Yield and proximate analysis data for stargrass at three research stations (two on Hawaii and one on Oahu) are presented

Fukumoto, Glen K.

Lee, Chin N.

ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Published by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Andrew G. Hashimoto, Director/Dean, Cooperative Extension Service/CTAHR, Universityof Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Institution providing programs and services to the people of Hawaii withoutregard to race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, sexual orientation, or veteran status.CTAHR publications can be found on the Web site <http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu> or ordered by calling 808-956-7046 or sending e-mail to ctahrpub@hawaii.edu.Livestock ManagementApr. 2003LM-6Stargrass for ForageGlen K. Fukumoto and Chin N. LeeDepartment of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal SciencesStargrass is a native of tropical Central Africa. Its sci-entific name is Cynodon aethiopicus W.D. Claytonand J.R. Harlan; synonyms are C. nlemfuensis Vanderystand C. plectostachyus (K.Schum.) Pilger. Vegetative ma-terial was introduced from Kenya to Puerto Rico in 1957.Puerto Rican selections were introduced into Florida in1972 for further evaluations and distributed in the Floridaand Southwestern U.S. The exact date of introductioninto Hawaii is not known, but Bishop Museum recordsdocument C. aethiopicus on Oahu in 1945 and on Ha-waii in 1962.DescriptionStargrass is a robust perennial that spreads by long,above-ground stolons. The leaf sheaths and both sur-faces of the leaves are hairy. The flowering head is toppedby a whorl of four to six seed spikes. Few viable seedsare produced. The stems and flower are light red topurple, and the leaves are a dark green-purple blend.Adapted environmentStargrass is not widely distributed in Hawaii, but it hasthe potential to be a productive forage in a wide rangeof environmental zones and soil types. As with otherCynodon species, stargrass grows from sea level to morethan 3000 feet elevation in areas having rainfall of aminimum 15 inches to more than 80 inches.Cultivars in HawaiiThe most predominant variety in Hawaii is ‘Florico’, morecommonly referred to as “Puerto Rican stargrass.” ‘SouthPoint’ stargrass is another cultivar, limited at present toits geographic location on the island of Hawaii.EstablishmentStargrass is propagated only by vegetative means, bysprigging mature stem and stolon pieces at a rate of1000–1500 pounds of planting material per acre. Thepropagules can be planted by hand or scattered anddisked into the soil. The field should be well prepared,and growing conditions at the time of sprigging shouldbe favorable.ManagementTropical pasture grasses in Hawaii are most productiveduring warm seasons and at lower elevations, andstargrass is no different. Stargrass cannot withstand con-tinuous heavy grazing. Maintaining a vigorous swardrequires grazing rotations of 28–42 days during thespring and summer growing seasons and withdrawinglivestock in time to obtain higher levels of pasture re-sidual (stubble height) for the regrowth period. Longerrest periods are required during cool seasons and athigher elevations. One concern with stargrass is its po-tential for high hydrocyanic acid content, which occurswithin the first 4-week regrowth period following heavyapplications of nitrogen fertilizer (>100 lb/A).Fieldwork in HawaiiField plots (10 x 100 ft) were established at three CTAHRresearch stations (Mealani, Waiakea, and Waimanalo).The plots were harvested at regrowth intervals of 4, 8,and 12 weeks at each of the three locations. A “mainte-nance” level of fertilizer was applied, consisting of 2.25lb of urea and 2.1 lb of muriate of potash per plot every3 months (equivalent to 390 lb of urea