OF ALL

THE THINGS THAT LIVE AND GROW

GRASS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BY CEPHAS JOSHUA BEUJUNG SAMWINI

OF ALL THE THINGS THAT LIVE AND GROW GRASS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT According to The Agricultural Dictionary (Harren 1991), a grass is a plant belonging to the Graminae family; they are flowering plants with long narrow leaves, and tubular stems. They include pasture grasses, cereals, weeds, bamboo and sugarcane. Most grass photosynthesize using the C4 pathway where the carbon dioxide used in the process is stored in a four carbon compound before it is used to build up carbohydrates. This pathway is known to be more efficient than the C3 pathway and plants that use this pathway are known to yield more biomass than those that use the C3 pathway, given the same exposure to the sun. Besides photorespiration in cereals takes place at a higher temperature and light intensity than in C3 plants. Grasses are also known to grow in diverse ecosystems; swarms and deserts, Polar Regions and hot tropical areas, rocky lands, cold snowy mountains and semi arid areas. There are numerous reasons assert to the fact grasses are the most important among all the things that live and grow. Some of these reasons are explained as follows: Firstly, grasses are a source of food for many organisms including birds, farm animals and humans. Majority of human staple foods are made from cereals which are also grasses. Not only the staple foods but also there are non staple foods that are obtained from grasses, examples include: flour from wheat, and corn for making bread and other pastries, pates and porridge, sugarcane for making sugar and ethanol which is used as a fuel as well as for domestic and industrial purposes, beer from corn, barley, sorghum and many others. Malt from these cereals are also used for beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and for breakfast drinks and animal feed. Ruminants and non-ruminant herbivores which constitute the majority of human domesticated animals also have the bulk of their food from grasses as well; they have it in the form of fresh grass, dried grass hay, silage and crop residues from harvested fields. The animals themselves become food for man. Thus both directly and indirectly and indirectly, man has his food from grasses. Again, purify the air by taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and bringing out oxygen as a by-product of the process of photosynthesis, and this oxygen is used by living organisms. Furthermore, Grasses serves to conserve the soil; when a piece of land is covered with grass, it prevents the runoff of rain water which removes the top soil in a process called erosion. It also prevents leaching away of the soil nutrients. Grasses also have a fibrous root system that binds the soil particles together thus

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improving the soil structure. Grasses serve as amenity for life when they are grown as lawns to beautify the landscape to play an important part in conservation and recreation as well as for sporting activities. Also, grasses are used in making furniture, example armchairs, tables, beds and so on which are made from Bamboo and cane and these make life more comfortable for man. They are also very important because they are used to roof buildings and farm houses to complete shelter making and to provide a cool environment for humans and farm animals. Fifthly, grasses are a source of raw material for the industries for the making of bags, baskets, baskets, local fans, art ware and many others. A typical example is the use of the panicle (the long flexible structure which grow apically and carries the inflorescence in guinea grass), which is pulled out of the grass and the inflorescence is cut off at the pedicel. It is left to dry and used to weave the above listed items in the rural industry. Finally, grasses are used for agricultural purposes, including mulching the soil to conserve water during the dry season. Grasses in their dry state also serve as litter for keeping poultry and other farm animals in the deep litter system of intensive and semi-intensive animal husbandry. As an added benefit when this litter has absorbed the moisture in the droppings of poultry and other animals, they can be used as manure to fertilizer the soil. Certain animals like rabbits use the dried grass litter to make nurseries for their young. Green manure which is make by allowing plants to grow and the ploughing them back into the soil when they have reached the peak of vegetative growth, is also done using grasses. Plants in general are very important and indispensible to life on earth because they store the energy of the sun in chemical bonds in a manner that other living organisms can take and use. Grasses have shown themselves by the above reasons and more that they are the most important. In ecological terms grasses have carved a niche for themselves here on earth, one which can never be filled by any other family of plants or living creatures. AMONG ALL THE THINGS THAT LIVE AND GROW, GRASS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. It is not surprising therefore that on every single continent on earth , there is at least one natural grassland; for instance the Steppes of Asia, Prairies of North America, Pampas, Llanos and Cerrados of South America, The Downs or Rangelands of Australasia, and the Savanna and Velds of Africa. REFERENCES World book Inc. (2001) The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 8 ICRISAT center, (November 1987). International Workshop on Sorghum Stem Borers, India. Halley R. L., et al, (1982) The Agricultural Notebooks, London, Butterworth Scientific.

Dalal-Clayton D. B. (1985) Black's Agricultural Dictionary 2nd edition, London, A & C. Black, Herren R. V. et al, (1991) The Agriculture Dictionary, Pelmar publishers Inc.

P. S. The author can be contacted personally as follows: Tel. +23320825931 e-mail. jsamwini@gmx.com or jsamwini@zoho.com