a new grass for waterlogged soils in Northeast Thailand

Transcription

1 .,.J u.j u uy1 1 \1UUY1 1 nuij1iju 25(0 Ubon paspalum (Paspalum atratum Swallen), a new grass for waterlogged soils in Northeast Thailand M.D. Hare', M. Saengkham', K. Thummasaeng' K.Wongpichet', W. Suriyajantratong', P. Booncharen and C. Phaikawe2. 'Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University,Ubon Ratchathani Thailand. 2Division of Animal Nutrition,Department of Livestock Development,Bangkok, Thailand. ABSTRACT Ubon paspalum (PaspaJum atratum Swallen), a forage grass from Brazil, has proven to be a valuable forage grass for wet, waterlogged, low fertility, acid soils in parts of ~ortheast Thailand. In trials it has produced up to 72 0/0 more dry matter than Ruzi grass in the second wet season follo~ng establishment on waterlogged soils. Ubon paspalum establishes readily from seed and in trials at a sowing rate of 18 kg seed/ha, averaged 153 plants/m, 6 weeks after sowing at 4 sites. It also establisnes easily from planting tillers. Ubon paspalum produces seed in late September to early October and in trials, seed yields have been up to 230 kg/ha. Keywords: Paspalum atratum, establishment, dry matter production, seed yield. Introduction In May 1995, a forage research project, with funding from the Thailand Research Fund, commenced at Ubon Ratchathani University. 1979) These soils cover no more than 12 0/0 of the area of Northeast Thailand (Mitsuchi et al. 1986) There has been no detailed pasture research carried out (Mitsuchi et al. 1986). It 0 f h ' b " f h" is onto these soils that dairy farming is now ne 0 t e main 0 ~ectives 0 t IS pro~ect was to evaluate grass species for low fertility, wa- expanding. These two soils are generally used for terlogged soils for feeding to dairy cows.,, nce planting. They are largely structureless, Previous pasture research in Notheast h d 'It fr t', t ' ave a san -Sl ac Ion cons1s 109 a Imost ex- Thailand had been mainly carried out on well- clusively of quartz, have very low nutrient holddrained soils on the middle terraces (Nam ing capacity and high bulk densities. They are Phong and Phon Phisai series) and the high very low in organic matter and have a closely terraces (Yasothon series) (Shelton et al. packed topsoil over a packed subsoil. As such

2 2 1111Yl11"1m they can be waterlogged for long periods during the wet season ( two-three months) and then dry out during the dry season forming a hard pan (Ragland and Boonpukdee, 19S6 ). The soils at Ubon Rachathani University are mainly Roi -et soils with some Khorat soils. Table 1 shows the ana:1ysis of our Roi-et soils ~ Paspalum atratum, performs very well on w~terlogged soils and stays green right through the dry season in low lying sites. This grass is now called Ubon paspalum. Origin Paspalum atratum is native to the states which shows that the soils are very acid, have of Mato Grosso do SuI, Goias and Minas Geriais very low organic matter and are extremely de- in Brazil. These states are between 15 to 22 S ficient in N, P and K. With dairy farming developing onto these soils there are currently only two grass species available which are suitable for wet soils in Thailand. :.They are plicatulum of the equator. Ubon Rachathani is 15 N and Northest Thailand is between 14 and 1soN of the equator. Two varieties of P. atratum have been collected in Mato Grosso do SuI. The first is BRA9610 which we have named Ubon paspalum in Thailand. The second is called (Paspalum plicatulum), and para grass Suerte in Florida and Hi-Gane in Australia. (Brachiaria mutica). Both species grow very well in wet sites during the wet season but The soils where P. atratum was collected have a very high watertable during the wet season perform poorly over the dry season. Plicatulum and an analysis of the soil showed a ph of 5.1, is generally a low quality grass and is not eaten organic matter of and P of 5.7 ppm. 1 readily by dairy cows. Para grass must be Rainfall at the collection site is about 1400 mm/ ~ planted vegetatively which limits its expan- year compared with an annual rainfall of 1500 s sion, and even though it is very palatable it has mm at Ubon Ratchathani. The soils at Ubon r very poor dry season production and is often Ratchathani are probably wetter and poorer than r grazed out during the dry season. Ruzi grass those in Brazil from where P. atratum was col- s (Brachiaria ruzizensis). is the most widely lected. S grown grass in Thailand. It grows best on well- In November 1994 Ubon Ratchathani drained fertile soils. Farmers have found that University received 100g of P. atratum E ruzi grass drys off very quickly in the dry sea- BRA9610 seed from Dr. Werner Stur in the son and does not grow well in waterlogged Philippines. Dr. Stur is the regional research tu sites. officer for the Forages for Smallholders Project a, After two years research, the Forage which is a project in Southeast Asia funded by su Research Project at Ubon Rachathani Univer- AustAid and managed by CSIRO AJ sity, has found that a new grass from Brazil, ( Australia) and CIAT in Colombia. Dr. Stur dr