and 365 lb ofmuriate of potash per acre per year). Testing the soil be-fore any fertilizer application is strongly recommended.LM-6 Stargrass for Forage CTAHR — Apr. 2003201 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0y h y y r r01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N DAverage temperatures (°F) at Waimanalo Research Station,1991–1994.Average maximum and minimum temperatures (°F) atWaiakea Research Station, 1988–1994.3LM-6 Stargrass for Forage CTAHR — Apr. 2003051 01 52 02 53 001 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N DWaiakeaMealaniWaimanaloAverage monthly rainfall at three CTAHR research stations,1991–1994.Average maximum and minimum temperatures (°F) atMealani Research Station, 1988–1994.LM-6 Stargrass for Forage CTAHR — Apr. 20034Yield data for the three sites are shown in Table 1.The harvested forages were sent to CTAHR’s Agricul-ture Diagnostic Service Center for tissue analyses, andthose data are shown in Table 2.Resistance to the yellow sugarcane aphidMore than 250 grasses were screened and scored on a10-point scale, (0 = no damage, 9 = plant death) to evalu-ate tolerance of the yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flavaForbes. A resistance score was established for each grasstested. Two stargrasses were tested and found suscep-tible to aphid feeding damage; the scores were PuertoRican stargrass 5.24 ± 0.50, and ‘South Point’ stargrass5.27 ± 0.38 (mean ± standard error).AcknowledgmentsThe authors thank the County of Hawaii Department ofResearch and Development for providing funds to de-velop this publication. The former Governor’s Agricul-ture Coordinating Committee funded the research onforage screening for yellow sugarcane aphid resistance.Special thanks to Dr. Stanley Ishizaki, retired forageanalyst in the former CTAHR Department of AnimalSciences, for initially establishing the forage plots.ReferencesAlderson, J., and W. Curtis Sharp. 1995. Grass varietiesin the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture.CRC Press, Inc., Baca Raton, FL.Mislevy, P., W.F. Brown, R. Caro-Costas, J. Vincente-Chandler, L.S. Dunavin, D.W. Hall. R.S. Kalmbacher,A.J. Overman, O.C. Ruelke, R.M. Sonoda, A.Sotomayor-Rios, R.L. Stanley, Jr. and M.J. Williams.1989. Florico stargrass. Florida Coop. Ext. Serv., Inst.of Food and Agricultural Sci., University of Florida,Circular S-361.USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov) National Plant Data Cen-ter, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490, USA.Table 1. Yield of stargrass (lb/acre) in three locations at three regrowth periods (means of 39 samples + standard error.)Location 4-week 8-week 12-weekMealani 464.7a + 76.9 1169.9a + 154.6 2296.9a + 223.2Waiakea 687.7b + 75.4 2206.3b + 196.2 3891.0b + 284.6Waimanalo 1507.4c + 176.2 3425.2c + 356.9 4666.1c + 308.4Means within columns with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.01).Table 2. Nutrient composition (%)of stargrass at different stages of growth.Stage Dry matter Crude protein NDF ADF P K CaMean ± standard error4 wks 25.5 ± 2.50 12.8 ± 0.90 70.1 ± 0.46 33.4 ± 0.58 0.24 ± 0.03 1.78 ± 0.20 0.45 ± 0.028 wks 31.2 ± 1.39 8.2 ± 0.96 75.5 ± 0.63 37.1 ± 0.77 0.15 ± 0.01 1.04 ± 0.19 0.36 ± 0.0212 wks 32.6 ± 1.52 5.6 ± 0.75 77.0 ± 0.48 39.7 ± 0.71 0.13 ± 0.01 1.18 ± 0.24 0.38 ± 0.03Maximum-minimum values4 wks 18.9-34.6 6.8-17.9 66.7-76.4 29.0-38.0 0.17-0.13 1.17-2.29 0.38-0.528 wks 25.5-38.4 5.4-17.8 68.8-81.2 30.5-43.9 0.12-0.19 0.34-1.98 0.30-0.4812 wks 28.7-38.2 2.5-11.0 72.1-82.3 32.7-47.1 0.11-0.17 0.46-1.80 0.26-0.47NDF = neutral detergent fiber; ADF = acid detergent fiber; P = phosphorus; K = potassium; Ca = calcium

Stargrass for Forage

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Stargrass for Forage

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