Panicum turgidum

Panicum turgidum is a PERENNIAL growing to 1.5 m by 0.2 m at a fast rate.
It is hardy to zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Wind.
Suitable for: light and medium soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic soils and can grow in saline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Management: Standard Staple Crop: Balanced carb Wild Staple Crop
A plant of the arid tropics and subtropics where it is found at elevations up to 3,200 metres. The plant grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature is within the range 25 - 35°c, but can tolerate 8 - 40°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 200 - 400mm, tolerating 100 - 600mm. Requires a sunny position and a very well-drained soil. Prefers a light to medium soil and is tolerant of poor soils and saline soils. The plant is extremely drought resistant. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7, but tolerates 6 - 8. In dry areas the dormant buds sprout rapidly after the onset of the rainy season and the plants stay green over a very extended period, with flowering occurring towards the end of the rainy season and during the early part of the dry season. The seeds are difficult to harvest in quantity because they mature at different times over an extended period, shatter easily and are often eaten by birds. The plant photosynthesize by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions. A collection of 42 accessions of Panicum turgidum is held at the International Livestock Research Institute , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. High grain-yielding types are particularly found in the Middle East.