Grasses and Legumes

The livestock population has been increasing continuously whereas the land under permanent pastures has
shrinked. This has further complicated the situation. About 4.9% of total cultivable land (AICRPFC 1995)
and culturable wasteland is put for fodder crops which is occupying nearly 101.0 m h. This is being
utilized for growing forage grasses and legumes and so called grasslands and pastures.
There are various reasons for the enormous increase in the livestock population of the country.
One of the reasons is social attitude of the people. In villages, maintaining a large number of cattle is
considered as a status symbol, though they may be unproductive and uneconomical to maintain. Limited
fodder resources of the country are unable to meet the requirement of ever increasing livestock
population. Thus livestock is under fed. Moreover present land utilization in India does not permit any
more good land to be put for fodder production. The solution to the problem lies in increasing the
productivity of our grasslands, improving the degraded rangelands, manipulating the livestock population
and adopting the principles of grazing management.
Grassland agriculture is a farming system that emphasizes the importance of grasses and legumes
to the livestock and land management. The main feature of grassland agriculture is its dependence on
herbaceous plants such as grasses, legumes and forbs and in many situations the leaves, buds, and stem
tops of shrubs and woody vegetation.
Grass yields more starch equivalent and protein per acre than any other crops. Good grasslands, if
effectively grazed, may have a starch equivalent of 66 per cent and a protein equivalent of 15 per cent.
These pastures will produce 2000-3000 Ib of total digestible nutrients (TON) per acre. The output of the
best feeding pastures in terms of liveweight increase per acre per annum may be as high as 15 c wt. (or
900 Ib per acre per annum of meat) when intensively farmed although a more usual figure for first class
permanent pasture would be 3-3 1/2 cwt. Liveweight increase (200-300 Ib meat).
There are about 620 and 650 genera and 10000 and 18000 species of grasses (Poaceae) and
legumes (Leguminoseae) respectively in the world. Of these only about 40 grasses and legumes are used
to appreciable extent in the establishment of sown pastures. Moreover, it has been found that livestock
prefer indigenous forage species in comparison to selected varieties of grasses and legumes despite the
fact that indigenous species may be low in productivity and nutritive value.

On the basis of following characters the grasses are considered suitable as forage plants for grazing or
mowing.
1. Grasses (members of Gramineae/Poaceae) have wider range of adaptability than the species of any
other family, being found in humid tropics, arid areas and alpine peaks.
2. Reproduction of fresh shoots by tillering provides a means of recovery from grazing or cutting.
3. Many grasses maintain continuous vegetative growth interrupted only by drought or cold.
4. Many grasses spread by rhizomes or stolons, which readily form adventitious roots and give rapid
ground coverage.
5. New tissues produced during growth, arise chiefly at the base of the leaves where these are least to be
damaged by cutting or grazing.
6. The root system binds the soil particles together forming a sod and brings to the surface layer nutrients,
which have been leached into the sub soil by heavy rainfall.
7. In addition to above while selecting the species for pasture, the qualities desired are productivity,
palatability, high nutritive value and adaptation of the species with local soil and climatic conditions.
TECHNIQUES FOR NURSERY RAISING

The seed is the prime material for establishing the grasslands /pastures. In forage species
particularly grasses, the seed production varies from species to species. When seed becomes a limiting
factor in seedlings,' rooted sups are the only alternate source for establishing the pasture. These seedlings
are raised in nursery.

