by

Eddie G. Fetalvero EDSC 350

PhD in Education (major in Biology Educ.) UP Open University, Los Baños ,Laguna

Tiger Grass, Thysanolaena maxima (Roxb.) O. Kuntze: A review of its biology

and uses

Presentation Outline

Purpose of the Review Brief Biology Uses Industry Medicine Agriculture Bioengineering Phytoremediation Climate Change Adaptation Other Uses

Challenges Conclusion

Purpose of the Review

To come up with a comprehensive compilation of literature about the potentials of T. maxima as a multipurpose crop backed by scientific studies and investigations, since in the Philippines, it is mainly utilized as materials for soft broom making only.

To provide inputs for the R&D unit of my

University and other R&D institutions in the country in setting the research roadmap for this potential crop.

BIOLOGY

Brief Biology

Taxonomic Characteristics Family

Poaceae or Graminae

Scientific Name Thysanolaena maxima (Roxb.) O. Ktze.

Local/Common Names: English

tiger grass, broom grass, bouquet grass

Philippines tambo (Tagalog), boi-boi (Ilocano), lasa (Bicol),

sugbo (Catanduanes), luway (Romblon)

Biogeography (Southeast Asia)

Biogeography (Philippines)

Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Bontoc, Benguet, Nueva Viscaya, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan, Laguna, Tayabas, Sorsogon, Cebu, Mindoro, Palawan, Batangas, Romblon and other places in Mindanao

Morphoanatomy

Life Cycle

1 2 3 4

8 7 6 5

USES

USES

Industry Medicine Agriculture Bioengineering Phytoremediation Climate Change Adaptation Others

Industry

Soft Brooms

High demand in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Japan and Middle East

One hectare yields US$503 (Vernon, 2006) Annual Indian broom market estimate is US$60M (Shankar et

al., 2001) 1 ton of flowers processed into soft brooms fetches about

US$1,333 (Bhuchar, 2008) Worth of flowers increases up to 2.65 times if processed into

soft brooms (Fetalvero et al., 2011) Return on Investment is 1.7 times of the total investment

(Bhuchar, 2008)

Unique “X” Species in Laos?

“A new variety of tiger grass, introduced to Houn district in Oudomxay by a Thai investor, has more bristles and produces different ‘male’ and ‘female’ stems. The female stems are preferred for broom making, as they have many more bristles. The taxonomy of this new variety is not yet clear.”

http://www.tabi.la/lao-ntfpwiki/index.php/Dok_khaem

Pulp and Paper

A potential source of raw material for pulp-and- paper making industries either alone or in combination with other raw materials (Saikia et al., 1992)

Fibers (1.25 mm long) are obtained from the culms at 45% yield and are processed into papers

Paper properties: Burst factor: 30 Breaking length: 3,555 Tear factor: 106

Pulp and Paper

Pulps are processed into insulation boards with very good strength but moderate heat insulating properties

Moisture resistance compared favorably with the imported ones (Razzaque and Khan, 1978)

Leaves have been tried in cellulase and ethanol production (Yimyong et al., 2005)

Medicine

Medicinal Uses

ROOTS Positively respond against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, B. subtillis, E.

coli (Mahato and Chaudhary, 2005) Decoction: bronchial problem, flatulence, mouthwash during fever,

halitosis, mouth sore, anthelmintic Paste: boils

FLOWERS Poultice: rheumatic pain and skin swelling Paste: contraceptive for women, boils and cancer

STEM Juice of young stem: red and dirty eyes

Agriculture

Agricultural Uses

Tender culms, leaves and tips are used as fodders for cattle, elephant, buffaloes and rabbits.

One of the most preferred fodders for butterfat production among ruminants; palatable to livestock even during rain or cold weather conditions

It satisfies appetite of buffalo for 6.33 hrs. (Subba et al., 2004).

Rumen degradability after 48 h ranges within 404 to 488 g/kg (Huque et al., 2001)

Rabbit Experiment (Rohilla & Bujarbaruah, 2000)

Subjects: 18 rabbits (6 per treatment), 10-12 weeks old Duration: 105 days Result: Tiger grass feeding had a significant effect on growth

and dry matter intake (DMI) of rabbits (α<0.05).

