalez & Pacheco, 1970).
Dry-matter and green-matter
yields
It yields 177 000 kg/ha per year in Costa Rica (Gonzalez &
Pacheco, 1970) with 15 percent dry matter and 1.9 percent crude protein
from four to five cuts per year. In Sri Lanka, it produced 19 749 kg DM/ha
per year (Pathirana & Siriwardene, 1973).
Suitability for hay and
silage
It makes very good hay in Costa Rica.
Optimum temperature for
growth
20-24°C.
Frost tolerance
It does not tolerate frost.
Ability to compete with
weeds
It needs good weed control in the early phases of establishment,
but afterwards it competes well with weeds.
Palatability
It is extremely palatable, with succulent leaves and stems
throughout the plant. It does not persist when grazed (Göhl, 1975).
Chemical analysis and
digestibility
In Costa Rica the analysis at floral initiation was 12.88 percent
crude protein, 27.01 percent crude fibre, 34.7 percent nitrogen- free extract,
3.13 percent ether extract and 12.88 percent ash (Gonzalez & Pacheco,
1970) on a 10 percent moisture basis. In Cuba, fresh mature growth contained
16.1 percent dry matter and the dry matter contained 7.9 percent crude
protein, 30.3 percent crude fibre, 10 percent ash, 0.5 percent ether extract
and 51.3 percent nitrogen-free extract (Calving, 1952). In Sri Lanka, four
weeks' growth had 14.08 percent dry matter and 14.52 percent crude protein,
while at six weeks the figures were 15.76 percent dry matter and 13.04
percent crude protein when fully fertilized (Pathirana & Siriwardene,
1973).r
Natural habitat
Low thickets, ditches and wet places, at low altitudes.
Fertilizer requirements
It requires a fertile soil well supplied with organic matter
and will require a complete fertilizer mixture if the soil is deficient.
Compatibility with other
grasses and legumes
It associates well with forage legumes, especially tropical
kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides), which is sown at 3 kg/ha.
Seed production and harvesting
Honduras grass produces seeds which are abundant, but of low
viability, and are shed as soon as they mature. However, this shed seed
ensures the continuity of the pasture.
Animal production
The average carrying capacity of Honduras grass at the Los
Diamantes Experiment Station in Costa Rica is two to three beasts per hectare
per year.
Further reading
Gonzalez & Pacheco, 1970.
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