What is para grass good for?
What is para grass good for?
Para grass is a palatable species mainly used for its high quality forage. A fast growing grass, it can be grazed or used in cut-and-carry systems, either to be directly fed or to make hay or silage. It was introduced as a forage grass or for erosion control into most tropical countries.
Can rabbits eat silage?
Rabbits can eat silage. If you want to introduce silage into your rabbit’s diet it is important to do so slowly and with small amounts so that the digestive tract can get used to the change.
How do you grow para grass?
Thin shoots are used as planting material. Stems with 2-3 nodes are planted in 45-60 cm rows at 20 cm spacing. The stems are pressed into wet soil leaving the two ends sticking up. 800-1000 kg of stem cuttings are needed for planting one hectare.
Is Guinea grass good for cattle?
Guinea grass can withstood continuous heavy grazing with stocking rates of 2.5 cattle/ha for long periods under heavy annual rainfall and it performs better under rotational grazing. For the most nutritious grass it is best cut when it is 60-90 cm tall; but for higher yields it can be cut when it is up to 1.5 m tall.
Do cattle eat Guinea grass?
Guinea grass is well eaten by all classes of grazing livestock, with high intakes of young leafy plants. Several experiments have shown that supplementing cows or dairy heifers fed on Guinea grass improves animal performance.
What is the nutritional value of para grass?
Para grass has a variable nutritional value, with a protein content in the 7-10% DM range. Dry and old forage can contain as little as 3-4% protein but protein contents higher than 20% DM have been recorded.
What type of soil is best for para grasses?
Though para grass prefers alluvial and hydromorphic soils, it does well on a wide range of soils: from sands to clays with moderate to good fertility ( Rao et al., 2010; Cook et al., 2005 ). Para grass is both suited to poorly drained swampy areas and well drained moist soils.
What is the productivity of the para grass in the Philippines?
Para grass is a productive plant, usually yielding 5-12 t DM/ha/year. It responds to N and P fertilizers. A fertilized stand could yield up to 30 t DM/ha in Queensland, Australia. In the Philippines, it was possible to obtain 24 t DM/ha/year under irrigation ( Furoc et al., 1976 ).
What is the forage quality of grasses?
The forage quality of grasses is very dependent on how the grass is managed. When maintained in the early to late vegetative stage, the quality of a grass is likely to be at the higher end of the digestibility and crude protein values listed for individual species and at the lower end during late flowering.
