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Urochloa eminii
Also called Congo Signal Grass, Basilisk Signal Grass, Palisade Grass, Surinam Grass, Kennedy Ruzi, Ruzi Grass, Signal Grass
Congo grass is a fast-growing, creeping tropical forage grass grown mainly as pasture and feed for livestock. It establishes quickly in the wet season and does best in well-drained, fertile soil with plenty of rain.
Urochloa eminii, commonly known as Congo grass, is a species of forage crop in the family Poaceae that is grown throughout the humid tropics. With fast growth at the beginning of the wet season due to strong seedling vigour, ease of establishment, good seed production and yield and the ability to suppress weeds it has the ability to become developed into the most important forage crop planted in the tropics. With the aid of genomic tools to research the genotype and gain more information there is the ability to increase breeding programs which are currently rather limited.
Congo grass can be established from seed which is inexpensive although it needs to be stored for six months after harvest. Alternatively the grass can be established vegetatively from stem cuttings with root nodes. It requires light soils with moderately to high fertility though it does not tolerate strongly acidic conditions and performs best in a well-drained soil. It requires a reasonably high rainfall, though it can endure dry spells, with 1000 mm or more being preferable. It requires a well prepared seed bed but light disc harrowing gives good results. Although it responds well to light, with light intensity increasing yields, it can also be planted for grazing under coconut plantations. Optimum growth occurs at 33/28 °C day/night with a minimum temperature of 19 °C.
Congo Grass can be used as both a permanent or semi-permanent grass for pastures. It can be used to graze animals on or for cutting for green feed and conservation. This forage crop is found across much of the humid tropics through South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Congo grass is a valuable forage for ruminants.
Urochloa nigropedata · Caribgrass · Palisade grass · Deflexed brachiaria · Browntop signalgrass · African liverseed grass · Para grass · Panic liverseed grass · Plantain signalgrass · Dixie signalgrass · Texas signalgrass · Signalgrass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Urochloa eminii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
