A good number of farmers in Murang’a County and countrywide have ventured into dairy farming as their main economic activity, and thus the need to embrace sustainable dairy farming by using fodder that is easier to grow and preserve for the day of scarcity.
Soil analyst Bernard Ndung’u opines that fodder should also offer all the nutrients to the animals for maximum yields, as feeds contribute up to 60 per cent of a farmer’s success.
He urges dairy farmers to adopt fodders that offer a more balanced ration, which in turn will promote faster growth and higher productivity in their animals.
“Choose fodder that is sustainable; the majority regenerate after cutting and still have fast maturity and easier establishment,” he says, adding that some of the fodders a dairy farmer can consider include Napier grass, maize, disodium, rhode grass, and sorghum.
“Nappier grass, which is mainly planted through stem cuttings or splits, is drought resistant, is easily propagated, and has high crude protein and fibre for good palatability depending on the stage of growth,” he observes.
Ndung’u concurs that there currently is a more superior variety of the Napier grass known as Pakchong 1, which has gained a lot of popularity among dairy farmers in Murang’a and beyond.
“Packchong 1, also known as supper Napier, is a hybrid obtained by crossing the ordinary Napier with pearl millet and is preferred because it is fast-growing, highly vegetative, with a protein content of 18 per cent, which is double the amount of protein in ordinary Napier,” he adds.
Moreover, Napier grass as a fodder during the utilisation stage can be chopped or stored as a whole.
The Fadhili Africa Ltd co-founder notes that farmers can also plant maize and use it as fodder, as it has proven to be a superior crop to most of the dairy farmers, as most of them use it for silage making or for storage as dry fodder.
“Small-scale farmers can secure silage bags, which they can use to prepare the silage from maize and preserve it for the day of scarcity while maintaining the nutritional content,” he says.
Additionally, farmers can consider the disodium, which is a leguminous crop and can be integrated with other fodder crops and have a maturity period of 3-4 months.
“While the disodium has high crude protein levels and is rich in minerals and vitamins, they also improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation and have the ability to repel some pests and parasitic weeds, such as stiga.”
Sorghum and Rhodes grass are perennial grasses whose stems are fine and leafy, with heights ranging between 0.5 and 2 meters high. They are most preferred for haymaking for sale and storage to use during scarcity.
Farmers are urged to ensure they select certified planting materials and incorporate testing their soil to get the right information and right recommendation to avoid perennial losses.
By Florence Kinyua
