Rhodes Grass

Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) is an important tropical grass widespread in tropical and subtropical countries. It is a useful forage for pasture and hay, drought-resistant and very productive, of high quality when young.
Details :

• Rhodes grass is primarily a useful forage of moderate to high quality.It is grazed, cut for hay or used as deferred feed but it is not suitable for silage. It can form pure stands or is sown with other grasses or legumes. Many cultivars have been developed in order to suit different cultivation conditions or end-uses, such as early, late and very late flowering cultivars.
• Prostrate cultivars are suitable for grazing and erect cultivars are adapted to hay. Chloris gayana is useful as a cover crop and soil improver, as it improves fertility and soil structure and helps to decrease nematode numbers.
• Rhodes grass is a spring and summer-growing grass found in open woodlands and grasslands, in road margins, disturbed sites and river banks. It is cultivated in sown pastures in irrigated terraces. Its latitudinal range is between 18-33^oN and S, and it grows from sea level up to 2000-2400 m in equatorial areas, and up to 1000 m in subtropical areas Chloris gayana thrives in places where annual temperatures range from 16.5^oC to above 26^oC, with maximum growth at 30^oC/25^oC (day/night temperature).
• Optimal annual rainfall is about 600-750 mm with a summer-rainfall period grass can survive in areas where annual rainfall ranges between 310 mm and 4030 mm and where temperature extremes are 5^oC and 50^oC Due to its deep roots, Rhodes grass can withstand long dry periods (over 6 months) and up to 15 days of flooding Seasonal waterlogging over 30 cm kills the plant. Some cultivars are tolerant of frost. Rhodes grass grows on a wide range of soils from poor sandy soils to heavy clayey alkaline and saline soils (more than 10 dS/m). This salt tolerance is particularly valuable in irrigated pastures where it can be cultivated without problem.