This document provides a taxonomy, cultivation practices, varieties, morphology, nutritional attributes, distribution, reproduction, and side effects of Khabal grass (Cynodon dactylon). It discusses that Khabal grass is a perennial grass that spreads through stolons and rhizomes. It grows in many tropical and subtropical regions from sea level to over 2,300 meters. Khabal grass is used as forage and tolerates heavy grazing or cutting. It can be made into hay, silage, or pellets. While it provides good ground cover and forage, it is considered a weed in over 80 countries due to its rapid spreading ability.

1. Submitted By:
Zeeshan Ali Haider
15-Arid-4441

2. At the end You will be known Of
Taxonomy Of Khabbal Grass.
Cultivation
Varieties
Morphology
Nutritional Attributes
Distribution
Reproduction
Side Effects

3. Scientific name
Cynodon dactylon
Family:
Poaceae
Subfamily
Cynodonteae
Common names
Bermuda grass (English - USA)
Khabal grass or Talla (Pakistan)
Couch grass, green couch (Australia)
dhoub grass (Bangladesh)

4. Cultivation
• Sowing methods
It is usually sown as turfs or as seed for
lawns. 'Coastal Bermuda Grass' is sown by
seed or, more often, with sprigs, as it
produces few viable seeds.
• Sowing depth and cover
It is surface sown and rolled in. Sowing
time and rate. Sow in summer at 9-11
kg/ha.

5. Varieties
• Seeded varieties.
 Common Bermuda grass
Giant Bermuda grass.
Benefits
 They correspond to a wide range of genotypes and
were selected for their adaptability to different
cultivation conditions.
Seeded varieties are outstandingly tolerant of drought
and heavy grazing, two important traits for tropical
forages.
Their seeds are commonly mixed to make commercial
blends.

6. Varieties
Hybrids.
 Work on hybridization started in the 1940s at the
Coastal Plain Experimental Station, situated in Tifton,
Georgia (USA).
 Since then, many others have been created at Tifton:
Tifton 44, 68, 78 and 85. Tifton 85, released in the
1990s, is one of the most popular varieties of Bermuda
grass.
 Other varieties such as Midland, Callie, Coastcross-1,
Hill Farm Coastcross-1, Coastcross-2, Brazos, Alicia,
Grazer, Russell, Lagrange, Zimmerly, Scheffield,
Naiser, Luling, Oklan, Guymon, Quickstand and
Hardie are all retailed for forage production

7. Yield
• Productivity depends on the cultivar used,
the time of year and the amount of
nitrogen available.
• DM yields of 1,000-3,000 kg/ha per
month are possible in summer and 100-
1,200 kg/ha in winter.
• Annual DM yields are generally of the
order of 5-15 t/ha.

8. • One or two crops per season.
• Seed yields may range from about 100
kg/ha to as high as 350 kg/ha.

9. Morphological description
Bermuda grass is a highly variable, hardy, long-
lived perennial grass, and one of the most used
warm-season forages in the world
A variable perennial, creeping by means of stolons
and rhizomes.
Eight to 40 culms.
leaves hairy or glabrous.
Three to seven spikes (rarely two)
usually 3-6 cm long and in one whorl
Bermuda grass densely roots at the nodes.

10. Continue…….
The root system mostly develops within 0-
25 cm depth but can go as deep as 70-80
cm in sandy soils.
Creeping stolons spread rapidly and may
be as long as 20 m, but are generally 0.5-
1.5 m.
Leaf blades are blue green, 2-20 cm long,
and 2-6 mm wide

13. Nutritional attributes
• Khabal grass is considered a medium quality
forage.
• Typical chemical composition of fresh khabal
grass is 9-16% protein,(3 to 9% in old grass,
to about 20% in young) 45-85 % NDF and
20-45% ADF (DM basis).Ash content is
11.56%.TDN value of dehydrated grass is 62%
of total % DM.
• Mineral profile is
1) Ca(1.6%) 2) P(0.22%) 3) Mg(0.34%)

14. Digestibility
Presentation DM
digestibility %
N digestibility
%
Digestible
energy* MJ/kg
DM
Green forage 49.3-52.6% 48.9% 8.82%
Hay 49% 45% 8.24%

15. Hay
• Khabal grass hay is usually of lower quality
than the fresh forage: it contains in
average 10% protein and about 75% NDF
and 36% ADF (DM basis).

