Advantages of Manure Fodders for Growing Crops Faster
Posted by Unknown in Green Manure, Manure and Composting, Silage and Forage, Soil Issue, Soil Management on Friday, 25 January 2013
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| Manure exposed to sun and rainwater loses essential nutrients. |
Many small-scale farmers do not use manure properly. Carelessly stored manure can lose half of its nitrogen content.
William Ayako*
No
doubt, manure promotes the growth of all crops. The only problem is
that many dairy farmers lack skills for improved management. This is
shown in a study on methods of manure management on smallholder
peri-urban dairy farms in Bahati division, Nakuru district. The results
of the study, conducted in July, 2005, are significant for other regions
in Kenya too.
A
total of 30 smallholder dairy farmers in the Bahati region were
randomly picked; their farming system is mainly small-scale mixed
crop/livestock type. The farmers kept an average of 1 - 2 mature cows,
mainly of Friesian, Ayrshire and Zebu crosses. The feeding was mainly
“cut and carry” (zero gazing) in stables with planted Napier grass as
the main feed resource and crop residue found within the farm.
It
became clear that smallholder dairy farmers, neglected by policy
makers, could not afford to apply inorganic fertilizers on Napier grass.
The inputs were relatively expensive, and the availability of those
inputs was always untimely. This means that the farmers were therefore
in dire need of skills to improve manure management to boost fodder
production for their dairy cows. This was even more important as the
high human population in the division led to further decline in soil
fertility due to over-cultivation of land.
Soil
degradation as well as poor livestock nutrition and livestock diseases
were responsible for the low milk production. Labor shortage and lack
of capital was evident since over 90% of the farmers in Bahati used
family labor and simple tools to apply manure. Some of the farmers used
bedding from unused maize stalks for compost making. This is very
helpful since the compost takes time to decompose under field conditions
and hence increased the nitrogen ratio.
Improve Napier grass yield
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| Young Napier Grass : An Excellent Fodder |
Since
the majority of the farmers stored manure in open heaps for
convenience, the method caused high nutrient losses, estimated at over
30% of nitrogen content when the storage duration exceeded 3 months.
Extended
storage in open heaps further increased losses estimated to be more
than 50% of nitrogen when the storage exceeded 6 months. During the
season of land preparation, planting and weeding of the field crops,
labor became scarce and manure management suffered at the expense of
other activities. Therefore, it was estimated that smallholder farmers
in the division incurred nutrient losses of over 60% in manure nitrogen
due to lack of improved handling and application methods. In other
words, through negligence, farmers reduced Napier yields and hence milks
production and their income.
Recommended methods
The manure application technology, developed by KARI Naivasha, has two options.
•
The farmers on the hill slopes and with less than one acre of land
should use the ‘tumbukiza’ method of manure management on Napier grass.
The system involves digging pits
of about 3x3x3 cubic feet. The pits are spaced at 2 meters apart and
are filled with 3 debes of slurry (a mixture of manure and water), then a
1-foot layer of top soil is added on top of the manure. Thereafter,
6–10 cane cuttings of Napier grass are planted on each pit.
The
tumbukiza method has been known to increase fodder yield by
approximately 30 %. It is advised to plant sweet potatoes or forage
legumes between the pits to increase the quality of forage and to
control weeds.
•
Farmers should also plant Napier grass along the contours using the
Fanya Juu method. In the Fanya Juutrenches, they should apply the
slurry as explained above, then add top soil and plant Napier grass.
This would prevent soil nutrient losses through erosion and secondly, it
would reduce the frequency of additional labor. The most important
advantage is increase in Napier grass yield per given area.
Farmers
in less hilly areas should apply slurry in a shallow trench dug between
the rows of Napier grass and cover with the soil. Although this method
is labour-intensive, it enables better utilization of nitrogen in the
urine and reduces other loses arising from evaporation. Many small-scale
farmers do not use manure properly. Carelessly stored manure can lose
half of its nitrogen content.
Dr. William Ayacko is a livestock scientist at the KARI Naivasha Animal Husbandry Centre