3 '"~ u ~ u uyl 1 IIUUYI 1 nuij1iju is based at IRRI in the Philippines. Fifty g of this seed was used for the initial evaluation research at the university' and the other 50 g was used for seed increase. We harvested 60 gley soil at 15 Sand 1000 m.a.s.l. ( Barcellos et al. 1997). Steers grazing these pastures gave mean liveweight gains of 587 g/animal/day and 655 kg/hectare/year over four years. k 1 t In Florida, steers grazing P. atratum g as year. cv. Suerte gained 700 g in liveweight over a 97 In 1995 we received permission from.. Dr. Stur to rename BRA9610 with a Thai name. We choose to name the grass Ubon paspalum. In Brazil, where Portugese is the ~inain lan- guage, Ubon means good. Ubon paspalum has proven to be a very good grass for our environment. day penod at a stocking rate of 3.5 steers/ha (Kretschmer et al. 1994). Suerte also produced 6730 kg DM;ha when cut at a 15 cm height every 21 days over a 240 day wet season with 224 kg N/ha. Kalmbacher et al. ( 1997) stocked Suerte at 6 yearling steers/ha and produced a daily liveweight gain of 600 g/animal over a 168 day season. In these trials Suerte was sown at 2.3 kg/ha and during grazing there Morphological description were 13.5 plants per m. Crude protein content Ubon paspalum is a perennial, tetrap- of Suerte varied from during the loid, large leafy bunch grass and if left uncut, leaf canopies can grow up to one metre high and inflorescences to over two metres high. year (Kalmbacher et al. 1997). They concluded that P. atratum cv. Suerte could be an important pasture grass for rearing heifers or Th 1 af bl d h. 1 h growing steers in the wet, humid tropics. e erect e a es can reac 50 cm m engt :.In Southeast Asia, P. atratum BRA9610 and 3-4 cm in width. The lower leaf sheaths. tl are slightly hairy and the leaf margins are very IS presen y growmg very we on wet SOl s m Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and shap. Each inflorescence has between 5 and 9 Thailand ( Ibrahim et al. 1997). The racemes with between 70 and 90 spikelets per Department of Livestock Development in Thairaceme. The seeds are reddish brown and land harvested over 3000 kg of seed of P. shiney. There are between 200, ,000 atratum BRA9610 from Animal Nutrition seeds per kg. Research stations in Background agronomy and research Research at Ubon Ratchathani P. atratum is a new grass to agricul- University ture and so there is not much information Seedling establishment available. P. atratum BRA9610 has been grown We have found that Ubon paspalum successfully with the perennial peanut, establishes very well from broadcast seed Arachis pintoi BRA31143 in Brazil on a poorly sowing, seedling plants and by tillers cut from drained, seasonally waterlogged, low humid older plants.

