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Pennisetum pedicellatum Tan. |
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Graminae Annual kyasuwa grass (Nigeria), bare (Mauritania), deenanath grass (India). A tall, annual, bunch grass, up to 1 m high, branched from the base and above, leafy. Leaves 15-25 cm long by 4-10 mm wide, flat, glabrous. Racemes cylindrical, 5-12 cm long, dense-flowered; rachis glabrous, notched, outer bristles few, slender, short (about 3 mm long); inner bristles numerous (longest 9 mm) densely villous below the middle. Spikelets 4 mm long, usually solitary. It differs from P. setosum in having the inner bristles of the involucre densely villous while in P. setosum the inner bristles are laxly ciliate with long silky hairs (not villous) (Cooke, 1958). Native of north tropical Africa and India. Summer. In Bihar, India, it grows on a rainfall of 127 mm between June and September, from which it can grow and produce seeds. The usual rainfall range is 500-650 mm (Whyte, 1964). It has good drought tolerance (Farinas, 1970). It persists well in northern Nigeria with a dry season of seven months (Foster & Mundy, 1961). It does best on fertile, loamy soils but, with manuring, can grow in sandy soils. It can tolerate both acidic and alkaline soils (Narayanan & Dabadghao, 1972). It spreads rapidly by self-sown seed (Whyte, 1964), regenerating each year.Land preparation for establishment It needs a well-prepared moist seed-bed. The seed is broadcast, or drilled in rows 45 cm apart in India. It is either surface-sown or drilled at 1 cm. Just before the rainy season (May-July in India), at 1 2.2 kg/ha.Vigour of growth and growth rhythm In Bihar, it is the fastest-maturing grass. The number of days before flowering of four cultivars at Hissar, India, ranged from 105 for cv. P.p.3 to 124 for cv. P.p.H. It flowers in August in the Sahel and remains as standing hay through to June (Boudet & Duverger, 1961). It can stand several cuts a year for green fodder. It is generally used as a cut-and-carry green forage in India at ear emergence (80-90 days).Dry-matter and green-matter yields At the Punjab Agricultural University, Hissar, India, four cultivars of P. pedicellatum yielded from 96 207 to 109 875 kg green matter per hectare compared with 56 607 kg from sweet Sudan grass and 36 957 kg from sorghum (no fertilizer data given; Singh & Arora, 1970). It is cut two or three times a season, first 80 days after germination and subsequently at 60-day intervals. It has also yielded good hay in Nigeria and Sierra Leone (Whyte, 1964).Suitability for hay and silage It has been made into silage in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and India (Rains, 1963) and also into hay. No toxicity has been recorded. The oxalic acid content of cultivar P.p.3 at Hissar was 1.69 percent, compared with 2.5 percent for Pennisetum americanum and 6.0 percent for P. purpureum (Singh & Arora, 1970). Up to 2 tonnes/ha (Whyte, 1964). In India, the Punjab Agricultural University at Hissar has four cultivars whose characteristics are shown in Table 15.57. Variety G.73 is very good for overseeding overgrazed pastures (Whyte, 1964). None observed at Hissar, India. Its early flowering, high tiller number, high leaf/stem ratio, low oxalic acid content, and palatability (Singh & Arora, 1974). Being an annual it provides only short-term grazing; can become a weed of cultivation.Optimum temperature for growth 30- 35°C. It has little frost tolerance. 20°N and S. None observed at Hissar, India. It is very palatable to cattle in India (Banerjee & Mandel, 1974). It has a high leaf/stem ratio. It is not very palatable in the Sahel (Boudet & Duverger, 1961).Chemical analysis and digestibility Banerjee and Mandel (1974) recorded 55- 77 percent total digestible nutrients for hay in India, with 3 percent crude protein. A secondary weedy invader of disturbed sites, road edges and fallows. It responds well to added nitrogen (Chatterjee, Roy & Bhattacharjee, 1974).Compatibility with other grasses and legumes It grows well in mixtures with Phaseolus mungo and Melilotus alba in India (Whyte, Moir & Cooper, 1959). 2n=36,48,54 (Fedorov, 1974); 57 (Whyte, 1964). There is a wide range of growth forms. It is strongly apomictic (Whyte, 1964).Seed production and harvesting It seeds abundantly and matures very quickly in India. In India it is a valuable grazing grass for sheep, goats and cattle (Bor, 1960). It is also good as a short-term ley and soil stabilizer. In northern Australia it is a weed. At Hissar it was used in preference to Sudan grass and sorghum because it gave higher yields of disease- and pest-free green matter when irrigated (Banerjee & Mandel, 1974). Chatterjee, Roy & Bhattacharjee, 1974; Mukerji & Chatterji, 1955.+ It is a valuable soil stabilizer in India.
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