17. Silage
• Bermuda grass has low concentrations of
sugars that are fermented to lactic and
other acids during ensiling.
• Forage moisture decreases 20 percentage
units from 71% to 51%.
• Storage losses decreases by 3.7 percentage
units from 12.5% to 8.8% of the dry matter
lost during storage.

18. • Its C.P is 10% of total % of dry matter.
• Its TDN is 50% of total % of dry matter.

19. Distribution
• Bermuda grass is thought to have
originated around the Indian Ocean Basin,
from East Africa to India.
• It was introduced to all tropical and
subtropical areas. It is found as far as
50°N in Europe and down to 37° in the
southern hemisphere. Bermuda grass can
be found at high altitudes: up to 2600 m in
the tropics, and 4000 m in the Himalayas

20. Distribution
Sea-level to 2 300 m.
It usually occurs over a range of 625-1 750
mm of annual rainfall.
The rhizomes survive drought well. Coastal
Bermuda grass has proved very drought
resistant in Georgia, United States.
Here are varieties adapted for a wide range of
soils. Coastal Bermuda prefers well- drained,
fertile soils, especially heavier clay and silt
soils not subject to flooding, well supplied
with lime and high-nitrogen mixed fertilizers.

21. Soil and Temperature
It is dominant in uncultivated areas:
roadsides, sea-coast sandy dunes, or along
rivers and irrigated land.
Adapted over a broad range of soil pH (4.5-
8.5), but grows best when the pH is above
5.5. Good tolerant of salinity, but makes only
slow growth under saline conditions.
Temperatures above 24°C or over an optimal
range of 17-35°C is best.
Sensitive to shade and may die under medium
and dense shade.

22. Utilization
• Valuable fodder grass that can be grazed (it
withstands heavy grazing) or used in cut-and-
carry systems.
• It is useful for hay, silage and pelletizing.
• It may be used for soil conservation (as a soil
binder) and as lawn and turf grass.
• Live weight gain of cattle ranges from 200-
300 (-500) kg/ha/yr, or over 700 g/hd/day,
when moderate rates of N and other
fertilizers are applied .

23. Reproductive development
• Flowers throughout the growing season.
• Wind pollinated.
• C. dactylon spreads quickly by rhizomes
and stolons, and less obviously by seeds.
• It can spread over 2 m/month during the
growing season, a single plant forming a
dense sward up to 25 m across in 2.5
years.
• Declared weed in over 80 countries

24. • Outstanding spreading ability, the stolons
being able to grow more than 7.5 cm/day.

25. Pasture and cut-and-carry
systems
• Grazing can start once the stand is 30-40
cm high in full bloom.
• Cutting/grazing height should be about 5-
10 cm in order to keep a good stand
density
• Six cuts can be taken per year
• If livestock does not consume all the
pasture, the excess grass can be used to
make hay

26. • Plus Points
• Adapted to a wide range soils and climate.
• More Palatable.
• Nutritive value is high while young.
• Excellent ground cover for soil conservation .
• It can tolerate heavy grazing.
• Makes useful hay and silage .
• Tolerant of salinity.
• Tolerant of flooding.
• Limitations
• Low production unless well fertilised.
• Can become a weed in cultivation.
• Difficult to eradicate.

27. SIDE EFFECTS
• Cyanide poisoning:-
• Cases of HCN poisoning have been recorded
in animals having grazed Khabal grass stands
too shortly after N fertilizer application.
• Oxalates:-
• Though oxalate content may exceed 1% DM,
no symptoms of toxicity have been described
yet now.
• Photosensitization:-Some cases of
photosensitization have occurred in cattle
grazing frost-damaged khabal grass

28. Weed Potential
Bermuda grass is a very competitive species.
This makes it resistant to weeds.
 But also a threat to crops such as maize,
cotton and sugarcane, or in vineyards and
plantation crops.
It is considered a weed in more than 80
countries.
It should not to be used in temporary
pastures, for it is difficult to eradicate from
arable land