Step 5. Management of Napier grass
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You can start harvesting Napier grass when it is 3 months old or 1mto 1.5m high after planting.
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Start with the inner row and harvest this row around the field first. Feed to your livestock. One dairy cow requires 50-70 kg of green Napier grass per day
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Leave a stem height of 4 inches (10 cm) from the ground at harvesting to encourage it to re-grow quickly.
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After the first forage harvest from the inner row, you can start harvesting the second row giving time to the inner row to grow.
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The third row should be harvested only when the inner row is again 3 ft to 4ft high. This will ensure that there is always Napier of approximately 1m to 1.5m high trap the stemborers.
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The inner row can be harvested again when it reaches 1m to 1.5m high which means a period of 6 – 8 weeks between cuts.
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Always chop the fresh harvested Napier grass and desmodium to reduce wastage while feeding it to the livestock.
Farmers start harvesting Napier grass when it is 3 months old
(Photo: Sue Parrott)
Cutting of the inner row of Napier grass while leaving the two outer rows