World SeedPanicum Mombasa, Guinea Grass (Megathyrsus maximus)
Mombasa is the tallest and highest-yielding of the commercial Panicum (guinea grass) types: a 2–3 m tufted perennial that gives 20–30 t/ha of dry matter a year with 800 mm or more of rain and responds strongly to nitrogen. Its seed is tiny, dormant for about six months after harvest and traded at 70 % germination, which shapes how it is bought and sown. This page gives the agronomy, seed standards and regions for the Mombasa and Tanzania types exported from Pakistan.
Botanical identity and type
Botanical name: Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B.K. Simon & S.W.L. Jacobs (syn. Panicum maximum), Poaceae.
Origin / type: East African tufted grass; tall Mombasa and Tanzania types of Tanzanian origin, multiplied in Sindh and sold as Kohenoor Protein Grass.
Crop type: Perennial warm-season bunch grass for cut-and-carry, rotational grazing and silage in the humid and sub-humid tropics.
Guinea grass forms dense tussocks of broad, erect leaves and flowers in open panicles. Mombasa is a broad-leaved, very tall selection (2.5–3 m at flowering) with high leaf percentage and the highest yield of the group; Tanzania is a slightly shorter, finer-leaved type with better tolerance of lower fertility and easier management under grazing. Both are C4 grasses that grow from 15 °C upwards, produce most of their yield between 25 and 35 °C, and stop in dry or cold months, regrowing from the crown when rain returns. They need fertile, well-drained soil and do not tolerate waterlogging or salinity; on acid soils below pH 5.0 Brachiaria is the better choice.
The seed is a small spikelet (about 1.0–1.3 million seeds per kg) that sheds unevenly and is harvested by repeated sweeping or by direct heading, which is why purity is set at 95 % rather than the 98–99 % of legumes. Fresh seed is dormant: germination in the first month after harvest is often below 30 % and rises to the 70 % norm over about six months in dry storage, so export lots are tested for viability by tetrazolium at dispatch and for germination once dormancy has broken. Buyers sowing within three months of harvest should ask for a tetrazolium result and sow on pure-live-seed count. Coated seed is available for pivot and air-seeder sowing and is sold by pure live seed.
Against Rhodes grass, Mombasa gives more tonnage and protein on good soil with more rain but has no salt tolerance and cures more slowly for hay; against Brachiaria it yields more and is better for cut-and-carry but is less tolerant of acid, low-fertility or poorly drained ground. The tropical grass comparison sets the three side by side.
Agronomy at a glance
Figures are typical ranges under good management; local trials should confirm rates for a specific site. Use the sowing rate tables to convert kg/ha to per-acre, per-feddan or per-jerib rates.
| Parameter | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Sowing rate | 6–8 kg/ha uncoated (typical); 10–14 kg/ha coated; 3–5 kg PLS/ha |
| Sowing depth | 0.5–1.5 cm on a fine, firm seedbed; rolled, never buried |
| Row spacing | Broadcast, or 40–50 cm rows for cut-and-carry |
| Days to first cut | 60–90 days; then 30–45 days between cuts |
| Cuts per year | 5–8 with irrigation or a long wet season; 3–4 rainfed with a dry season |
| Yield, green | 80–140 t/ha/year (typical, fertilised, 1,000 mm plus) |
| Yield, dry matter | 20–30 t/ha/year; 10–15 t/ha rainfed on moderate soils |
| Crude protein | 10–14 % DM at 4–5 weeks; 7–9 % if cut late |
| Soil pH | 5.5–8.0 (best 6.0–7.5); poor below 5.0 |
| Water need | Rainfall 800–1,800 mm; irrigated 1,000–1,500 mm/year; no waterlogging |
| Temperature | Optimum 25–35 °C; growth stops below 15 °C; frost kills tops |
| Salinity tolerance | Low: threshold ECe ~1.5–2 dS/m |
| Seeds per kg | 1.0–1.3 million (uncoated spikelets) |
Export seed standards
Standards below are those written on the ISTA-format test report issued with each export lot. See how purity and germination standards work and how to read the report.
