Elephant grasss

2. Elephant Grass

3. To Brain Storm !!!!
• Varieties
• Properties
• Preservation
• Antinutritional Factors

4. Varieties
• Pennisetum purpureum,( Napier grass, elephant grass or Uganda grass)
• Saccharum ravennae,(ravennagrass, elephant grass ,locally ekra, ikora)
• Miscanthus sinensis(species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae)

7. Properties
• Require less nutrients
• Used for biological control of pests(push Plan)
• Cheaper & accesible than fertilizers
• Econmically important(paper pulp, fuel production bio gas charcoal etc)
• Cultivation…………Stolons ,seeds

8. Properties
• Can reach 4m height
• Dense clumps of rhizomes underground
• Ornamental plants
• Leaves finely toothed
• Longer than sugar cane

10. Properties
• High productivity
• Drout resistant
• Disease tolerant
• High DM
• High palatability

11. Utilisation
• Cut and carry system
• Humen and animals(soups of leaves)

12. Nutritional profile
CP 18.6%
ADF 34%
NDF 51.7%
DM 18.4%
EE 4.7%

13. Cultivations
• Culativated in association with legumes
• To improve nutritional value
• Higher DM
• Weeds suppression
• Soil fertility

14. Cultivations
• Harvested after 3-4 months
• At intervals of 6-8 weeks
• 200 kgs/ha

15. Preservation
• Make hay
• Cut at early stage
• Stem……….too course
• Dry grass pellets

17. Preservation
• Silage making
• Harvest……6-7 weeks
• Higher moisture content
• Materials improve silage quality

18. Preservation
• Mollasses
• Coccoa meal
• Pineapple by-products
• Cassava pomace

19. Impacts
• Aggressiveness
• Water storage
• Soil losses less
• Biological pests control
• Reduce fertilizer expenses

20. Antinutritional factors
• Oxalates
• Phytates
• Sapponins
• Tannins
• Cyanogenic glycosides

21. Summary
• Varieties
• Temperate areas
• Similar to cane sugar
• Aggressive
• No need for fertilizer

22. Summary
• Reproduction by
• Stolon, seeds
• High DM
• Preserved
• Silage or hay

23. The End