Establishment of Nursery

Nursery beds should carefully be prepared and cleaned from all rank growth including weeds by
pulling out and burning. Generally the nursery is raised during May and for this 6m x 6m beds are
common. The bed is thoroughly ploughed and 30 kg Farm Yard Manure, 0.250 kg urea, 0.5 kg Singly
Super Phosphate and 50g BHe may be mixed thoroughly as a basal dose in each
bed. The bed is watered for 4 to 6 days, so weeds would come up which are to be removed. About
2 g Bavistin is mixed with sun dried seeds. For proper sowing sand is mixed with seeds and then
the seeds are sown 5-6 mm deep in line. The distance from line to line should be 10 cm. After
sowing it may be covered with a thin layer of soil immediately and the bed may be mulched with
straw/wet gunny bags or any locally available material for a period of 4-6 days continuously to
allow the seed germination. Watering may be done twice a day at morning and evening with rose
can. The germination starts from 3rd day and should be completed within a week. After full
germination mulch/gunny bags are removed. In places where day temperature is very high, it may
be necessary to provide shade to seed beds in order to protect delicate seedlings The shade may
be removed after 30 days of sowing but the beds are watered every alternate day with necessary
weeding and hoeing.
Germination of dehusked seeds is recored as 94-98 per cent as compared to husked seeds,
which is 35-42 percent. The stored seeds show better germination as compared to freshly collected.
About 40-50 g of grass seeds are used for each bed. Such 12 beds are required to provide
seedlings for a hectare land. For better growth of seedlings the crop should be top dressed with
Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (10 kg N/ha). Grass seedlings will be ready for transplanting after 4 to
6 weeks when they attain 15 to 25 cm height.
Planting Technique
Seedlings/rooted slips are transplanted in well prepared field immediately after the onset of
monsoon. Land preparation is done through desi plough, two to three ploughings are sufficient.
Farm Yard manure @ 10-12 cartloads per hectare and BHC (10%) are mixed at the time of last
ploughing.
The nursery beds are watered copiously before pulling out the seedlings. The seedlings are
pulled out with ease and without damage to their root systems. Timely planting is necessary for
good growth and yield. Two seedlings are transplanted per hull at a distance of 50 x 30cm between
rows and plants respectivley. The soil, around the seedlings should be pressed gently to remove
the air.
Through weeding and hoeing is essential during the initial year of establishment as the
grass is unable to compete with other forbs, care should be taken to remove dried seedlings/
clumps and gap filling should be done immediately to maintain the optimum plant population.
Tropical forage species and their package of practices
 Raising of grasses or pastures is an important activity. For this purpose, a set of cultivation
practices is required on priority for the development of grasslands. Based on a large number of
experiments. the practices evolved at IGFRI, Jhansi and elsewhere in the country are provided in the
following pages for the important tropical grasses and legumes. Out of a vast spectrum of
grasses found in the world and nearly 3000 species in India, only a few have been selected, on the
basis of fodder value, soil and water conservation purpose and perenniality for tropical and sub
tropical regions of the country.
However, before dealing with the cultural practices of major perennial species, which play
varying degree of fidelity among the population aswell as with the habitat, it was felt essential to
provide their important characters, so as to recognize these in the fields under different habitat
conditions. An attempt is also made to provide their common and local names in different languages
as well as notes on their origin, distribution, botanical description and habitat factors (climate and
soils).

Grasses

Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst ex A. Rich) Stapf

Common names: Congo signal grass, Palisade grass, Ceylon sheep grass (E).

Description: It is tufted, semi-erect, spreading, 1.20 m high, drought-resistant and perennial grass.
Leaves are deep green. The seeds remain viable for about 3 years.

Distribution: It is an exotic grass, originally belongs to East Africa and was introduced in India in 1950
from Australia. In India it is found in coastal regions.

Climate: It requires warm and humid climate.

Soils: This grass thrives well on loamy soils.

Cultural Practices: In a well prepared, fertilized and level and small rooted slips with 2-3 nodes are
transplanted. The pasture can also be established by direct seedlings in lines at 30 cms apart at the onset
of monsoon season in dryland conditions and any time in the irrigated conditions as well as in heavy
rainfall regions.

Management schedule: It can be heavily grazed if used as a monospecific sward and regularly fertilized
with nitrogen. If grown with legumes, the grazing system must favour the legume and adequate
phosphorus must be maintained.

Fertilizer application & forage Yield: It responds well to fertilizer application and yielded 3.0,4.0 and
120 tlha under control, 60 kg N and 120 kg N/ha respectively in two cuts.

Nutritive value: It is used for hay making for lean period. It contains 9.6 and 8.1 per cent C.P. in July and
October respectively.

Utilization: The grass remains green for major part of the year even under the rainfed conditions. It is
much relished and is quite palatable.
Legumes