Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
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Executive Summary<br />
The project “<strong>Feeding</strong> <strong>Systems</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Legumes</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Intensify</strong> <strong>Dairy</strong> <strong>Farms</strong>”<br />
is conducted under the CIAT-led Tropileche Consortium that operates<br />
under the Systemwide Lives<strong>to</strong>ck Programme (SLP) convened by the<br />
International Lives<strong>to</strong>ck Research Institute (ILRI). The Consortium is<br />
composed by scientists from CIAT, ILRI, and national agricultural research<br />
institutes in Peru (FUNDAAM, DEPAAM), Costa Rica (MAG, ECAG, CATIE,<br />
UCR), Nicaragua (IDR), and Honduras (DICTA). The strategy <strong>to</strong> improve<br />
feeding systems includes:<br />
• Evaluation of new feed resources <strong>to</strong> satisfy the nutritional<br />
requirements of grazing animals<br />
• On-farm evaluation of new legume-based forage components, and<br />
• Economic analysis and acceptability/adoption studies of new<br />
technologies<br />
This report includes the results generated during the last four years<br />
of the project (1996-2000), which further confirm the significant impact of<br />
improved grasses and legumes on animal production.<br />
In Costa Rica’s Pacific coastal region, the pasture association Brachiaria<br />
decumbens + Arachis pin<strong>to</strong>i increased the daily milk production of Jersey<br />
cows, even though these animals were receiving a commercial concentrate.<br />
Likewise, this association supported a heavier s<strong>to</strong>cking rate than did<br />
pastures of B. decumbens + Hyparrhenia rufa or of B. decumbens alone<br />
under similar management. In the same region, research on Cratylia<br />
argentea (cratylia) demonstrated that this legume harvested fresh at 90 days<br />
after regrowth and 90 cm high can replace commercial concentrate or 82%<br />
of chicken manure given <strong>to</strong> dairy cows of medium production, and is an<br />
excellent feed alternative for the dry season. The use of cratylia<br />
supplements could therefore help small milk producers have access <strong>to</strong> a<br />
protein supplement produced on their own farms, thereby increasing their<br />
income and cash flow.<br />
Another form of using cratylia in the region is as silage <strong>with</strong> molasses<br />
added and fed <strong>to</strong> cows, <strong>to</strong>gether <strong>with</strong> chopped sugarcane, during milking.<br />
Other studies found that mixed cropping of maize <strong>with</strong> forage soybean is an<br />
excellent alternative for making silage, not only because of the increase in<br />
protein in the final product, but also because of the economic benefit from<br />
additional milk production and the partial use of harvested maize through<br />
the sale of tender maize ears.<br />
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