“Wilman lovegrass Hercules”, Eragrostis superba (Peyr) a grass variety for arid and semi-arid regions

Abstract

The wilman lovegrass (Eragrostis superba) is a perennial specie, native to South Africa, from good forage value that adapts well to a wide range of soils and climatic conditions. The Hercules variety of wilman lovegrass comes from collections made in Central and Northern Mexico. It was assessed in arid and semi-arid zones in rainfed and irrigation from 1986 until the record in 2008. The registration granted by the National Service of inspection and certification of seeds (SNICS) is ERA-002-060608. To date, the first variety recorded for this specie in Mexico. The mean dry matter annual production of this variety performance ranges between 886 y 1,947, mean of 1,416 kg DM ha-1under rainfed conditions and between 24.8 y 11.4 t DMha-1, mean of 18.1t DMha-1 under irrigation conditions. This grass is tolerant to drought, easy settlement and rapid growth, is palatable to livestock, grazing-resistant and tolerant to salinity. It is used for the recovery of degraded rangeland and conservation of soil in grassland of arid and semi-arid zones in Mexico.