Feed blocks prepared with cactus, locally available feedstuffs and urea

Ericka Sorensen, Lourdes Lim and Bethlehem Tafesse reports on the tour to the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas ICARDA research station facilities. They find the visit very insightful, in particular,  the presentation on livestock and ‘feed blocks’ by Dr. Barbara Rischkowsky from ICARDA .

The tour involved a visit into an ICARDA barn/warehouse that housed sacks of various by-products used to produce feed blocks rather than sheep and cows (e.g. tomatoes, brewer’s grain, wheat and rice bran, olive cake and leaves, and sugar beet).

Dr Rischkowsky explained how feed blocks were prepared and how they could be made using formulas with different levels of urea, binders and a wide range of locally available agro-industrial by-products to suit the animals’ taste buds. Feed-block technology is simple and does not require sophisticated equipment. Manufacturing and handling is also easy and can be done at the farm level using family labour. Producing feed blocks at the farm level is however labour-intensive and may therefore result to low rates of adoption. Farmers are however encouraged to use feed blocks as they improve animal performance are cost effective. Below are the listed advantages of using feed blocks; they are:

• Cost efficient compared to conventional concentrate feeds (e.g. barley grain and bran).

• Provide a balanced diet which can help improve animals' nutrition and thus increase their productivity.

• Require low input due to the use of crop residues and agro-industrial by-products (e.g. pulp of dates, tomatoes, brewer’s grain, wheat and rice bran, olive cake and leaves, molasses and sugar beet).

• May be stored for several years, and thus address feed stuffs shortages that result from frequent droughts.

• Generate business (small and medium-size enterprises) and employment opportunities.

• Environmentally friendly, help reduce pressure on rangelands, and mitigate rapid deterioration of plant cover.