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Giant setaria (Setaria sphacelata var. splendida)

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Common names 

Broadleaf setaria, splendida setaria, giant setaria [English]; sétaire géante, queue de chien [French]; cỏ đuôi chó, co ro'om [Vietnamese]

  • Var. splendida : broadleaf setaria, splendida setaria, sekoi, bunga bunga, ya taiwan,  queue de chien, golden timothy
Species 

Setaria sphacelata (Schum.) Stapf & Hubb var. splendida (Stapf) [Poaceae]

Synonyms 

Setaria splendida Stapf (USDA, 2009)

Feed categories 
Related feed(s) 
Description 

The giant setaria (Setaria sphacelata (Schum.) Stapf & Hubb var. splendida (Stapf)) is a tall tropical grass widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia. It is highly palatable, and used for pasture and cut-and-carry.

Morphology

The giant setaria is a perennial tussock grass up to 3 m high. Culms are robust and flattened at the base. Leaves are grey-green, reddish under dry conditions, blade-shaped, up to 80 cm long and 2 cm broad. Inflorescence is a spike-like panicle ranging from 10 cm to 50 cm long. Fruits are caryopses but the giant setaria has a low seed production and its main way of propagation is vegetative.

Utilisation

The giant setaria is mainly used as fodder. Its grains are useful famine food in periods of scarcity in Africa (Brink, 2006).

Distribution 

The giant setaria is native to Africa and is now widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia (mostly Indonesia and Malaysia). It thrives in areas where annual rainfall is greater than 1000 mm. However, it can survive long dry seasons and also withstands flooding. It is fairly tolerant of low temperatures and may be cultivated at high altitudes in Kenya and Uganda. It prefers moist soils, even at low fertility levels, and can be intercropped with legumes provided that the soil contains adequate P and K (Hacker, 1992).

Forage management 

Annual yields reported range from 4 t DM/ha to 31 t DM/ha (Cook et al., 2005; Hacker, 1992).

Environmental impact 

Setaria is a strong competitor for minerals (K particularly). Growing it with other grasses or legumes should be avoided if the soil is short of P and K. It is considered as a weed in the USA and Canada where it competes strongly with soya and maize, causing up to 81% losses in soya and 40% in maize (Weill, 2007). In the Philippines, Setaria sphacelata is used in order to prevent soil erosion on hillslopes as a hedgerow species in alley cropping systems (Exconde, 2000).

Nutritional aspects
Potential constraints 

Oxalates

The giant setaria contains high amounts of oxalates (4 to 6.7% DM) after a regrowth period of 3 weeks (FAO, 2009; Jones et al., 1972). Oxalates are deleterious to horses as they cause the "big-head" disease (Osteodystrophia fibrosa).

In dairy cows, oxalic acid conjugates with Ca, thus reducing Ca concentration in the blood and causing milk fever (hypocalcemia). It is also reported to cause hypomagnesemia. Both problems can be treated by combining treatment with calcium borogluconate and magnesium hypophosphite. When Setaria is progressively included in the diet, cattle develops an ad hoc rumen flora that detoxifies oxalates (Cook et al., 2005).

Ruminants 

The giant setaria is highly palatable to all classes of livestock and is mainly used as forage. It may be grazed or used in a cut-and-carry system. It can withstand heavy and continuous grazing, up to 6 steers/ha in subtropical Australia, if adequate fertilizer is applied. It can also be used for hay or silage (Cook et al., 2005).

The giant setaria can support around 820 kg body weight gain in steers/ha/year even at high stocking rates (in Queensland, 4-6 steers/ha or 7 steers/ha during spring and summer, then 3-5 steers/ha before winter) (Evans et al., 1992; Jones et al., 1989). A 50:50 leucaena/setaria-based diet was supplemented with 100 g molasses/kg diet and resulted in a higher live-weight gain in young bulls (Huque et al., 1995).

