Abstract
Napier, a fast growing and perennial grass has a dry matter (DM) yield potential of 78 tons/ha/yr. However, under water availability constraints Napier’s yield potential reduces to 62 tons/ha/yr. In an effort to attain Napier’s yield potential, irrigation management strategies have been integrated into its production to provide the highest productivity. This review assesses the effect of irrigation water management strategies on Napier productivity and also looks at future perspectives. Application of these strategies i.e., precision irrigation, deficit irrigation, and application of biophysical models, can increase Napier’s yield potential to 112 tons/ha/yr. Review findings revealed that there is a need to close the knowledge gap on response of Napier productivity to different irrigation water management strategies. The future perspective explores the potential of the FAO AquaCrop model in provision of pre-season decision-making on irrigation strategies due to its relatively low cost and simplifications required in parameterization.
Highlights
Napier grass possesses many desirable characteristics, including high yield per unit area, tolerance to intermittent drought and high water use efficiency [1], making it a forage of choice
This paper recognizes the inadequate information to assess the response of Napier yields to different irrigation water management strategies and it aims at addressing those gaps
Irrigation scheduling primarily aims at attenuating wasteful losses of water and maximizing transpiration, which is the valuable loss of water due to its direct link with dry matter production [35]
Summary
Napier grass possesses many desirable characteristics, including high yield per unit area, tolerance to intermittent drought and high water use efficiency [1], making it a forage of choice. Reference [2] noted that subtropical pas-
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