| Source of technology and funding |
National agricultural research system (NARS) of West
Asia and North Africa (WANA); Mashreq–Maghreb Project (M&M);
International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA);
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); funded by IFAD
and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) |
| Expected Benefit: |
Improving the income and welfare of farmers and livestock
owners; increased small ruminant production; integration of feed and
livestock production; conservation of the national resource base;
and improvement of the environment |
| Targeted Groups: |
National and international institutions, development
planners, project implementers, extension agents, end-users |
| Production Systems: |
Small ruminants, Agricultural by-products. |
| Agro-ecological zones: |
Arid and semi-arid zones (200 to 350 mm) |
| Target region and countries: |
WANA, Latin America – Algeria, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia |
| Keywords: |
Livestock, Agricultural by-products, Feed Sources,
West Asia and North Africa, Arid and Semi-Arid |
Introduction
One of the principal limiting factors affecting small ruminant productivity
in the semi-arid areas of West Asia and North Africa (WANA) is the shortage
of forage. This leads to increasing pressure on rangelands and therefore
to a rapid deterioration of plant cover in many areas of WANA. Additionally,
the frequent occurrence of drought in many countries of WANA results in
widening the gap between the feed supply and nutrient requirements of
small ruminants.
The high cost of conventional concentrate feeds (barley grain, bran,
etc.) prohibit their wide-scale use, especially by small farmers. Therefore,
it is necessary to seek alternative supplements to improve the nutrition
and thus the productivity of small ruminants.
A considerable amount of crop residues and agro-industrial by-products
(pulp of dates, tomatoes and beet, brewer’s grain, wheat and rice
bran, olive cake, molasses and poultry waste) is available. However, these
by-products are not efficiently utilized in feeding small ruminants.
What is a feed block?
Feed blocks are a solidified mixture of agro-industrial by-products used
for supplementing poor quality roughages and native rangelands. They are
considered as a catalyst supplement, allowing a fractionated, synchronized
and balanced supply of the main nutrients (i.e. energy, nitrogen, minerals
and vitamins) for animals. The value of feed blocks lies in their role
as cost-effective supplements and as a means for preserving several high
moisture agro-industrial by-products (e.g. tomato pulp, olive cake, etc.).
Although feed blocks are not new, the Mashreq/Maghreb (M&M) project—The
Development of Integrated Crop/Livestock Production in the Low Rainfall
Areas of WANA—revived interest in feed blocks technology as an option
to be promoted among sheep owners in vast semi-arid areas of WANA in order
to improve animal performance and reduce their feeding cost.
Feed block is a simple technology
Feed block technology is simple and does not require sophisticated equipment.
Blocks are easy to handle, transport and can be made at the farm levels
using the family labor.
Different formulae can be manufactured with different levels of urea,
binders and a wide range of agro-industrial by-products, which are available
locally. For instance, in Iraq, date pulp, rice bran and poultry waste
are the main ingredients used to make feed blocks whereas tomato pulp
and olive cake are used in Tunisia. Olive cake and brewery grains are
used in Jordan and molasses in Morocco.
Plate 1. In Iraq, the private sector took the lead in producing agro-industrial
by-product feed blocks on a large scale. Feed blocks improve small ruminant reproduction
Sheep in the semi-arid areas of WANA are heavily dependent on cereal
stubble grazing as their sole source of feed during the summer period,
which coincides with the mating season and results in lower productivity
of the flock. In many areas animals are fed on poor quality pastures and
roughages and in most cases their maintenance requirements are not met.
Results of research conducted in the M&M countries showed that in
such situations feed blocks, used as a supplementary feed, resulted in
considerable improvement in ewes’ weight gain, conception, lambing
and twinning rates.
On the other hand, in many WANA countries, hand feeding during winter
time (November to January) is frequently practised because of shortages
of grazing and green roughage. During this period the diet of sheep depends
mostly on whole barley grain and stored straw. The introduction and use
of high energy feed blocks as a strategic supplement containing high energy
ingredients, resulted in a significant replacement of barley grain and
minimized the use of roughage and concentrates.
Furthermore, work in Iraq has shown that feed blocks can be enriched
by other ingredients to increase their efficiency. Results show that when
cotton seed meal (as a source of by-pass protein) and vitamin AD3E are
added to the basic formulae of feed blocks considerable improvement in
ewes’ conception rates, lambing percentage and twinning percentage
can be achieved.
Moreover, the use of feed blocks in fattening lambs gave promising results
and improved feed conversion.
How Economical are Feed Blocks?
As stated, feed blocks are made from available feeding resources and
by-products which are currently underused. These alternative supplements
improve the nutritive value of low quality diets, increasing animal performance
and alleviating livestock feeding costs. In Iraq, the use of feed blocks
reduced the utilization of conventional concentrate feeds (barley grains,
commercial concentrates, etc.) by more than 50%, considerably reducing
imports, particularly in dry years. In Tunisia, one tonne of feed blocks
costs about 95 US$ compared to 200 US$ for one tonne of barley.
Adoption and impact in M&M countries
Livestock owners have readily accepted feed blocks and the technology
has rapidly spread through the countries involved in the M&M project.
It has been a major success in the region and has developed into a feed
industry in Iraq where a large research effort is being invested in improving
and adapting the technology to the semi-arid conditions of the country.
The first private production plant in Iraq opened in June 1994 with a
capacity of 4 tonnes/day and was followed by several other plants with
similar outputs. By 1997, 21 plants were producing more that 24,000 tonnes
of blocks, distributed to more than 6000 sheep owners. In Jordan three
feed block manufacturing units were imported from Iraq in 1998 for large-scale
production of feed blocks. Local fabrication of units has started in order
to respond to an increasing demand for feed blocks. In Tunisia, community-based
feed block units started in1999 to produce tomato pulp and olive cake-based
feed blocks and 10 tonnes have been already distributed to community members.
In Morocco, an NGO and Agricultural Co-operatives are involved in the
production system of feed blocks.
As a spillover, countries other than those participating in the M&M
project have shown clear interest in the technology. Among those Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea and Turkey can be cited.
Perspectives
Research work conducted so far in the M&M countries indicates that
this technology offers various options to sheep owners in the feeding
management of their flocks. Indications show that further research could
lead to the broadening of the scope of utilization of this technology
in order to meet specific nutritional requirements of the animals, including
cows, at specific stages, for a better productivity. Producing feed blocks
in ’à la carte‘ style may become a reality.