| Parameter | Export standard | Method / note |
|---|---|---|
| Pure seed (purity) | 95.0 % min (spikelets with caryopsis) | ISTA purity analysis on a 4-component working sample |
| Germination | 70 % min after dormancy break; tetrazolium viability 80 % min on fresh lots | ISTA between-paper or sand test, 4 x 100 seeds, normal seedlings |
| Moisture | 12 % max | ISTA oven method (low-constant temperature, 103 °C, 17 h) |
| Inert matter | 5.0 % max | Chaff, soil, broken pieces smaller than half seed |
| Other crop seed | 0.5 % max | Seeds of any other cultivated species |
| Weed seed | 0.2 % max | By number and identity on the report |
| Dormancy | About 6 months post-harvest | Fresh lots carry a tetrazolium result; germination retested at 6 months |
| Coating | Uncoated (standard); coated on request | Coated lots sold on pure-live-seed basis |
Where it is grown
Seed is multiplied on irrigated, well-drained land in lower Sindh (Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas) from March–April sowings; panicles are harvested by repeated heading from September to November and the seed is dried, cleaned over air-screen and gravity machines and held in dry store while dormancy breaks. Lots are available with tetrazolium results from December and with the 70 % germination result from about April.
Importing markets: Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Brazil, Mexico. It is the cut-and-carry grass of smallholder dairy in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the pasture grass of the Brazilian and Mexican humid tropics, and increasingly grown under irrigation in Sudan and on fertile blocks in South-East Asia for silage and fresh feeding.
Buying notes
Panicum Mombasa (Guinea Grass) is exported by Kohenoor International from Karachi and Port Qasim under HS 1209.29. Standard pack is 25 kg; minimum order 1 x 20ft (smaller lots possible). New-crop seed ships from December with a tetrazolium viability result; lots with the full germination result are available from April, after dormancy has broken. Every shipment carries a phytosanitary certificate (Department of Plant Protection, Pakistan), a certificate of origin, an ISTA-format purity and germination report, packing list and invoice; fumigation certificate and COA on request.
Pricing, samples and shipment planning are handled on the specialist product site: kohenoorint.com. For loading weights see the container capacity table; for destination paperwork see phytosanitary requirements by destination.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| HS code | 1209.29 |
| Pack | 25 kg |
| Minimum order | 1 x 20ft (smaller lots possible) |
| Purity / germination on report | 95% min / 70% min |
| Shipping terms | FOB or CIF Karachi / Port Qasim |
| Specialist site | kohenoorint.com |
Frequently asked questions
Why is Panicum germination only 70 %?
Guinea grass seed has post-harvest dormancy of about six months and is a small spikelet that is hard to clean to full purity. 70 % normal seedlings after dormancy has broken is the commercial norm; fresh lots are traded on a tetrazolium viability result and sown on a pure-live-seed basis.
What sowing rate should I use for Mombasa?
6–8 kg/ha of uncoated seed, or 3–5 kg of pure live seed per hectare, on a fine, firm seedbed with the seed no deeper than 1.5 cm. Coated seed needs 10–14 kg/ha because 40–50 % of the bag weight is coating. Broadcast rates sit at the top of the range.
Mombasa or Tanzania type?
Mombasa is taller, broader-leaved and higher-yielding and suits cut-and-carry and silage on fertile soil. Tanzania is shorter and finer, tolerates lower fertility and is easier to manage under rotational grazing. Both are sold as Kohenoor Protein Grass; state which type on the order.
How does Panicum compare with Rhodes grass?
Panicum yields more and has 2–4 points more protein on fertile, well-drained soil with 800 mm plus of rain, but it has no tolerance of salinity or waterlogging and dries more slowly for hay. Rhodes grass is the choice on saline or sandy land and for hay; Panicum for cut-and-carry and silage on good soil.
What is the HS code for Panicum seed?
HS 1209.29 (other seeds of forage plants for sowing). The phytosanitary certificate names Megathyrsus maximus, with Panicum maximum as a synonym where the importing authority still uses that name.
Need Panicum Mombasa (Guinea Grass) seed?
The knowledge base is maintained by Kohenoor International's agronomy team. Quotes for Panicum Mombasa (Guinea Grass) are handled by the export desk and the specialist site linked in the buying notes.
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