In this way, there is important contribution of buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, poultry etc. The introduction of 100,000 ha of napier grass could generate 2 million odt of biomass. For hogs, chickens, ducks, plant eating fish tilapia, pangasius, horses, rabbits, etc. Grow guatemala grass for increased compiled by muyekho f. Delignification of elephant grass for production of. According to farrell 1998, almost all farmers obtain napier grass planting. The technology was developed for subsistence farming in africa and relies on semiochemicals produced by plant species grown in companion cropping, i. This challenge, coupled with farmers lack of written records about their farming practices, meant that farmers were unable to articulate their preferred variety as well as the reasons. Napier grass at the cutting interval of 60 days gave the highest ch 4 yield of all various cutting intervals. Feeding livestock with a mixture of napier grass and desmodium increases milk yields. Evaluation of improved napier cultivars as livestock feed under.
It is fast growing and has good palatability in early growth stage when cut often. Moreover, for the production of napier grass, less water and nutrients are required. All 3 cultivars are derived from interspecific crosses between common elephant grass pennisetum purpureum and pearl millet pennisetum glaucum. Goats are clean feeders, and will not eat dairy feeds which are not fresh nor dirty feed e. Basically, this is a perennial grass fodder and possesses more tillers and leaves than napier grass and is more vigorous and yielding and quality is higher.
High leaf expansion, vigo rous tillering and ra pid leaf production in tall canopy are. The objective of this study was to determine biomass yield and forage quality of head. Renewable biomass fuel as green power alternative for. Due to labour constraints, manure management to preserve nutrients was poorly done by the farmers. In zimbabwe hybrid pennisetum is frequently referred to as bana grass, though in kenya bana is a particular cultivar of napier grass. New forage legumes have become available through screening work gachene and makau, 2000.
Effect of supplementing napier grass pennisetum purpureum doc. Opportunities for napier grass pennisetum purpureum. Following tappi t 203 om88, t 223 om88 and t 222 om88, the dry grass contains 60. Agronomy free fulltext opportunities for napier grass. Strategies for enhancing biomass energy utilization in the. Herbage yield and chemical composition of four varieties. Pure stand of guatemala where to grow guatemala grass guatemala grows well in mid to high altitude areas. Seorang usahawan terkenal terengganu, ismail muhamad pokwe dalam videoklip penghasilan makanan ruminan berasaskan rumput napier bersama pelajar universiti. An integrated system of ethanol production from the. Napier or elephant grass pennisetum purpureum was first introduced to malaysia in the 1920s and several cultivars had been introduced since 1950s.
Pdf effect of plant height at cutting and fertilizer on. Napier grass is planted in marginal lands and slopes to increase soil fertility and to reduce soil erosion. Introduction napier grass is a tall, stout, deeprooted and highyielding perennial grass used as forage for livestock. N apier grass was named after colonel napier of bulawayo in zimbabwe.
The farmer field school ffs and farmer participatory research fpr approaches were used to upscale tumbukiza, a kiswahili word meaning placing in a hole, a new method of napier grass production started by farmers which. Super napier from planting to harvesting super napier green. King jumbo napier grass of king seeds pakistan is everlasting fodder for ten years with successful cultivation on types of land having protein level range fr. Introduction napier grass pennisetum purpureum schum. Elephant grass which a height of 3 a 4 meters was harvested from the plant. Super napier from planting to harvesting super napier. Feasibility study on grasscutter farming pdf download 2020. This grass is commonly known as elephant grass, king grass, napier grass, or cane grass. It is an alternative fodder crop that withstands napier stunt and head smut diseases. This challenge, coupled with farmers lack of written records about their farming practices, meant that farmers were unable to articulate their preferred variety as. It grows from sea level to 2000 m where the rainfall exceeds mm bayer 1990 and it can withstand considerable periods of drought butt et al. Native to tropical africa, napier grass grows as a perennial in u. Jun 15, 2016 when considering the grass yield of cultivation, the annual ch 4 yield per area obtained from napier grass at the cutting intervals of 30, 40, 60 and 90 days was 2700, 4763, 6500 and 60 m 3 hectareyear, respectively. Hybrid pennisetum resembles napier grass in appearance, although there are variations between varieties.