PARAMETER T1 (fresh T. maxima

leaves)

T2 (100% dried and ground

T. maxima leaves)

T3 (mixture of 40% dried and ground T. maxima leaves with 60% concentrate)

Growth (g/day)

9.76 11.78 15.73

Dry Matter Intake (DMI) (g/day)

106.99 112.65 115.72

Nutritional Values of Leaf (Bhuchar, 2008)

The leaves have balanced proportion of nutrients qualifying them as good forage and fodder for livestocks

Parameter Palni et al. (1994)

Singh et al. (1995)

Bhuchar (2002)

Digestibility 57.9 - 54.3 - 57.9

Total Ash 11.8 5.65 10.7 - 11.8

Ether extract 6.67 1.94 4.2 - 6.7

N-free extract 33.1 51.6 39.3 - 44.6

Crude protein 18.1 10.2 15.1 - 18.2

Crude fiber 30.4 30.5 29.5 - 31.0

Cellulose 30.2 - 30.3 - 37.8

Hemicellulose 29.6 - 29.6 - 34.4

Lignin 9.1 - 4.6 -9.2

Drawbacks

Produces more foliage (Kafle, 2005), however its leaf to stem ratio is less (Livestalk, 2011).

Palatability is less; causes haematuria among cattle and buffaloes (Joshil & Singh, 1989).

Preferred fodder for milk production, but animal response is low (Subba et al., 2002).

Bioengineering

Soil and Water Conservation

Its cultivation promotes nature friendly, cost-effective and sustainable use of fragile and degraded lands

Roots bind the soil and protect topsoil and nutrient erosion on sloping terrain, agricultural fields and landslide.

Used as backup fodder grass on contour strips and terrace risers, a good soil cover, a crop to maximize land use, a tool for management of pine forest, a protection from forest fires and a slope stabilizer in hills and mountains.

Soil and Water Conservation

Contour planting with tiger grass shows better performance in terms of vegetative cover, surface runoff and erosion yield in newly burned pine watershed; cheapest among the treatments investigated for revegetation and rehabilitation (Costales, 1985).

Suitable hedgerow species in controlling soil loss (55-80%) and runoff (30-70%) using CHIAT (Khisa, 2001).

Soil and Water Conservation

Improves soil fertility and productivity when planted with Cajanas cajan than as a sole crop (RFRI, 2007).

Improves forage production and soil conservation if planted in agriculture terrace margins without affecting the productivity of the crops.

Effective vegetative barrier in controlling soil erosion, improving crop yield and restoring soil fertility (although not as comparable with the other two grasses studied) (Sudhishri et al., 2008).

Bioengineering Plot Type Water runoff

(liter) Soil loss

(kg) CV water

(%) CV soil

(%) Maize 25±4 1.51±0.16 69 56

Finger-mullet 18±3 1.32±0.14 78 62

Mixed cropping 12±3 0.95±0.12 85 73

Large cardamom 15±3 0.45±0.06 81 87

Broom grass 10±2 0.41±0.07 88 88

Bare land 80±11 3.46±0.35 - -

Land Use Type Soil loss (t/yr/ha) Runoff (%)

Outward sloping terrace 10.4 2.8

Degraded land 21.3 40.1

Degraded land treated with broom grass 12.6 16.5

CV: Conservation value

Bioengineering

Engineering functions of grasses: catch, armor, reinforce, anchor, support and drain (Clark and Hellin, 1996).

T. maxima has excellent catch, moderately useful armor, excellent reinforce and moderately useful support.

Hydrologic functions: excellent soil binding capacity and ground surface protection, interception, storage, leaf drip but moderate infiltration (Kafle, 2005).

Bioengineering Characteristics of T. maxima (Kafle, 2005)

Quantity of planting material required For single row of 5m, 10m, 25m, 50m,

75m, 100m length, quantity of planting material is 4, 10, 21, 31 and 41 respectively.

For double row of 5m, 10m, 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m length, quantity of planting material is 5, 11, 29, 62, 92 and 122 respectively.