4 r '1fl,'j'l"1m, ~OOU. On a waterlogged low fertility Roi-et dry season yields. Fertilzer was only applied soil ( Table 1 ), Ubon paspalun established during the wet season in both years and all the very well in 1995 from seed broadcasted at apecies received 80 kg N, 100 kg K, 40 kg S 4 kg/ha (0.6 kg/rai), ( Table 2 ). At sowing, and 40 kg P Iha the first wet season and 120 kg 40 kg N, 50 kg K, 20 kg Sand 20 kg P/ha N, 150 kg K, 60 kg Sand 60 kg P/ha: in the were spread with the seed and raked into the second wet season. soil. In 1997, Ubon paspalum established well This trial shows that Ubon paspalum at three out of four sites when broadcast sown does better than ruzi grass in the second wet at a rate of 18 kg/ha ( 2.88 kg/rai), (Table 3). season and cuuently in tqe third wet season F 01 ' th b 1 d it is growing better ( Table 12). At Yasothon ertl lzer at e a ove rates was a so sprea at, S d d b h d aki Ubon paspalum produced 72 Djo more dry sowmg. ee was covere y an r ng. matter than ruzi grass 47 days after cutting Average plant density in these trials (Table 3) ( Table 12). was 156 plants 1m, twelve times higher than the plant densities in the Florida trials ( Kalmbacher et al. 1997). Production in mixed grass/ We have also established Ubon legume swards paspalum vegetatively by dividing tillers with In swards mixed with the legume roots from older plants and sowing these tillers Llanos macro (Macroptilium gracile), on I into wet soil the same day. One large plant waterlogged sites at Ubon Ratchathani v will divide into about 50 tillers. Last year we University and Yasothon Animal Nutrition also established village pastures and a village station, Ubon paspalum did not produce s seed production area by planting tillers. significantly more dry ml}tter than other grass l~ Small village farmers therefore have species at the end of the first year of d an option of either planting Ubon paspalum by production ( Table 5 ). Fertilizer was only d: seed or by planting tillers from older plants on applied during the wet se.ason and 120 kg N, gj th ' f 150 kg K, 60 kg Sand 60 kg P/ha were ( elf arms. applied. e~ In another trial, Llanos macro w, Evauation in pure swards 0, combmed much better with Ubon paspalum and In the first year of the initial setaria in the first year of establishment, than S evaluation trials established in 1995 ( Table with plicatulum and signal grass ( Table 6). 2), Ubon paspalum produced dry matter yields This is because the open leaf structure of Ubon pr( similar to ruzi grass ( Table 4). In the second paspalum allows climbing legume to grow well the wet season Ubon paspalum produced 27 Djo between its leaves than the more dense struc- cl() more d ry matter than ruzi gr ass, but similar tures of signal grass and plicatulum. -gr< v

5 ,.~ u ~ u uy1 1 IIUUY1 1 n\lllll1\ In a further trial at Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon paspalum averaged over produced five times less seed than fields cut in June, and fields cut in September produced no 10,000 kg DM/ha during the dry season when seed at all ( Table 9). In another trial, seed fertilized ( Table 7). All plots received 80 kg harvested by knocking seed from the inflo- N, 100 kg K, 40 kg Sand 40 P /ha during the rescences into bags every day produced twice wet season and similar amounts during the dry the amount of seed than seed harvested by season. This shows that Ubon paspalum will threshing or sweating (Table 10). produce high dry matter yields during the dry season on low lying soils if it receives fertilizer. In future, we will fertilize all trials during the dry season on our Roi -et soils as they do not hold nutrients for very long at all There may be some embryo dormancy in freshly harvested seed so we recommend storing seed for 4-6 months after harvest and sow In the wet season. Last year a village farmer produced ( Mitsuchi et al. 1986). Ubon paspalum seed for the first time in Thailand. Despite seed losses from heavy rain Waterlogging tolerance and birds, she still harvested 340 kg seed/ha In pot trials at the university, Ubon paspalum also showed that it is tolerant of waterlogging. Plants of several grass species were grown in buck~ts for 84 days and then ( 47.5 kg/rai). This year we have contracted 21 farmers to produce seed for our research project. subjected to waterlogging at a 5 cm above soil Future research level depth for 10 days. Waterlogging reduced We are continuing long term dry weight of ruzi grass and signal grass but did not affect weights ofplicatulum, Jarra digit grass, Splenda setaria and Ubon paspalum evaluation trials comparing Ubon paspalum with other grasses on many sites in different areas. We believe that Ubon paspalum performs ( Table 8). We are repeating waterlogging better than many species in.the second and experiments this year and we will extend the waterlogging period from 10 days up to 20 days. subsequent years ( Table 12). We are also studying its performance with a range of try and see which legumes persist best with Ubon Seed production of Ubon paspalum paspalum. A dairy production trial will also Ubon paspalum is a short day plant commence next year when milk production of, producing inflorescences towards the end of dairy cows will be compared by grazing either the wet season in late August-September. A Ubon paspalum, Jarra digit, signal grass, ruzi.. closing date trial found that seed fields cut to ground level at the beginning of August grass or Splenda setaria, These pastures are establishing now.

