Better Pastures for the Tropics


	Jarra digit grass **(Digitaria milanjiana)**
		vigorous creeping grass persistent under heavy grazing seeding type of pangola nematode-resistant. Digitaria milanjiana (Rendle) Stapf - 1. habit leafy culm; 2. inflorescence; 3. dorsal view to two spikelet types; 4. ventral view of two spikelet types.
	Jarra digit grass was originally selected for resistance to the burrowing nematode, a serious econonic pest of bananas in north Queensland. Jarra is a stoloniferous perennial with long mauvish coloured stolons, producing inflorescences 50-120 cm tall. These have hairless purple coloured nodes and bear typical digit seed-heads. Jarra has spread on a range of soils from coarse granite sands to alluvial loams, growing best on fertile soils under high rainfall; however, it does not tolerate waterlogging. It has normally been planted after bananas from cuttings, giving rapid ground within 3 months in summer planting and so competing strongly against weeds. It sets reasonable yields of seed and so can be planted from seed. A grass rotation of 2 years will break the burrowing nematode cycle, but Jarra is also a useful pasture plant in the seasonally dry and wet coastal tropics. Strickland is a new cultivar that has been selected for grazing under more subtropical conditions. It has both tufted and rhizomatous habis of growth.