Elephantgrass, a tropical grass for cutting and grazing

Abstract

Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum. syn. Cenchrus purpureus) is one of the most important forage plants worldwide, cultivated in almost all tropical and subtropical regions due to its high potential for dry matter production, nutritional value, acceptability by different animal species and categories, vigor, and persistence. It has shown great potential for biomass energy production and other forms of non-forage use. This study aimed to review the current knowledge about the cultivation and use elephantgrass focused on pasture and silage. The study also describes the main morphological, genetic, and cytogenetic characteristics of the species, and methods and strategies for obtaining improved cultivars. The release of dwarf type cultivars for grazing and cultivars with high-yield potential for silage has increased the interest in the cultivation of elephantgrass in the beef and dairy cattle production.

Agronomic responses and herbage nutritive value of elephant grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes grown as monocrops and mixed with butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea)

“…Souza et al (2021) reported lower ADF content in leaves of dwarf Mott than dwarf Taiwan (296 vs 338 g/kg DM) when assessing these genotypes in cut-andcarry systems under rainfed conditions. We also recorded lower ADF contents in dwarf Mott than in the dwarf Taiwan genotype, probably because of the higher leaf:stem ratio and shorter internodes (Pereira et al 2021).…”

“…The N fertilisation performed via urea application only in the monocropping system contributed to greater HA in Elephant B grown as monocrop than intercropped with butterfly pea. The tall Elephant B has high N-use efficiency for HA, mainly because of rapid stem elongation (Silva et al 2018;Pereira et al 2021). Nevertheless, such differences were not verified in the other monocrop-intercrop comparisons.…”

“…Progenies of Taiwan A-146 display thin stems and upright, narrower leaves (Cheng 1991). Genotypes such as dwarf Mott and BRS Kurumi are characterised by many leaves per tiller and very short stems (Pereira et al 2017;Pereira et al 2021). These morphological characteristics occur because dwarf genotypes were selected to have short sizes, favouring their use in grazing systems (Sollenberger et al 1989;Pereira et al 2021).…”

“…Genotypes such as dwarf Mott and BRS Kurumi are characterised by many leaves per tiller and very short stems (Pereira et al 2017;Pereira et al 2021). These morphological characteristics occur because dwarf genotypes were selected to have short sizes, favouring their use in grazing systems (Sollenberger et al 1989;Pereira et al 2021). Despite their differences, the morphological traits of both dwarf Mott and dwarf Taiwan often ensure greater nutritional value than that expected for tropical grasses (Silva et al 2021b).…”

Effect of harvest frequency and season on morphogenic and structural characteristics of dwarf and tall Elephantgrass genotypes

“…Elephant grass [ Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone]is widely used as a key forage plant in ruminant production in tropical and subtropical regions due to its favourable soil and climate conditions that result in high growth rate, high forage production, and great nutritional value (Vander Pereira et al, 2021).…”