How To Grow Brachiaria Grass: Harvesting

Figure 10: Planting one rooted tiller per hole. stages of an attack.
Adult worms become resistant

• Transplant early in the to chemical applications. Treatments should be AVCD Extension brief
morning or late in the evening applied in the evening before they begin feeding.
(from 6–10 am or 4–6pm)
when temperatures are lower Harvesting
How to grow
to avoid exposing the seedlings
to excess heat.
• The harvesting stage differs according to different
climate. Generally, Brachiaria grass will be ready
brachiaria grass
• Plant one rooted tiller per hole (Figure 10). for the first harvest 3–5 months after
Ben Lukuyu, Julius Githinji and Margaret Lukuyu
Planting more than this creates competition establishment. At this stage, the Brachiaria grass
(International Livestock Research Institute)
between plants and reduces the plantable area. will be about 1 m tall. Further cuts can be made
• Keep some seedlings in the nursery to replace every 8–12 weeks, depending on the climate.
seedlings that die after they are transplanted. • Cut the grass 5 cm above the ground using a
machete, a sickle or a motorized brush cutter.
Managing the Brachiaria crop
Weed control:
About AVCD
• Inspect the field a week after the seedling have
This material was produced on behalf of the Feed the Future
been transplanted and replace any dead seedlings. Kenya Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD)
• Well established Brachiaria grass is quite resistant program. This program seeks to widely apply technologies
to weeds. However, farmers need to control and innovations for four value chains—dairy, livestock,
weeds manually in the early stages of growth. staple drought tolerant crops and staple root crops—in
order to competitively and sustainably increase
productivity, contributing to inclusive agricultural growth,
Pest and diseases
nutrition and food security in the country. The main goal of
• During the growing period inspect the crop for AVCD is to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger in the
pests and diseases. Red spider mites and shoot Feed the Future zones of influence in Kenya. Focusing on
borers frequently attack Brachiaria grass. Once the livestock, dairy, staple crops root crops and staple
the grass is attached, red spider mites will be drought tolerant crops value chains in Kenya, AVCD aims to
found all over the plants. So take care of lift 317,000 households out of poverty, making them food
infestations before the plants become secure and enabling their transition from subsistence to
market-orientated farming.
permanently damaged. A plant infested by red
spider mites will start to look unhealthy and
appear dusty on the underside of its leaves. The
best way to eliminate red spider mites is to avoid Contacts
getting them. Keeping plants healthy and the areas Ben Lukuyu
around the crop free of weeds will keep red spider ILRI, Kenya
mites away. In addition, ensuring the plants have b.lukuyu@cgiar.org
enough water will help keep the red spider mites
away as they prefer very dry environments.
• Brachiaria grass can be attacked by army worms.
Army worms attack, feeding on grass shoots. ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their
contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund
Insecticides can be applied successfully at the early
This publication is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. April 2018
Figure 4: Drilling the seeds evenly in the furrows 2. Keep the seedlings in the nursery for 4–6 weeks.
1. Introduction
During early stages of establishment, weed infestation
Brachiaria grass can be grown in different climates but 1. Drill 0.5 kg of seeds, evenly
best in areas with medium–high rainfall. Brachiaria is likely, so monitor them closely and manually
placed in the furrows, and cover remove emerging weeds.
grass is nutritious and produces a lot of forage— them lightly with soil. Ensure all
between 250–300 bales per acre of cut grass. This the seeds are covered by the soil
brochure offers guidelines on producing seedlings and Figure 8: Removing the mulch when the seeds have started
(Figure 4). Water the seedbed
on planting and managing Brachiaria grass on one acre germinating
immediately after drilling.
of land to increase the quality and yield of the crop. 1. From the third week,
Figure 5: Covering the seedbed with dry grass (mulching) gradually remove the shade
Figure 1: Clearing the land for a Brachiaria nursery Caring for the nursery that is covering the seedlings
Nursery establishment 1. When the drilling is complete, to allow in more light. This
1. Select an area at least mulch the seedbed with dry will make the seedling
2x6m grass, straw, dry banana leaves stronger and ready for
2. Ensure the selected or any such kind of material transplanting (Figure 8).
area is close to the (Figure 5). Mulching helps
homestead to facilitate Transplanting seedlings
preserve the moisture in the
monitoring and supervision. seedbed. • Seedlings will be ready for transplanting within
3. Ensure it is also close to a water source for ease of 2. Using local materials, construct a simple a simple shed 4–6 weeks.
irrigation over the nursery to protect germinating seedlings (Figure 5) • Identify and plough or dig one acre of land in
4. Clear the selected area of all weeds and grasses as young seedlings can be delicate and die if exposed to advance before the onset of rains.
direct sunshine and prevent birds from eating the seeds. • It is recommended that transplanting should be
Figure 2: Preparing a raised seedbed to establish the nursery done during the wet season.
Measure the nursery area, Figure 6: Watering the nursery bed • Dig holes for plants 25 cm apart along lines 50
ensuring it is 1 x 5 m. Double 1. On dry days, water the seedbed cm apart from each other (Figure 9a and 9b).
dig1 the nursery to a fine twice daily (morning and evening)
seedbed. Raise the seedbed Figure 9: Dig plant holes 25 cm apart from each other on lines
using a watering can with a nozzle. 50 cm apart
by 0.5 m (Figure 2. This will Be careful not to water the
prevent water logging in the • Plant the Brachiaria seedlings
seedbed excessively. This will
seedbed and facilitate good root development. with well-dried farm yard
cause water logging that could
manure. Bring the manure
stress the seedlings (Figure 6a and 6b).
Figure 3: Making furrows at a spacing of 5 cm close to the field. Apply one
2. Monitor the seedbed to ensure the nursery is not
Sowing the seeds handful of per hole.
destroyed by scavenging birds, pests or diseases. Protect the
1. Use a string to make • The seedlings should be
seedbed from being damaged if need be.
straight furrows 5 cm between transplanted during the cool hours of the day,
the rows (Figure 3) preferably in the evening.
2. Dig the furrows along the Figure 7: Remove mulching after germination
• Water the nursery in the morning to soften the
row no more than 2 cm deep 1. After 5–7 days, or as soon as ground to allow easy of uprooting the seedlings.
(Figure 3). This should give you observe that germination • Remove each seedling with soil attached to the
you 18–20 furrows. has started, remove the grass roots. Seedlings should be carefully arranged on
mulch to allow the seedlings to trays or gunny bags and transported for planting.
grow (Figure 7)
1Dig the nursey twice ensuring it is at least 0.5 m deep and

remove any stones, roots or any underlying material.

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Figure 10: Planting one rooted tiller per hole. stages of an attack.

Adult worms become resistant

Insecticides can be applied successfully at the early

1Dig the nursey twice ensuring it is at least 0.5 m deep and

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