6 ",m 1I.ou. We are also concerned about the low Acknowledgments protein values in Ubon paspalum ( Table 11). W e WIS. h to gratefully acknowledge the We believe that because our soils do not hold f ". undmg received from the ThaIland Research nutrients and that we are, not fertilizing our tri -. Fund supportmg our research and the cooperaals frequently enough~ A trial is under way tion of the Animal Nutrition Division, Departstudying the effect of rates of nitrogen and.. fr.ment of LIvestock Development, for allowing cuttmg equency on protem content and dry..us to work on their research stations. matter production m Ubon paspalum. We are also studying the effects of oversowing high protein annual legumes into Ubon paspalum so that protein values of the sward increases. We also need to study more about how to manage Ubon paspalum for long term production, nutritive value and persistence on BRA and Paspalum atratum BRAvillage dairy farms References Barcellos, A.O., Pizarro, E.A. and Costa, N.L Agronomic evaluation of novel germplasm under grazing: Arachis pintoi Proceedings XVll International Grassland Summary Congress Vol. 2: Ubon paspalum has proven to be an Ibrahim, Lanting, E.,Khemsawat,C., Wong, execllent grass for low fertility soils which C.C.,Guodao,L.,Phimphachanhvongsod, become waterlogged during the wet season. It V.,Binh, L.H.and Horne, P.M also produces good dry season production on low lying sites if it is fertilized well. We have found that Ubon paspalum is easy to establish from seed, seedlings, or freshly cut tillers. Ubon 1: paspalum sets a lot of seed towards the end of the wet season and is fairly easy to harvest. Forage grasses and Legumes with broad adaptation for Southeast Asia. Proceedings XVll International Grassland Congress Vol. Kalmbacher, R.S., Martin,.F.G. and Kretschner, A.E. Jr Performance of cattle Also the quality of the seed is high. grazing pastures based on Paspalum The results presented in this paper are preliminary data from a range of trials looking 31: at forage production on waterlogged soils. To date our results indicate that Ubon paspalum atratum cv. Suerte. Tropical Grasslands Kretschmer, A.E. Jr, Kalmbacher, R.S and Wilson T.C Preliminary evaluation could become an important forage for season- of Paspalum atratum Swallen ally waterlogged and seasonally dry soils in Northeast Thailand and hopefully other parts of Thailand with similar sites as well. (atra paspalum). : A high quality, seed producing perennial forage grass for Florida. Soil and Crop

