Late flowering with outstanding dry matter production 

Mekong Briz^™ antha brachiaria provides up to 8-9 months of vegetative growth due to late flowering/only flowering once a year. It is tolerant of short-term flooding and waterlogging as well as salinity and acidic soils. Featuring a tall growth habit, Mekong can provide quality hay and dry matter production. Mekong is highly palatable and persistent under heavy grazing during the wet season and can provide good growth through the dry season.

Sowing rate (sole): 8-10kg/ha
Sowing rate (mixed): 3-5kg/ha

Soil

Mekong brachiaria is a highly adaptable plant growing on a wide range of soils (well drained – heavy) with a pH of 4–8.  Mekong can tolerate high aluminium concentrations found on soils below pH 5.5. It can survive on soils of low fertility but requires medium to high soil fertility to be productive and perform. 

Rainfall

Mekong is suited to the humid and sub-humid tropics with 1500 – 3,500 mm average annual rainfall but will also grow in the more arid regions of the tropics with rainfall down to 500mm. Mekong can withstand dry periods of 3–6 months, during which the leaf may remain green when other tropical species have browned off.  It can withstand short term flooding (<1 month).

Sowing and establishment

Mekong brachiaria pasture seed should be broadcast at 3–5 kg/ha within a mixed pasture or at 8-10kg/ha as a sole pasture. Sow pasture seed into a well worked firm seedbed and then lightly roll to improve seed to soil contact. Prior to planting a well-rounded basal fertiliser should be applied according to soil test recommendations. Once established Mekong is very responsive to nitrogen fertiliser with fast growth rates. 

Mekong’s dry matter yields range from 8-20 tDM/ha/year and it has good persistence if fertilised well. Typical nutritive values are dependent on the fertility of the soil, fertiliser application, and regrowth age. Crude protein can range from 7–16% and digestibility 51–75%.   Digestibility of regrowth can decline from 75% at 2 weeks to 55% at 12 weeks.

Grazing management

Mekong performs better under intensive grazing practices due to its prolific growth characteristics. It can support high stocking rates and when grazed well, Mekong is well accepted by stock.

Animal production

When sown on medium fertility soils, Mekong brachiaria can support cattle liveweight gains of 400–500 kg/ha/yr at stocking rates of 2.5 steers/ha in the wet season and 1.5 in the dry season. When grown with legumes Mekong could potentially be stocked at 3 animals/ha where LWG’s of 540–840 kg/ha have been recorded.

Envirogro^® seed treatment process 

The Envirogro^® seed treatment process is now a tailored seed treatment offering to aid in the establishment and productivity of tropical and subtropical seed varieties. Envirogro is a species-dependent, tailored process that produces the highest quality tropical and subtropical seed through improved seed cleaning, seed dehulling/scarification (where the species requires it) and a customised coating process to improve live seed numbers per hectare.

Envirogro benefits

• Improves seed flowability and ballistic properties
• Improves seed quality and purity for a higher return on investment
• Produces a clean, uniform seed
• Removes weed seed, waste material and contaminants
• Increases bare seed counts through improved cleaning
• Coated with insecticide, polymer and talc/lime (no Rhizobia inoculant applied to tropical legumes)