Seed Production of Hybrid Brachiarias Set to Take Off in
Thailand
 Several
varieties of the grass genus Brachiaria are widely used as
a source of feed for livestock in the tropics. All of these
varieties, however, have significant limitations in Southeast
Asia. B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, for example, grows
well in the dry season but is not a high quality feed and
produces very little seed in most areas of Southeast Asia.
B. ruziziensis produces high yields of good quality
feed in the wet season but is poorly adapted to long dry seasons.
In the mid 1980's, John Miles started a breeding program
at CIAT in Colombia to try to develop apomictic hybrid Brachiarias
that were resistant to spittle bug (a major problem for Brachiaria
pastures in South America) but also capable of producing high
yields of good quality feed.
The first two hybrids introduced to Southeast Asia by CIAT
were part of a four-year Brachiaria variety trial in Thailand
commencing in 1996. The Thai Department of Livestock Development
(DLD)
was looking for alternatives to B. ruziziensis for
dairy production in the seasonally wet-dry climates and moderate-fertility
soils of northeast Thailand. Of the 49 numbered accessions,
CIAT
36061 (subsequently renamed Mulato) was the most promising.
The potential of Mulato for SE Asia is not spittle bug resistance
(as this is not a problem in the region) but its vigorous
growth, relatively good quality feed and excellent dry season
productivity.
DLD conducted seed production trials with 7 farmers in 2003
with average yields of about 100kg ha-1. In 2004, with support
from the Mexican seed company 'Papalotla', DLD and Ubon
Ratchathani University will work with more than 4000 smallholder
seed producers to establish 1600 hectares of two hybrids (Mulato
and Mulato 2) using seedlings transplanted from nursery beds.
The seed will be hand-harvested in November with the crop
expected to exceed 250 tons. Seed production trials are commencing
in 2004 with smallholder farmers in Laos in collaboration
with Wageningen
Agricultural University and the Asian Development Bank
(ADB).
Contacts:
Chaisang Phaikaew,
Thai Department of Livestock Development
Ganda Nakamanee,
Thai Department of Livestock Development
Michael Hare,
Ubon Ratchatani University
Euardo Stern,
Papalotla
Peter Horne
For more information on CIAT's work in Asia, visit the CIAT
in Asia Web site
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