7 ,c Science Society of Florida Proceedings,,.~ u ~ u uf1 1 I!UUf1 nu/jl/ju : a four part review. NERAD Northeast 53: Reginonal Office of Agriculture, Mitsuchi, M., Wichaidii, P. and Jeungnijnirund, Khon Kaen. 17pp. S Outline of soils of the Northeast Sh I H M G 'd RC Wil ' e ton,.., uwen ge,., alpon,., N Plateau, Thailand: Their characteristics and, Wickham, B., Kratzing, D.C. and Waring, and constraints. Agncultural Development R h C tr. N rth t Kh K S.A Nutrient studies on pasture soils esearc en e 10 0 eas, on aen. Ragland, J. and Boonpukdee, L of Northeastern Thailand. Thai Journal of Fertilizer responses in Northeast Thailand Agricultural Science, 12: Table 1 Chemical data of Roi-et soil at Ubon Ratchathani University Total ph N P OM Ca Mg Na K CEC (mel (0/0) (ppm) (0/0) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) 100g) Table 2 Plant numbers per m2, weeks after sowing at 4 kg seed/ha at Ubon Ratchathani University in 1995 Species Plant 801m2 Ruzi grass 19.5 Koronivia grass 7.0 Signal grass 23.2 Splenda setaria 14.7 Solander setaria 8.5 Bermuda grass 37.7 Bambasti grass 18.8 Purple pigeon grass 2.7 Fine-cut Rhodes grass 30.0 Raki paspalum 26.0 Ubon paspalum 34.5 Jarra digit 11.2 LSD (P<o.os) 20.1

8 .I 8 11~In~i"lm~ lj.ou. Table 3 Pl1int numbers per m2 in June 1997, 6 weeks after sowing at 18 kg seed/ha at four sites Ubon in Northeast Thailand Species Ubon Warin Det Udom Mukdahan University paspalum 109a 30C 346bc l~ob Plicatulum 98ab 126a 587a 245a Ruzi grass 52cde 83abc, 112de -5.9cd i Signal grass 22e 16C 2Se 17d i' Splenda' ".89abc setana 115abc 455~b Illbc Jarra digit 69bcd 67abc 219cd 41cd Purple pigeon 42de 46bc 169de 6d Table 4 Dry matter yield of grass at Ubon Ratchathani University Grass species Dry weight (kg/ha) ~-- Season Wet Dry Wet Dry ~ YearY / /97 Ruzi grass Koronivia grass cv. Tully Signal grass cv. Basilisk Splenda setaria Solander setaria Bambatsimakarikari grass Fine-cut Rhodes grass Raki paspalum Ubon paspalum Jarra digit grass LSD (P<O.O5) ns

9 ".. liyi 1 IIUUYI u.. 1 n\lllll1\1 u Table 5 Dry matter production (kg/ha) from grass and grass/llanos macro swards in the first wet season of establishment and the first dry season following establishment at Ubon University (UBU) and Yasothon forage station (YFS) Wet* UBU Dry** G.Grass Grass + Difference Grass Grass + Difference rass species only Llanos ce only Llanos ce macro macro Ubon paspalum 4308 a't> a * 6616a 7196a ns Ruzi grass 7569a 8958a ns 5696a 6241a ns Plicatulum 2265b 6131a * 3814a 5901a ns Signal grass 7396a 8874a ns 6754a 6941a ns Splenda setaria 5810ab 8913a ns 4014a 6811a fis ~ean ** ns Wet* Dry** Gr.Grass Grass + Difference Grass Grass + Difference ass species only llanos ce only llanos ce macro macro Ubon paspalum 4730ab 5591b ns 6303a 4858a ns Ruzi grass 3164b 6468ab * 3764a 4846a ns Plicatulum 2851b 7902ab ** 4696a 5702a ns Signal grass 5302ab 5687b ns 5248a 5522a ns Splenda setaria 5302ab 9398a ns 6048a 7082a ns ~ean ** ns In a column, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at the 596 level by Duncans ~ultiple Range Test.. * Wet seas()n cuts September 3, November ** Dry season cuts 27 January, 24 April 1997

