United States Agency for International Developmen

Bekunda, Mateete A.

Lukuyu, Ben A.

Ngunga, D.

CGSpace

Forage choppers and Crop residue based rations for cattle: Ben Lukuyu1, David Ngunga1, Mateete Bekunda21International Livestock Research Institute2International Institute of Tropical AgricultureKey messages Forage chopping facilitates formulation of rations based on local feeds (Figure 1 and 2) There is availability of a wide variations of local feeds that allows formulation of difference rations hence giving farmers options to choose from (Table 2). Rations formulated based on local feed resources have a huge potential to improve milk production on smallholder farms (Figure 3).This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. January 2017We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this research. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR systemObjectives and approach Introduced forage choppers to enhance use of forages and crop residues. Conducted a study to document current processing, storage and use of crop residues on farms. Formulated rations based on crop residues and tested its impact on selected farms in Babati District. Twenty four (24) crossbred dairy cattle from eight (8) households were used in the trial for four weeks during experimental period.Key results Forage chopping enables farmers to effectively mix crop residue based rations (Figure 1). Mixing crop residue rations in the right proportions gives high quality feed ration (CP of 10-12%; OMD of 49-55%) – (Figure 2 and Table 1). The wide variety of locally available crop residues enable the formulation of 5 ‘best bet’ rations for farmers to choose form depending on what is available in their locality (Table 1). Crop residue based ration increased milk production by between 1-2 litres per day in just 4 weeks of the trial (Figure 3).Significance and scaling potential There is a potential to scale up the technology through groups or individuals especially youth as a business. The significance include: the more efficient use of feed materials (reduced waste) a reduction of the manual labor of chopping often assigned to women the exploitation of local feed sources in order to reduce costs of purchasing feed improved milk production in the wake of improved feeding rations  a shift of practices towards more zero-grazing based systems a labor-saving alternative to produce mixed feed rations  an increased interest among farmers to organize in groups  and the generation of employment opportunities for youths who assist women in transporting and operating the machines.10 15 20 10 15 20 10 15 20 10 15 20 10 15 20Maize stover 4.4 3.1 1.3 5.0 3.4 1.9 3.1 2.8 1.9 4.4 3.1 3.1 3.1 1.9 1.3Bean haulms 3.8 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.9 3.2 2.3 1.3 1.9 _ _ _ _ _ _Pigeon pea haulms _ _ _ _ _ _ 1.9 1.9 1.3 _ _ _ 3.2 3.2 3.2Natural collected grass _ _ _ 9.6 10.0 8.0 10.0 8.0 8.0 16.0 14.0 11.2 12.0 12.0 10.0Napier grass 16.0 24.0 24.0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Sunflower cakes 0.9 1.9 2.5 1.1 1.9 2.5 1.3 2.3 2.8 1.3 2.5 3.4 1.3 2.1 2.8Maize bran 1.1 1.3 2.6 0.9 1.3 2.6 0.9 2.0 2.4 2.0 2.6 2.6 1.3 1.7 2.4Total fresh feed (Kg/day)26 33 33 19 20 18 20 18 18 24 22 20 21 21 20Ration composition (kg) and the target daily milk produced (Litres/cow/day)Feed ingredients Ration I Ration II Ration III Ration IV Ration VTable 2: Crop residue  based rations for dairy cattle targeting different production levels Figure 3: Effect of crop residue based rations on milk production of dairy cattle in Babati, district Table 1: Nutritional compositions of  the crop residue  based rationsFigure 1: A forage chopper in action Figure 2: One of the crop residue based rationPartners

Forage choppers and crop residue based rations for cattle

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Forage choppers and crop residue based rations for cattle

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