Shade effect Max. 6.8m for mean height 3.9m Type of root Fibrous Propagation Slip cuttings

Rooting depth 7.0 to 9.5 m

Root lateral spread 10.3 to 13.2 m radial

Height 3.2 to 4.9 m

Ground surface area protected by foliage against direct raindrop effect 47.19 to 82.87 m2 Mean: 66.49 m2

Volume of Soil bound by roots 2.33 to 5.20 m3 Mean: 3.78 m3

Effective Spacing Plain: 2.40 m Slope: 1.80 m

Bioengineering

Phytoremediation

Bo Ngam Lead Mine, Thailand (Rotkittikhun, et al., 2007)

Lead Experiment (Rotkittikhun, et al., 2007)

T. maxima is comparable with vetiver grass for phytostabilization.

Shows very high tolerance to lead concentrations in its roots and shoots up to 100,000 mg/kg.

Application of inorganic fertilizer (150mg/kg) improves its growth and uptake of Pb, while amending the soil with pig manure reduces the roots’ uptake and transport of Pb.

Vetiver grass

Tiger grass

Water Level Experiment (Sengupta, et al., 2004)

Independent: water level (below surface, saturated, 5 cm, 10 cm, 20 cm)

Dependent: Soil and water nutrients, plant growth and nutrient uptake

Controlled: 60 x 60 x 60 cm cement tank Nos. of replication: 3 Plants per tank: 5 Duration: 12 weeks Measurements: before and after

Water Level Experiment (Sengupta, et al., 2004)

Soil and Water Nutrients: No significant change in carbon P and N concentrations decreased with time

Plant Growth Height increase: 79 cm Shoot increase: 12 (20 cm treatment) Biomass increase: 2.85g (leaves), 5.56g (stems), 5.32g (roots)

Nutrient Uptake P accumulation in wet soils: 0.37g (leaves), 0.74g (stems) and 0.66g (roots) P accumulation at 20 cm water depth: 1.18g (leaves), 5.4g (stems), 3.5g (roots) N concentration in leaves increased by 1.2% ranging from 12.8mg

in wet soil to 63.4 mg at 20 cm water depth

Fertilization Experiment (Sengupta, et al., 2004)

Independent: application of DHAP (control, 50, 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg)

Dependent: soil nutrients, growth, biomass and nutrient uptake

Controlled: pot size Nos. of replication: 3 Plants per pot: 4 Duration: 9 weeks Measurements: every after 3 weeks for 9 weeks

Fertilization Experiment (Sengupta, et al., 2004)

Soil and Water Nutrients: No significant change in carbon P and N concentrations increased with increasing DAHP supply

Plant Growth Shoot length increase: 21.9 cm (500mg) Biomass increase: 0.55g (leaves), 0.55g (stems), 0.93g (roots)

Nutrient Uptake P accumulation is highest in roots: 0.046% (control), 0.208% (500 mg) N concentration is highest in the leaves

Climate Change Adaptation

Adapted for Climate Change

A C4 species; can withstand drought (Saxena and Ramakrishnan, 1983).

Villagers (65%) in Nepal reported that T. maxima is the best adapted species for climate change (Khadka, 2011).

Significant rise (83%) in tiger grass cultivation in Meghalaya, India during the past three decades because it is least affected by climate change (Lyngdoh & Baishya, 2010).

Other Uses

Other Uses

Leaves have been used as substrates in the cultivation of oyster mushroom, Pleurotus sp.

Leaf extract exhibited moderate attractive potency to oriental fruit fly, a destructive pest

Weed suppressor, support stake for trailing crops, landscape and ornament

Leaves: mulching, roofing material, wrapper for steamed foods

Culms: fuel, reed-pens, support for cotton wick, wall building material

Panicles: organic paintbrush, carnival costumes, decorative extenders

Challenges

Challenges

Overconsumption makes it vulnerable to local extinction

Reported to be susceptible to fire (NCVST, 2009) as against report of Baldino (2002).

Depletion of gene pool Capacity to outcompete native species

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions

There is a body of scientific evidence supporting the potential and significance of T. maximaI as a multi-purpose crop.

The grass is best adapted for climate change due to its C4 nature and based from reports from the field about its tolerance to drought plus the increasing number of farms established each year.

Can be an environment-friendly alternative in restoring mined out areas in the country as it was found to absorb lead and antimony.

Conclusions

It can help mitigate climate-change related disasters because of its water and soil conservation and bioengineering potential.

Its potential as a traditional herbal remedy must be scientifically validated and its potential as feeds must be perfected.

Its potential as feedstock for biomass technologies must be explored through PPP.

THANK YOU!