Publication Date

1989

Description

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, poor nutrition is a major constraint to livestock production (Henzell and t'Mannetje, 1980). In the West African subhumid and semi arid zones, the harsh dry season means that the quality of the naturally avail­able forage is insufficient to meet cattle maintenance requirements for more than half the year (Mohamed-Saleem, 1986) ; in more humid areas intensive cropping restricts access to fodder. The introduction of improved forage legumes is recognised to be a viable approach to alleviating this problem (Jones et al., 1984). In Nigeria, the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) has successfully introduced Stylosan­thes pastures to provide dry season supplementary feed for cat­tle (Mohamed-Saleem and Suleiman, 1986). Whilst the inter­vention has been well accepted, a major drawback is its present dependence on a single cultivar, Stylosanthes hamata cv Verano; this has led to the initiation of an evaluation pro­gramme to search for other suitable species. The objectives of the programme are twofold ; first, to look for alternatives to S. hamata cv. Verano in case its present resistance to the fungus disease anthracnose should break down. Second, to identify species that may be utilised in other farming situations in different countries or ecological zones of West Africa. These aims can be met by an evaluation strategy that takes cogni­zance of ecological stresses such as harsh climate and poor soils, together with social and economic factors including scar­city ofland for pasture development, availability of human and financial resources and livestock management. This article describes the strategy adopted and some preliminary results from the evaluation programme based at Kaduna in subhumid Nigeria.

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Improving Pasture Resources in West Africa: Evaluation of Forage Legumes to meet the Social and Ecological Constraints

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, poor nutrition is a major constraint to livestock production (Henzell and t'Mannetje, 1980). In the West African subhumid and semi arid zones, the harsh dry season means that the quality of the naturally avail­able forage is insufficient to meet cattle maintenance requirements for more than half the year (Mohamed-Saleem, 1986) ; in more humid areas intensive cropping restricts access to fodder. The introduction of improved forage legumes is recognised to be a viable approach to alleviating this problem (Jones et al., 1984). In Nigeria, the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) has successfully introduced Stylosan­thes pastures to provide dry season supplementary feed for cat­tle (Mohamed-Saleem and Suleiman, 1986). Whilst the inter­vention has been well accepted, a major drawback is its present dependence on a single cultivar, Stylosanthes hamata cv Verano; this has led to the initiation of an evaluation pro­gramme to search for other suitable species. The objectives of the programme are twofold ; first, to look for alternatives to S. hamata cv. Verano in case its present resistance to the fungus disease anthracnose should break down. Second, to identify species that may be utilised in other farming situations in different countries or ecological zones of West Africa. These aims can be met by an evaluation strategy that takes cogni­zance of ecological stresses such as harsh climate and poor soils, together with social and economic factors including scar­city ofland for pasture development, availability of human and financial resources and livestock management. This article describes the strategy adopted and some preliminary results from the evaluation programme based at Kaduna in subhumid Nigeria.