Participatory establishment of cenchrus ciliaris among pastoralists using different seedbed types and manure levels in semi-arid area, Mvomero, Tanzania
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Date
2024
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Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Ruminant livestock species such as cattle, sheep, and goats in
tropical countries including Tanzania to a large extent depend on
natural pasture found in semi-arid rangelands as the major feed
resource. Among the major challenges in the communal semi-arid
rangelands in Tanzania is the seasonal fluctuations in availability of
forages in terms of both quantity and quality. Natural forages are
plenty and nutritious during wet seasons but become scarce and
with less protein content during dry seasons, hence; inability to meet
nutritional requirements of ruminants throughout the year. There are
incidences of dry season loss of conditions and even mortalities of
cattle reared in the semi-arid rangelands. Various efforts are
employed to improve the situation, in particular towards improving
feed availability during dry seasons. The pastoralists practice
nomadism, the movement with animals to other potential places with
substantial pasture and water. The livestock mobility are
accompanied with serious consequences including conflicts with
crop farmers and conservation agencies, animal deaths, and
environment damage such as soil erosion and pollution of surface
water resources. Improving the utilisation and productivity of grazed
semi-arid areas under the pastoral system is crucial. Cenchrus
ciliaris forage could be cultivated to ensure feed availability for
sustainable dry-season livestock feeding. However, forage
cultivation is new among pastoralists, and there is a need for
participatory cultivation through Farm Field School (FFS). The
research project was conducted to evaluate the growth and
nutritional value of C. ciliaris cultivated under not-tilled (NT), tilled flat
(TF), and tilled sunken (SN) land preparation methods and different
manure levels (0 t/ha, 5 t/ha, 10 t/ha, and 15 t/ha). Quantitative and
qualitative data were collected in a semi-arid village in Mvomero
district, eastern Tanzania. The qualitative data involved information
on livestock importance and breeds, milk production and marketing,
livestock production challenges, and manure management. Other
qualitative data were grazing land conditions, improvement practices, and dry-season feeding strategies. Quantitative data
included C. ciliaris establishment rate, grass cover, agronomic
characteristics, and nutritional values. Pastoralists were keeping
local cattle, goat, and sheep breeds, which they depend upon as a
source of income, food, insurance during emergencies, and other
socio-cultural values. The FFS members had a smaller average herd
size (35 cattle, 14 goats, and 8 sheep per household) than the non-
members (52 cattle, 30 goats, and 12 sheep per household). The
attitude of FFS members to keep fewer number of livestock
compared to non-members was attributed to awareness on safe
livestock caring capacity. Daily milk yield was low in both FFS
members and non-members (0.5 - 1.4 litres/cow/day) and varied
seasonally (p < 0.05), in dry season was lower than wet season,
which led to poor market access in the studied area. Many
respondents (68%) were not collecting or using manure for either
food crops or pasture production. Moreover, most respondents in
FFS member and non-member groups perceived grazing land to be
poor because it took their livestock a long time and distance to find
forage. Also, there were limited grazing land improvement practices
because of the communal grazing, limited privately owned land and
large herd sizes. Migration and use of crop residues were the main
dry-season feeding strategies in both groups. Few individuals had
established private forage reserves in the grazing land, which were
smaller (p < 0.05) in FFS members (0.8 ha per houehold) than non-
members (2 ha per household). The Tilled flat seedbed in different
manure levels had higher (p < 0.05) establishment rate (97%), grass
cover (66 - 78%), and biomass yields (10 – 12.6 t/ha) than no tilled
and sunken seedbeds. The responding FFS members perceived TF
as a better land preparation method because of its high yields and
grass cover at the study site. There were variations in biomass yield
and grass cover among manure levels, whereby a manure level of
10 t/ha resulted in the optimum return comparing to other manure
levels in the current study. The protein values (104 - 132 g/kg DM) in
cultivated forage were sufficient to meet the daily nutritional
requirements of ruminants. However, the estimated energy intake (7 - 15 MJ ME/day) was insufficient for optimum cattle performance
and would require other feed supplementation, such as treated
maize stover and bean haulm with molasses or urea during the dry-
season. Lack of effective dry-season feeding strategy, poor grazing
land conditions, and low milk yield showed the importance of C.
ciliaris cultivation at the study site. Based on the results from this
study, the TF and manure 10 t/ha are the recommended land
preparation method and manure level for C. ciliaris cultivation at
study site and similar areas due to better agronomic performance.
Description
MSc Dissertation
Keywords
Farmer field school (FFS), land preparation methods, dry-season feeding, agronomic characteristics, nutritional values, Feed fluctuation, Grazing, Rangelands