FAITH NDOU
CHIREDZI-With El Nino conditions being predicted for Zimbabwe, livestock farmers in the drought-prone Lowveld and other dry parts of the country are being urged to prepare supplementary feed early to protect their animals from a looming feed crisis.
Farmers in the region five areas have been encouraged to make silage, bale hay and treat crop stover with urea ahead of the critical period between mid-September and mid-December, when livestock feed is expected to become scarce.
Speaking to The Midweek Watch, Chiredzi AGRITEX Officer Tongai Bodi said farmers should start preparing now instead of waiting for pastures to dry up.
“The critical period for supplementary feeding is from mid-September to mid-December because this is when feed becomes scarce. Farmers should therefore prepare their supplementary feed early,” said Bodi.
He said farmers in the Lowveld and other dry parts of the country should make use of available forage and crop residues while they were still accessible.
“We are encouraging farmers to make silage, bale hay and also treat stover with urea. These are some of the methods that farmers can use to bridge the feed gap during the dry period,” he said.
Bodi said silage making was one of the effective ways farmers could preserve forage for use during periods of feed scarcity.
“Farmers should harvest the crops just before flowering and allow the freshly cut forage to wilt in the sun for about two to three hours. After that, the forage should be chopped into small pieces of about one to two centimetres,” he said.
He said molasses should then be diluted and evenly applied to the chopped forage before the material was compacted and sealed.
“The molasses should be diluted at a ratio of one to three, meaning one litre of molasses to three litres of water. Farmers must mix the forage thoroughly to ensure that the molasses is evenly distributed,” said Bodi.
He stressed the importance of proper compaction during the silage-making process.
“The most important thing is to remove as much air as possible by compacting the material thoroughly before sealing. If the material is not properly compacted, the silage may not cure properly,” he said.
According to AGRITEX guidelines, the forage can be stored in 150-200 micron polythene bags or a properly constructed and plastic-lined pit.
Bodi said farmers could begin feeding the silage to livestock after three to four weeks of curing.
Meanwhile, he encouraged farmers to consider urea treatment as another way of improving the nutritional value of crop residues.
“Urea treatment is also an important method because it improves the quality of stover. Farmers dissolve 5kg of urea in 20 litres of water and apply the solution evenly to the stover in layers,” he said.
He said farmers should compact the material after each layer before applying the urea solution.
“After the stover has been treated, the material must be covered with plastic and completely sealed with soil to exclude air. It should then be incubated for four to five weeks, depending on the temperatures,” said Bodi.
Bodi said farmers should not wait until their animals were already losing condition before taking action.
“Farmers must plan ahead. By the time livestock start losing body condition, it will already be too late. We are encouraging them to prepare their supplementary feed while they still have access to forage and crop residues,” he said.
As El Nino concerns mount, AGRITEX is urging farmers to move from reacting to feed shortages to preparing for them while there is still time.
