SUSTAINABLE TURFGRASS SPECIES SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT FOR SPORTS FIELDS UNDER INDIAN CONDITIONS: SCIENTIFIC PERFORMANCE, MAINTENANCE ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

Growing organized sport and public sporting infrastructure in India is creating greater demand for environmentally sustainable natural playing surfaces. Species choice has a range of impacts on traffic recovery from a given surface, stability of the surface, demand for water, mowing frequency, disease risk, and life cycle cost of the surface. This research/article is aimed at creating a decision making framework for turf in India using the recently published peer reviewed turfgrass studies, climate and sports policy related to India, and turfgrass related data to build a multi-criteria decision analysis and a cost model related to field construction of 8,000 m² in India. Hybrid and seeded bermudagrasses provided the best solution for hot, dry, and sub tropical regions that experience heavy traffic. Zoysiagrass is recommended for fields that experience traffic but will remain mostly unoccupied. In addition, Zoysiagrass is recommended for fields that will experience some shade. For coastal fields using poor quality irrigation, Seashore Paspalum is recommended. Year round, Ryegrass is not recommended for most of India, however, it is recommended for winter overseeding in the northern and elevated regions of India. The modeled sustainable precision-turf system decreased cost of operating a field for one year from ₹30.4 lakh to ₹22.8 lakh due to reduced irrigation, reduced fertilizers, and improved traffic rotation. At an 8% discount rate it also provided the best value among the systems compared for high quality playing fields over a ten year period. The other systems also provided many business opportunities from contracting turf to providing precision irrigation. The main finding is that, in contrast to the current singular approach to recommending grasses, sustainable sports turf in India needs regional species zoning, performance-based procurement, auditable maintenance plans and professional field management.