King Napier grass Pakchong 1 is a hybrid Napier grass (P. purpureum x P. americanum hybrid), with a height of 3-4 metres when fully grown.  It grows best in loam or clay which should be fertile and well irrigated, and it is suitable for cultivation in areas with regular rainfall.  The average dry matter yields are about 10-14 tons/rai/year [1 rai = 0.16 hectare or 1,600 m2], with 8-12% protein content.  If cut at 30 days of age, the protein content will be 10-12%.  King grass rarely has seeds, so  it has to be cultivated only by stem cuttings.  It does not tolerate flooding or water logging. AMAZING KING GRASS IN THAILAND 2014.

Pennisetum purpureum (AKA Elephant grass / Napier grass and Giant king grass) is a species native to the tropical grasslands of Africa. It is a tall perennial plant, growing to 2 – 4.5mt tall, rarely up to 7.5 mt. Some of the higher DM yields reported are 19 MT/ha in Australia, 66 in Brazil, 58 in Costa Rica, 85 in El Salvador, 48 in Kenya, 14 in Malawi, 64 in Pakistan, 84 in Puerto Rico, 76 in Thailand, and 30 in Uganda (Duke, 1981b).












King Napier Grass Pakchong 1 (Hybrid) is best suited to high rainfall
areas, but it is drought-tolerant and can also grow well in drier areas. Napier grass is a fodder grass that produces a  lot of high-protein forage. It is also known as “elephant grass”, “Sudan grass” or “king grass”. Nowadays, energy demand in Thailand hascontinuously been on  the rise while energy resources remain limited and hence may not be adequate to meet the future demand.  The exploration for alternative energy sources is, therefore, absolutely vital.  The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) [of the Ministry of Energy] has executed a memorandum  of initial agreement with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security which supervises 43 Self-help Land Settlements with a total agricultural land of 4.5 million rais to promote elephant grass cultivation in the available land for production of biogas which will be used for power generation.

READ MORE : //www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Pennisetum_purpureum.htm

CASE STUDY : //www.nafis.go.ke/fodders/napier-grass/economic-analysis/