Dr. Waqas Nawaz PMAS arid agriculture university rawalpindi pakistan

1. MOTT GRASS
11-arid-954
11-arid-955
11-arid-956
11-arid-958

2. Introduction:
It is an improved cultivar of Dwarf Napier Grass (Giant napier) of
Elephant Grass introduced in Pakistan in 1987 from USA.
o Common name: Mott Grass
o Botanical name: Pennesetum benthium
o Origin: Introduced from the USA & Africa

3. General Characteristics:
o Perennial fodder
o High palatability
o High digestibility (70-75%)
o High nutritive value
o Excellent summer fodder (kharif fodder)
o Winter dormant crop
o Relished by all type of livestock
o provides fodder during lean period
o Stem cuttings or root stock are used
o Good for silage making due to high leaf/stem
o Fair degree of resistance to temporary flooding

4. Morphological description:
Plants –
o Tall
o Erect
Leaves-
o High leaf to stem ratio
o Leaf canopy has diameter of 1.0-1.3m
o Broader & longer
Stem-
o 6.5m in height
o Thick
o Planted like sugarcane
o Culms have 3 nodes

5. Land preparation –
o Well prepared before its cultivation
o Farm yard manure, if available, should be mixed with soil at the
time of preparation
o DAP should also be applied
Sowing-
o Sowing the seeds at proper time, rate and method increases
the yield
1. Time of sowing:
o Best season is Feb to March
o Except extreme weather conditions i.e during very hot &
very cold period
o Planting time is spring (feb & march) and rainy season
(july & august)

6. 2. Seed rate:
o In case of line sowing kg per hectare is sufficient.
3. Sowing method:
o Sowing of mott grass can be done either by line sowing 75cm x
75cm.
Harvesting-
o When 3-4 ft, harvest it
o First cutting in 2 months
o Successive cuttings at 30-45 days interval
o Urea is applied after each harvest
o Six cuts per annum

7. Mott Grass

8. Yield:
o Perennial forage and lasts for many years
o Each cutting may yield up-to 20 tons fodder per acre
o 140-200 tons green fodder in 4-6 cuts per hectare
o Yield is decreased in wet & water logged soils

9. Top Producing Areas:
o Punjab
o NWFP Of the Pakistan
o AJK
o USA
o Africa
o France Of the World
o Kenia

10. Nutritional value:
o DM 35-38%
o CP 8-11%
o CF 32-35%
o TDN 53.82%
o EE 3-4%
o NFE 48-50%
o Ash 11.63%

11. REFERENCES::::::
 NARC
 Animal Husbandry by S. Iqbal Shah
 Dr. Tanveer Ahmad Lecture
 Crop Production by Shafi Nazir
 www.fao.org
 Pakistan agriculture.com
 www.pakissan.com
 Some others....