Indication
Ruziziensis is recommended for beef cattle in the rearing and fattening stages. It has good nutritional quality and palatability, making it suitable for direct grazing or haymaking. Due to the high germination capacity of its seeds, especially in overseeding areas with other crops such as soybeans, and over a vegetative cover, its seeds have been recommended for use in no-till areas and in crop-livestock integration systems.
Urochloa ruziziensis
Brachiaria ruziziensis
Medium to high fertility
Direct grazing, haymaking, and soil cover for no-till planting
12 to 15 tons/ha/year of dry matter (DM)
8 to 11%
1.50 to 1.70m
50 to 57%
Excellent
Medium
Susceptible
Good
Perennial
Use and Management
Ruziziensis grass is a forage plant recommended for soils with medium to high fertility. It has good nutritional quality and palatability, making it suitable for direct grazing or haymaking by cattle for rearing and fattening. Due to the need in agriculture to produce vegetative cover for grain production with productivity and sustainability, ruziziensis grass has been widely adopted in no-till and crop-livestock integration areas. Farmers have been using ruziziensis grass seeds in soybean cultivation areas for vegetative cover during the crop's offseason and as winter pasture. The forage provides excellent soil cover, and the area can be used as paddocks for animals during the winter period (soybean offseason). In September-October, ruziensis grass plants are desiccated with a glyphosate-based herbicide, providing good vegetative cover for soybean planting again. Information from producers indicates that grain production in Brachiaria areas has shown higher yields than grain production in exclusively agricultural areas. However, ruziziensis grass has ceased to be used by cattle ranchers mainly due to its susceptibility to spittlebugs and low regrowth capacity, especially when overgrazed, as well as sensitivity to trampling by animals.
Origin
This forage species is native to the Ruzi Valley in Zaire (Congo) and Burundi. Ruziziensis is currently widespread in several tropical countries. The first seeds came from Rwanda, which were studied and disseminated in Kenya by the Institut National pour I’étude Agronomique du Congo Belge (INEAC) in Rubona in the 1960s, and from there spread throughout the African continent. The first seeds that went to Australia (CPI 30623) in 1961 originated from the island of Madagascar, from the Lac Alastra Agronomy Station, and were released under the commercial name "ruzigrass" in 1966. This was probably the path taken by the seeds commercialized in Brazil, which came from Australia.
Morphological Characteristics
Perennial grass, prostrate, reaching up to 1.5 m in height, with short rhizomes. Stems are decumbent and geniculate, with a diameter of 3 to 4 mm and short internodes. Leaves are soft, 6 to 15 mm wide and 10 to 25 cm long, with a velvety appearance due to the large number of hairs present. The inflorescence is an erect panicle with 5 to 7 racemes. Racemes are short with double rows of seeds, with winged and quite wide rachillas, becoming a characteristic that distinguishes it from other species of brachiaria. Spikelets are biflorous, with the lower one being male and the upper one hermaphrodite.
Agronomic Characteristics
Ruziziensis had disappeared from the livestock market due to being a forage species that demands fertile soil. Its high palatability complicates management, resulting in slow regrowth when pastures are overgrazed. Additionally, the plants are highly susceptible to attacks from spittlebugs. However, some characteristics, such as its prostrate growth habit and susceptibility to glyphosate, have made this forage an excellent option for soil cover in no-till farming.
