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Smut grass (Sporobolus indicus)

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Sporobulus indicus, Central Vietnam
Sporobulus indicus, Central Vietnam
Common names 

Smut grass, smutgrass, wire grass (Sporobolus indicus var. indicus), dropseed (Sporobolus indicus var. flaccidus), rat's tail grass, Parramatta grass, tufty grass (Sporobolus indicus var. capensis), whorled dropseed, West Indian dropseed (Sporobolus indicus var. pyramidalis) [English]; capim cortezia, capim lucas, capim mourão, capim toucerinha [Portuguese]

Species 

Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br. [Poaceae]

Synonyms 

Agrostis africana Poir., Agrostis capensis Willd., Agrostis diandra Retz., Agrostis fertilis Steud., Agrostis indica L., Sporobolus africanus (Poir.) Robyns & Tournay, Sporobolus berteroanus (Trin.) Hitchc. & Chase, Sporobolus capensis Kunth, Sporobolus diandrus (Retz.) P. Beauv., Sporobolus elongatus var. purpureosuffusus Ohwi, Sporobolus fertilis (Steud.) Clayton, Sporobolus jacquemontii Kunth, Sporobolus poiretii auct., Sporobolus pyramidalis P. Beauv., Sporobolus tenacissimus auct., Vilfa berteroana Trin.

Feed categories 
Related feed(s) 
Description 

Smut grass (Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br.) is a typical prairie and savannah grass, but occurs in other open habitats in warmer climates. It is generally considered to be an inferior pasture species, as evidenced by names like "poverty grass" or smut grass. Total Sporobolus indicus biomass keeps increasing under continuous grazing (Hidalgo et al., 1991). Sporobolus indicus seeds have been used as famine food in Ethiopia.

Distribution 

Sporobolus indicus is a native of eastern, southern and tropical Africa. It is widespread in almost every tropical and warm-temperate region in Europe, America and Asia. It is naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, the Azores and Hawaii (USDA, 2009). It often grows in disturbed and open areas, such as roadsides, pastures and lake shores (Peterson et al., 2003).

Environmental impact 

It is considered as a weed and invasive species in Australia and North and Central America.

Nutritional aspects
Potential constraints 

The tough fibrous nature of Sporobolus indicus causes loosening of teeth in horses and cattle grazing this species (Parsons et al., 2001).

Ruminants 

In Cuba, buffaloes fed on grazed pasture diet containing 10% Sporobolus indicus, 22.7% Paspalum virgatum, 18% Paspalum notatum, 21% Dichanthium caricosum, 21.5% Cynodon nlemfuensis and 5.9% native legumes had satisfactory weights at slaughter, carcass yield and meat quality (Fundora et al., 2004).

In Australia, Hereford steers fed on poor Sporobolus indicus grassland and supplemented with urea produced good results, demonstrating that N supplementation could help in utilizing this invasive species (Mears et al., 1996).

Goats find smut grass palatable and are used to control the species in Australia (Holst et al., 2001).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 41.4 12.7 29.6 64.8 6
Crude protein % DM 7.6 3.5 3.2 14.3 9
Crude fibre % DM 32.9 5.8 26.8 41.6 9
NDF % DM 68.2 *
ADF % DM 38.5 *
Lignin % DM 5.0 *
Ether extract % DM 1.3 0.6 0.8 1.9 4
Ash % DM 8.2 2.3 3.5 11.4 9
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.0 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 2.5 0.2 2.3 2.7 3
Phosphorus g/kg DM 1.9 0.2 1.7 2.0 3
Potassium g/kg DM 7.9 1
Sodium g/kg DM 0.1 1
Magnesium g/kg DM 1.3 1
Manganese mg/kg DM 106 1
Zinc mg/kg DM 29 1
Copper mg/kg DM 7 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 63.5 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 60.7 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 11.0 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 8.9 *
 
Pig nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig % 38.5 *
DE growing pig MJ/kg DM 6.9 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

CIRAD, 1991; Dougall et al., 1958; Sen et al., 1965

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 91.1 1
Crude protein % DM 10.0 1
Crude fibre % DM 34.4 1
NDF % DM 69.6 *
ADF % DM 40.2 *
Lignin % DM 5.4 *
Ether extract % DM 1.9 1
Ash % DM 9.0 1
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.2 *
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 59.9 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 56.5 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 10.3 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 8.3 *
Nitrogen digestibility, ruminants % 43.6 1

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Walker, 1975

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

References
References 
Dougall, H. W. ; Bogdan, A. V., 1958. The chemical composition of the grasses of Kenya - I. E. Afr. Agric. For. J., 24 (1): 17-23 web icon
Fundora, O. ; Quintana, F. O. ; Gonzalez, M. E., 2004. Performances and carcass composition in river buffaloes fed a mixture of star grass, natural pastures and native legumes.. Cuban J. Agric. Sci., 38 (1)
Hidalgo, L. G. ; Cauhepe, M. A., 1991. Effects of seasonal rest in aboveground biomass for a native grassland of the flood Pampa, Argentina. J. Range Manage., 44 (5): 471-474 web icon
Holst, P. ; Simmonds, H., 2001. Weed control using goats. In : Australian Goat Notes. Ed. A.J. Simmonds. 267 pp.
Mears, P. T. ; Hennessy D. W. ; Williamson D. W. ; Mc Lennan D. J., 1996. Growth and forage intake of Hereford steers fed giant Parramatta grass hay (Sporobolus indicus) and the effects of dietary nitrogen supplements. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb., 36 (1): 1-7 web icon
Parsons, W. T. ; Cuthbertson, E. G., 2001. Noxious weeds of Australia. CSIRO Publishing, 712 pp web icon
Peterson, P. M. ; Hatch, S. L. ; Weakley, A. S., 2003. Sporobulus. Modified by Barkworth from Barkworth et al. (eds.), Flora of North America vol. 25 web icon
Sen, K. M. ; Macey, G. L., 1965. The chemical composition of some indigenous grasses of coastal savanna of Ghana at different stages of growth. 9th Int. Grassld Congr., p. 763
USDA, 2009. GRIN - Germplasm Resources Information Network. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland web icon
Walker, C. A., 1975. Personal communication. Central Research Station, Mazabuka, N. Rhodesia
10 references found
Datasheet citation 

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2015. Smut grass (Sporobolus indicus). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/371 Last updated on October 7, 2015, 13:55

English correction by Tim Smith (Animal Science consultant) and Hélène Thiollet (AFZ)
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