Brachiaria ramosa

Cultivation Details

Brachiaria ramosa is a plant of the wet, seasonally dry and semi-arid tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 2,500 metres. It is also cultivated in some warm temperate regions, such as southeastern USA^[1]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 17 - 26°c, but can tolerate 9 - 32°c^[2]. It will not survive extended periods in temperature lower than 11°c^[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 500 - 800mm, but tolerates 440 - 900mm^[2]. Prefers a position in full sun, tolerating light shade^{[1, 2]}. Grows best in a well-drained, sandy to loamy soil, succeeding in shallow, rocky soils^[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 7 - 7.5, tolerating 6.5 - 8^[2]. Another report gives the range as 5 - 7.5^[1]. Plants are intolerant of drought^[1]. When grown as a grain crop, it performs best when planted in rocky, shallow soils, fertilized and kept free of weeds^[2]. Browntop millet is a short day (<12 hour) plant that will begin to set seed in 60 days. It can produce around 1.8 tonnes of seed per hectare^[1]. Yields under rainfed conditions may be 2 - 4 tonnes per hectare, with higher yields possible under irrigation^[2]. There are taller varieties with non-shattering seedheads that are better suited for grain production^[1].