A good number of growers have engaged in commercial cultivation of the feed and the number is increasing day by day, sources said. Scientists unveil disease resistant napier to fight smut disease. Use of napier grass to improve smallholder milk production. Assessing the uptake and disease impact of napier grass in kenya. Napier therefore acts as the pull in pushpull 10 figure 10. Generally the crop does well in high rainfall areas, with over 1500 mm per year, and not over than 2,000 m above sea level. Production, constraints and implications for smallholder farmers in east and central africa find, read and. May, 2014 when harvesting cut the grass at soil level. The cultivation of napier grass, an animal feed, has proved lucrative at different upazilas in rangpur district in recent years as the farmers are getting financially benefited through its farming. Then, we estimated the cost and return of napier production used as growing fuelwood tree species, and c provision of seedsseedlings. The effect of harvesting interval on herbage yield and nutritive.
The emergence of new diseases resulting in dm yield losses signals the need to develop alternatives to currently grown cultivars. Napier grass is the main fodder grown by over 70% of smallholder farmers in kenya. Improve napier grass yield the use of manure on napier grass plots was a common practice among smallholder farmers in the division. Pdf on aug 7, 2020, desrial and others published design and performance evaluation of dwarf napier grass harvester find, read. Pdf low pasture biomass production and dry seasons fodder.
Snow mould fungal disease is common to all napier grass v arieties except clone. May 23, 2018 apparently, the forage production from napier grass is not higher than the first dose. New planting method increases napier grass yields by 20 per. In kenya, dairy production is mainly in the medium and high potential agricultural areas and because of high population pressure, smallholders 23 ha form 80 % of the population. Kabirizi and others published napier grass feed resource. In addition, elephantnapier grass varieties responded differently across the.
The demand for milk and milk products would drive growth in milk production, which is expected to increase to more than 200 million tonnes by 2020 from the current level of about 121 million tonnes. The most common grasses theyre fed with are napier grass or elephant grass. Napier grass has been an important trap crop for managing stem borers in maize and sorghum. Cenchrus purpureus, synonym pennisetum purpureum, also known as napier grass, elephant grass or uganda grass, is a species of perennial tropical grass native to the african grasslands. Pennisetum are napier grass and pearl millet inyauthi ndebele or mhunga shona pennisetum glaucum. Napier grass, also known as elephant grass, uganda grass, or pennisetum purpureum, is a tropical grass native to africa. Farmers perceptions on importance and constraints facing napier. The larvae are killed by the sticky substance produced from napier grass b. To build farmers knowledge and skill on elephantnapier grass production importance. Harvesting napier grass is ready for harvesting 34 months after planting and harvesting can continue at an interval of 68 weeks for 3 5 years.
Epa 430b20001 project development handbook a handbook for developing anaerobic digestionbiogas systems on farms in the united states 3rd edition. It is popular as a feed crop for livestock, and is also useful for attracting pest insects away from important food crops, such as maize. Assessing the uptake and disease impact of napier grass in. Napier grass, cultivars, dm, tillers, leaf, intake, milk.
A study was conducted using a randomized complete block design to determine feed intake, liveweight changes, milk yield and cost of milk production in. Green fodder production information guide agri farming. Two commonly used napier grass penniset urn purpureum. Digestibility and gas production characteristics of four. A handbook for developing anaerobic digestionbiogas. The high drymatter yields of this grass orodho 2006, cook et al. It is a vigorous deeprooted grass which tolerates limited dry spells. Napier grass and other perennial warmseason grasses could be grown as energy crops on marginal farmland. Worku a 2009 animal fattening in watershed, training manual. However, this disease is not a threat to herbage production.