10 -I Y1m1 1J.tJu. Table 6 Dty matter production (kg/ha) from Llanos macro and grasses in pure and mixed swards in the the first wet season of establishment and the first dry season at Ubon University Llanos macro No grass Wet* Ubon. Phcatulum Splenda Signal LSD paspalum setaria grass (P<O.O5) Cirass Total Dry*, Ubon \ Splenda Signal LSD No grass Plicatulum paspalum setaria grass (P<O.O5) Llanos macro Cirass Total * Wet season cuts 28 August, 28 October 1996 ** Dry season cuts 4 February, 28 April 1997 Table 7 Dry matter production (kg/ha) from Ubon paspalum and legume swards in the first wet season of establishment and the first dry season at Ubon University Ubon paspalum No legume Wet* Llanos Lee joint Llanos+Lee+ LSD Cavalcade macro vetch Cavalcade (P<O.O5) Legurne ns Total ns 1 Ubon paspalurn No legume Dry* Llanos Lee joint Llanos+Lee+ LSD Cavalcade macro vetch Cavalcade (P<O.O5) Legurne Total * Wet season cuts 28 August, 28 October 1996 In ** Dry season cuts 4 February, 28 April 1997 Dl

11 "./ ~./ - uyl 1 IIUUYI 1 nutjltju Table 8 Effect of waterlogging for 10 and 20 days on dry weight of grass Dry weight (grams per pint) Control plants Control plants at Plants after 10 Species before water end of water days water applied logging period logging Ubon paspalum 7.1 a 14.3 b 12.3 b JIi-Gane paspalum 7.5 a 21.7 c 13.8 b Splenda setaria 8.2 a 12.0 b 14.4 c Ruzi grass 8.9 c 20.5 a 15.9 b Signal grass 11.0 b 28.2 a 16.2 b Jarra digit 17.6 b 25.6 a 24.7 a Plicatulum 11.2 b 21.3 a 23.5 a In a column, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at the 5% level by Duncans Multiple Range Test. Table 9 Effect of closing date on seed yield and seed yield components of Ubon paspalum Closing Seed yield TSW Infloresced Receme/ Spikelet/ date (kg/ha) (g) ce/m2 inflorescence raceme May June July August Sept LSD (p<0.05) Table 10 Effect of different seed harvesting methods on seed yields and thousand seed weight (TSW) of Ubon pasapalum Harvesting method Seed yield (kg/ha) TSW (g) Knocking 230 a a Cut and thresh 140 b b Cut, sweat 2 days, thresh 119 b b.cut, sweat 4 days, thresh 131 b b- In a column, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at the 5% level by Duncans Multiple Range Test.

12 n11Ylm1 lj.fju. Table 11 Crude protein,& of different seed harvesting methods on seed yields and thousand see weight (TSW) of Ubon paspalum Crude protein % Grass species UBU UFS Date (day/mqnth) 11/6 13./8 16/10 23/12 11/6 13/8 16/10 23/12 Ftuzi grass Koronivia grass cv. Tully Signal grasscv. Basilisk Splenda setaria Solander setaria Bermuda grass Bambatsi makarikari grass Purple pigeon grass Fine-cut Fthodes grass Ftaki paspalum Ubon paspalum Paspalum plicatulum Jarra digit grass ~ Table 12 Dry matter production of grass species in June 1997,47 days after cutting, in the evaluation trial at Ubon University (Trial 1) and trials at Ubon University and Yasothon (Trial 2) Trial 1 (Third Year) Trial 2 (Second year) Grass.DM species (kg/ha) Grass species Yasothon Ubon Jarra digit 5437a Ubon paspalum 6162a 7442a Splenda 4489ab Signal 4539ab 4880ab setaria Ubon 3732abc Ftuzi 3568b. 5401ab i paspalum I Ftuzi 3092bc Splenda setaria 3570b 3071b 1 Plicatulum 3025bc Plicatulum 3654b 3832b Koronivia 2819bc Signal 2509c 1 Solander 2344C setaria Ii Ftaki 2004c I~ paspalum ~ In a column, means followed by a common letter are not significantly different at the 50/0 level by "b Du~cans Mulitiple Ftange Test. Ii