Buffel Grass

Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris), known across the region as dhaman, is a drought-hardy perennial bunchgrass a grower plants for one dependable reason: it lays down good fodder and a mat of mulch on hot, dry, low-rainfall rangeland where sown pasture would simply fail.¹

Where it thrives

Dhaman is a grass of the arid edge. It carries the Sindh coast and the dry uplands of the Balochistan highlands, and it takes the hotter, lighter soils of the Punjab plains. It is among the most drought-tolerant of the commonly sown grasses, productive on rangeland where annual rainfall runs as low as 100 to 200 mm, and it endures heat and heavy grazing through a large root system and the build-up of protective osmolytes under water stress.² It prefers free-draining sandy and loamy soils in full sun and dislikes waterlogging.

Role in the system

Dhaman is a pioneer of the grass and ground stratum on dryland, the species that puts living cover on bare, hot ground in the early successional phase. Its deep, spreading roots bind loose soil and pull moisture from depth, while the tussocks slow wind and runoff and shade the surface so the soil can begin to recover. As a fodder bank it carries livestock through the dry season, and cut tops serve as chop-and-drop mulch for the surrounding planting. In a dryland guild it acts as the soil-stabilising nurse layer beneath and between widely spaced drought-hardy trees and shrubs, holding the ground and feeding stock while the woody canopy slowly establishes. It regrows readily from the crown after cutting or grazing, giving repeated biomass through the warm months.

Growing it

It is usually sown from seed before the rains, broadcast or drilled shallow, though seed dormancy means germination can be patchy; clump divisions are an alternative for filling gaps. The decisions that matter: sow into a firm, weed-free seedbed and accept that a stand can take a season to thicken; defer grazing until plants are well rooted, then graze on rotation rather than continuously to keep tussocks vigorous; and cut or graze before seed-set if you want to limit its spread.

What you get

You get reliable dry-season fodder, soil stabilisation and mulch on marginal rangeland for a low input of seed, with yields that hold up where little else grows.³ The honest caveat: dhaman is aggressively invasive outside managed pasture, listed as a noxious weed in several countries, spreading by seed into native vegetation, displacing local flora and raising fire risk because it burns readily even when green.⁴ Plant it where you intend grazing, contain it with cut or grazed buffers, and keep it well away from intact natural bushland.

Sourcing notes

Choose locally proven, drought-adapted ecotypes or released cultivars suited to your rainfall band rather than untested imports, and buy fresh, well-cleaned seed since old seed germinates poorly. Set it as the ground-cover and fodder layer of a dryland silvopasture guild with deep-rooted trees such as acacias, where its tussocks hold soil and feed stock beneath the developing canopy.

Sources

1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2024). “Cenchrus ciliaris L.” Plants of the World Online.
2. Hameed, M. et al. (2023). “Aridity-driven changes in structural and physiological characteristics of Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) from different ecozones of Punjab Pakistan.” Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences.
3. Marsalis, M. et al. (2024). “Assessing genotypes of buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) as an alternative to maize silage for sheep nutrition.” Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
4. Arriaga, L. et al. (2022). “Distribution Patterns of Invasive Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris) in Mexico under Current and Future Climate.” Plants.