Main varieties of hybrid napier grass are, pusa giant, igfri 5, nb 21, nb 37, igfri 7 and igfri 10. It has low water and nutrient requirements, and therefore can make use of otherwise uncultivated lands. This challenge, coupled with farmers lack of written records about their farming. Biogas production from napier grass at various cutting. Make different fodder crops available to bw farmers. Brachiaria grass promises to increases milk production by. Also known as elephant grass, it is widespread in east africa. However, the productivity of the grass in the region is threatened by stunt and headsmut diseases. Compared to the old napier variety, it is much higher yielding. Napier grass is also used in integrated pest management strategy as pull crop mainly in maize and sorghum producing areas.
Production, characterization and nutritional quality of. It produces about 45 tonnes per hectare in a year and the harvesting can be done at least four times a year. It can be fed to livestock to increase milk production. Forage research and development in uganda importance of. Dedicating land specifically to biomass production could increase the amount of biomass available for energy generation and other applications. Thus the annual gross benefits from animal production attributable to napier grass is p8,552. General information napier grass stunt and smut project. Napier grass, commonly known as elephant grass, is a major feed used for dairy production by smallholder farmers in eastern and central africa. The study observed that 70% of cow dung manure was returned to napier grass while 30 % was applied on maize as compost. Napier grass diseases and pests, description, uses. Use of napier grass to improve smallholder milk production in. Historically, this wild species has been used primarily for grazing, recently, however, it has been used as. Pdf design and performance evaluation of dwarf napier grass.
Pdf effect of organic manure on napier grass production. Department of agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 11, typically reaching 3 to 4 feet tall. Indeed, even napier grass experts find it difficult to differentiate it phenotypically. Hybrid napier grass cultivation for dairy animals agri farming. Production, characterization and nutritional quality of napier grass. Guatemala grass is a fodder that grows well in areas where napier grass and other fodders do well. Kitale farmers earning double profits from napier grass farming. Nov 01, 2015 the grass is utilized for livestock feed at thai elephant conservation center with a capacity of 500 tons per year. Pakchong1 was developed by the department of livestock development in thailand. In central highlands of kenya, mwangi 1999 showed higher total dm yield of napier grass legume intercrop than sole napier grass. Pdf forage growth, yield and nutritional characteristics of four. New planting method increases napier grass yields by 20.
Feb 28, 2018 we called it super napier because it is outstanding in a number of significant ways. It is also the main source for paper production in mnay regions. It is a multipurpose forage crop, primarily used to feed cattle in cut and carry feeding systems. Ruminants including cattle and buffalo have the ability to convert low value roughages such as grass and leaves of trees etc. Mar 07, 2019 the napier grass has a very high production of biomass. The number of animals that can be supported by a hectare of napier grass strips declines as soil productivity declines. Although no trial has been done on guinea grass in hawaii prior to this study, yield of guinea grass. Financial support for the production of this manual was provided by. It is a tall, perennial grass originated from tropical africa. Napier grass is adaptable to a wide range of regions with annual rainfalls between 700 to 2500 mm and altitude from sea level up to 2000 m but does not tolerate flooding. Napier grass farming proves lucrative in rangpur district. Napier grass is a c 4 type tropical grass and commonly used in tropical countries as feedstuff for ruminants.
The grass is cut every 45 to 60 days after the first harvest, which is 90 days from planting. There shall be increased in the production of 35% milk, 25% meat and 45% eggs in the present production, to meet the minimum annual consumption of livestock production as 91 liter milk, 14 kilo meat and 48 eggs in the developed country. For ruminants cattle, carabao, goats give 6070 days old chopped fresh super napier grass. The majority of farmers in rural areas practice croplivestock farming. If you seriously want to grow elephant grass as a forage, it is better if the planting is done well. One of the current constraints to napier grass production in central kenya is napier. The annual napier grass production in year 1 of 1,152 kg dm can therefore support 0. Herbage yield and chemical composition of four varieties of. Napier grass is the most popular fodder used in dairy and feedlot production halim 20. Green fodder plays major role in feed of milch animals, thereby providing required nutrients for milk. Bana grass, french cameroon, clone and kakamega 1. The present study has indicated that the addition of nile tilapia to the grass carp tanks fed napier grass as the sole nutrient input is a lowcost culture system, which can.
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