Horses and donkeys 

Giant setaria should not be fed to horses due to its high oxalate content (see Potential constraints).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 22.2 6.0 13.7 32.4 11
Crude protein % DM 9.1 3.9 3.2 16.9 19
Crude fibre % DM 34.3 5.4 22.6 45.2 16
NDF % DM 69.5 *
ADF % DM 40.0 28.5 45.1 2 *
Lignin % DM 5.4 *
Ether extract % DM 2.4 0.5 1.8 3.5 14
Ash % DM 11.1 2.7 7.4 15.3 15
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 17.8 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 2.4 1.3 0.4 4.7 11
Phosphorus g/kg DM 1.9 1.7 0.2 6.0 11
Potassium g/kg DM 15.8 16.3 0.6 36.0 9
Sodium g/kg DM 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.6 6
Magnesium g/kg DM 2.1 1.4 0.9 5.2 9
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 62.8 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 60.0 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 10.7 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 8.6 *
Nitrogen digestibility, ruminants % 65.2 1
 
Pig nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig % 36.3 *
DE growing pig MJ/kg DM 6.5 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Huque et al., 1995; Kaligis et al., 1990; Niang et al., 1998; Pozy et al., 1996; Scaut, 1959; Shem et al., 1999; Van Rensburg, 1956

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:11

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Crude protein % DM 9.9 0.0 9.9 9.9 6
Ash % DM 15.3 0.0 15.3 15.3 6
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 58.6 5.3 52.0 67.3 6
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 55.2 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Minson, 1971

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:11

References
References 
Brink, M., 2006. Setaria sphacelata (Schumach.) Stapf & C.E.Hubb. ex M.B.Moss. Record from Protabase. Brink, M. & Belay, G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands web icon
Cook, B. G.; Pengelly, B. C.; Brown, S. D.; Donnelly, J. L.; Eagles, D. A.; Franco, M. A. ; Hanson, J.; Mullen, B. F.; Partridge, I. J.; Peters, M.; Schultze-Kraft, R., 2005. Tropical forages. CSIRO, DPI&F(Qld), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia web icon
Ecoport, 2009. Ecoport database. Ecoport web icon
Evans, T. R. ; Hacker, J. B., 1992. An evaluation of the production potential of six tropical grasses under grazing. 3. Responses to set stocking rates under continuous grazing. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb., 32 (6): 693-699 web icon
Exconde, A. B., 2000. Potential hedgerow species for alley cropping systems in Philippine upland farms.. Proceedings of the Second International Vetiver Conference. Thailand - January 2000 web icon
FAO, 2009. Grassland Index. A searchable catalogue of grass and forage legumes. FAO, Rome, Italy web icon
Hacker, J. B., 1992. Setaria sphacelata (Schumach.) Stapf & Hubbard ex M.B. Moss. Record from Proseabase. Mannetje, L.'t and Jones, R.M. (Editors). PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia web icon
Huque, K. S. ; Talukder, A. I., 1995. Effect of molasses supplementation of a roughage based diet on growth performances of cattle. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 8 (4): 337-342 web icon
Jones, R. J. ; Ford, C. W., 1972. The soluble oxalate content of some tropical pasture grasses grown in south-east Queensland. Trop. Grassl., 6 (3): 201-204 web icon
Jones, R. M. ; Evans, T. R., 1989. Liveweight gain from four nitrogen fertilized grasses grazed over the growing season in coastal south-east Queensland. Trop. Grassl., 23 (2): 75-79
Scaut, A., 1959. Détermination de la digestibilité des herbages frais. Institut national pour l'étude agronomique du Congo belge. Série scientifique. No 81, 86pp.
Shem, M. N. ; Hovell, F. D. D. ; Kimambo, A. E., 1999. Estimation of net ruminal protein synthesis from urinary allantoin excretion by bulls given tropical feeds. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 81 (3-4): 279-289 web icon
USDA, 2009. GRIN - Germplasm Resources Information Network. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland web icon
Van Rensburg, H. J., 1956. Comparative value of fodder plants in Tanganyika. E. Afr. Agric. For. J., 22: 14-19
Weill, A., 2007. Moyens de lutte contre les sétaires en agriculture biologique. Agri-Réseau/agriculture biologique, Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, Québec, Canada web icon
15 references found
Datasheet citation 

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2017. Giant setaria (Setaria sphacelata var. splendida). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/380 Last updated on May 17, 2017, 15:57

English correction by Tim Smith (Animal Science consultant) and Hélène Thiollet (AFZ)
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