~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second FAO Electronic Conference on Tropical Feeds Livestock Feed Resources within Integrated Farming Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abstract of the fifteenth paper, from C. Kayouli. Questions that might stimulate discussion on this topic include: 1. Where urea is not available or too expensive, do you have successful experiences with alternatives as urine, ashes, or ammonium carbonate or other locally available alkalies or mixtures of urea and calcium hydroxide? 2. In your experience, is the impact of feeding urea-treated roughage to ruminants correlated with increased crop yields due to higher draught power availability and soil fertility? 3. What are the other advantages and constraints of using cereal residues for animal feeding? 4. What about the supplementation of untreated or treated cereals residues? 5. Why urea treatment, which is a simple and an efficient technology, has not been more widely adopted? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE ROLE OF FEEDING SYSTEM BASED ON CEREAL RESIDUES IN INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Chedly Kayouli Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie 43 Av. Charles Nicole 1082 Tunis Tunisie Tel: 002161892785 ; Fax: 002161799391 E Mail: 101763.2164@compuserve.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABSTRACT The traditional practice of transhumance in the African Sahelian countries has been severely hit by the droughts. The combined effects of recurrent droughts and declining pasture availability have both resulted in major changes in livestock ownership and production systems. Transhumant pastoralists are increasingly settling in cropping zones, growing mainly sorghum and millet as staple food grains. The rise in human population and livestock numbers, decline in pasture availability and the expansion of cultivated areas have greatly increased the pressure on available land resources and led to declining soil fertility which is already very fragile. The above factors have inevitably accelerated the process of integrating livestock into crop production, as crop residues and manure are becoming increasingly valuable, the former for animal feed and the latter as fertilizer. However, the challenge of assuring the sustainability of the integrated farming system is how to integrate animal production with crop production so that it contributes to an intensification of both food production and cash income and encourages the maintenance of soil fertility in the Sahelian regions of Africa. These principles have been applied successfully in the FAO-UNDP project in Niger (FAO-PNUD/ NER/89/016: Extension de la Methode de Traitement a l'Uree des Fourrages Grossiers), where it has been shown that the improvement in the ruminant feeding system based on urea treatment of crop residues is rapidly and enthusiastically received by resource-poor farmers. The technique of urea treatment is very simple, inexpensive and suitably adapted to Sahelian crop farmers. The advantages are undeniable greatest for feeding large and small ruminants during the dry season. The nutritive value of crop residues, namely sorghum and millet stovers, is greatly improved (nitrogen content, digestibility and consumption are significantly increased) and they are far better utilized since the edible proportion is increased. This improvement of the animal feed, based on better utilization of crop residues not only led to better maintenance of live weight and other animal performance but extended to greater integration of crop and livestock production systems through improvements in draught animal power and increased availability of organic manure. Fields are ploughed more efficiently and rapidly. Nitrogen content in dung is sharply increased when animals are fed urea-treated forages compared to untreated forages (7 to 8.3 percent instead of 4.5 to 5.8 percent), which is extremely significant for soil fertility. As a result, yields of millet and sorghum are increased by roughly one-fifth to a third, improving the food security and income of farmers, decreasing the rural exodus and reducing the pressure on soils. The technique contributes also to reducing the animal pressure on the environment. KEY WORDS: Feed, ruminant, Sahel, straw treatment, urea, millet, sorghum, soil fertility, integration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAO ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE: LIVESTOCK FEED RESOURCES WITHIN INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DISCLAIMER: Neither the conference organizers nor FAO accept any legal responsibility for either the contents of this message or any copyright laws that the person sending this electronic message may have violated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TO COMMENT: Unless you want to reply only to the person sending this information, please send your comments to the address: TFCONF2-L@MAILSERV.FAO.ORG or TFCONF2-ABS-L@MAILSERV.FAO.ORG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~