adminALMOST every farmer in Manicaland owns various kinds of animals – from cattle to birds — which is associated with improved social status.
The most prominent constraint in small-scale livestock farming includes disease and pest control and the quantity and quality of feed offered to the animals.
This week we will focus on the latter.
This challenge can be mitigated if readily available farm by-products such as maize, millet and sorghum stovers (mashanga/magunje) are treated for utilisation by cattle and other domestic ruminants. Maize stover consists of the residues of maize plants left in a field following the harvest of the grain. It includes stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs.
Every household in Manicaland produces several tonnes of crop straw and stover every year.
I recently went to Makoni West, where communal farmers have embraced the idea is to improve the nutritive value of maize stover and straws by use of urea solution with success.
The event was a livestock field day, and I thought of sharing that experience with other farmers in this eastern part of Zimbabwe so that they learn how best they can utilise the stovers and straws to feed the ruminant livestock especially during this dry season where the grass has dried and falling prey to veld fires.
Maize stover is the main roughage available during the dry season because these are gathered into fodder banks after harvest.
However, the missing link is the knowledge that these mashangas have low nutritional value (about 6 percent protein) if fed as they are, but can be improved in quality and digestibility by treating them with a three-week fermentation period using a urea-water solution.
The crude protein content of stovers and straws increases when treated with urea. There is also increased dry matter intake, liveweight gain and milk production from urea-treated stovers and straw compared to untreated material that our small-scale farmers are accustomed to. Of concern is that small-scale farmers usually fed the whole stalk and leaves without chopping or any kind of treatment.
This results in high wastage and very low intake.
The stover enrichment process is simple; but urea is potentially poisonous, hence it is important that the process be adhered to religiously.
The process involves digging a trench and lining it with plastic. If one intends to use continuously, make two trenches and alternate filling them at three week intervals.
Treatment is more successful if the stover is chopped to aid infiltration of the urea-water solution and improve packing in the trench.
The stover needs to be cut smaller until it is enough for the projected period.
Mix one kilogramme urea which contains 46 percent nitrogen with 10 litres of water to treat every 16 to 20kg of straw by sprinkling the solution.
After the urea is dissolved in the water, the solution is uniformly sprayed on the straw. Then the straw is put into the trench and covered with plastic, and the edges sealed with soil.
The ensiling period is 25 days under the temperature of 20-30ºC.
After three weeks, the farmer can open the trench from one end and take out the amount of feed required, and put it out until the next day before putting it in the feeding rake.
You can slowly reduce the time required between taking it out and feeding it as the cattle get used to the odour. The cattle like it and will consume more treated stover than they will regularly untreated straw.
The main objective for keeping and feeding cattle should be to maximise profit.
Online Reporter