FORAGE AND CROP RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Objectives

  • To develop improved, leased cost, sown pasture and range management technologies.
  • To identify forage species adapted to various ecosystems.
  • To conduct research on all forage resources.

ACTIVITIES include the following:

  • Screening of forage legumes and production of breeder and foundation seed.
  • Management of Range pastures.
  • Nutritive evaluation of cowpea and groundnut.
  • Evaluation of pear millet (pennisetum americanum) for fodder and silage production.
  • Sustainable crop-livestock production system in the lowland moist savanna.
  • Savanna herbarium.
  • Screening of various exotic and indigenous forage legumes species.
  • Agronomic studies of Lablab purpureus

Highlights of recent research achievements

  • A large number of forage have been screened at Shika as source of feed for livestock in Nigeria.
  •  Long-term cattle grazing trials at NAPRI have shown that grass/legume mixtures, namely Buffel/Stylo, can carry two mature cattle per hectares, giving mean average daily live-weight gains of 0.4kg over a 200 day period without protein concentrate supplementation.
  • One of the least expensive ways of providing supplementary protein to grazing cattle in Shika is by growing the legume Stylosanthes   preferable as a pure crop, and to ration graze it during the dry season.
  • The most suitable time to conserve Adropogon gayanus (Gamba) as hay at Shika and other areas in the Northern Guinea Savannah of Nigeria is early October. At this time dry-matter yields are at maximum that quality (in terms of digestible crude protein and dry-matter intake) is also reasonably high.
  • There is a limited scope for the use of nitrogen fertilizer to improve crude protein yields of A. gayanus, especially with the current high price of fertilizers. Thus, methods of overcoming the inherently low nutritive value of unfertilized A. gayanus could be based on the use of companion legumes such as species of Stylosanthes and Mucuna purirens.
  • Highest herbage DM yield of most grasses in the Northern Guinea Savannah of Nigeria is about 10t/ha in early November for (Buffel and Green panic) while Rhodes grass DM yield reaches a peak towards the end of September.
  • Mean percentage grass IVDMD values are  about 47.3, 37.3, 30.8, 24.9, 26.2 and 34.4 when harvested at 70, 100, 140, 200 and 280 respectively and those for legumes 63.3, 54.0, 45.4 and 35.5 when harvested on days 90, 120, 140 and 160. Mean grass CP content declined from 10.28% at 70 day harvest to 2.80% at 200 day harvest before rising to 3.35% on day 280 presumably of the new shoot development. Mean legume CP content varied from 16.96% on day 90 to 4.84% on day 180.
  • Signal grass (Bracharia decumbens) swards established for immediate use, is best establish with the use of a close spacing of 20x20cm and application of 200kg N/ha, whereas for a sward intended for use after two years, wider spacing of tillers at planting and a lower N rate may be used.
  • For food crop residue management, cereal straws (Millet stalk, maize stalk, sorghum stalk, groundnut haulms and cowpea haulms) should be harvested not later than 28 days after grain harvest.
  • Adenodolichos panichulatus, Gliricida sepium, Leucaena leucocephala and Sphenostylis schweingurthii can be established easily and are high yielders of nutritive browse. They are, therefore, promising candidates for programmes aimed at increasing the contribution of browse to the dry season forage resources.
  • The erect varieties of cowpea are not suitable for forage yield and even growing them profitable for seed would necessitate growing more densely and not too early in the growing season. Deferring sowing of cowpea at Shika substantially reduced the risk of seed competition and attack by fungi, particularly Fusarium spp.
  • In view of the short growing season (3-4 months) in the Northern Guinea Savanna to Sahelian zones, it is possible to grow the late maturing maiwa millet for forage where rainfall is relatively high (about 1100mm) and Dauro variety (the leafy and highest insoluble carbohydrate content) for silage.
  • It is apparent that Stylo has a valuable role to play in reducing the live-weight losses of cattle grazing unimproved savanna during   the dry season. By over sowing such areas or preferably sowing small areas of Stylo at strategic points with these areas and controlling the grazing so as to maintain an adequate intake of Stylo throughout the say season, thereby encouraging improvements in cattle production.
  • Inclusion of suitably chosen companion crops such as Soyabean, mucuna and lablab is a promising method of establishing grass into each savanna conditions of Nigeria. This advantage of companion crop with grass seed produces a bulk of herbage for silage, reduces soil wash and erosion during the early stages of establishment.
  • At Shika maize-mucuna silage helped to improve the quality of the silage and animals fed with the silage gained weight at the rate of about 0.29%/head/day compared with animals fed with maize silage alone.
  • The best time to cut Gamba (A. Gayanus) to obtain the maximum yield of digestible nutrients is at the time of ear emergence.
  • Nigeria is well endowed with water resources for rain fed agricultural production. Even during exceptionally dry years, when  agriculture production is drastically affected in the Sahel zone (2100km) and Sudan zone (240,900km2), areas south of 11030' latitude are not affected by water shortage so far as to reduce yields of annual crops significantly.
  • Gliricidia Sepuim stakes can easily be established in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria when thicker stock diameter is not less than 3.0cm and stock length 40cm are used.
  • Sowing Rongai or Highworth cultivars of lablab should be done in the first week of July at the row spacing of 30cm x 30cm and 90cm x 30cm for getting maximum fodder and seed yield respectively in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria.
  • Cereal/legume silage mixtures provide the most suitable silage material, and that the cereal content must be less than 1.5 cereal: 1 legume on dry-matter basis, in order to obtain a satisfactory ensilage.

On-going research activities.

  • Effect of different level of lablab millet on feed intake, weight gain and feed efficiency of Yankasa rams.
  • Effect of variety and amount of chopped millet stover on performance of sheep.
  • Evaluation of pasture crop under irrigation in the fadama.
  • Assessment of early-maturing dual-purpose groundnut varieties for forage and pod characteristics.
  • Assessment of nutritive and feeding values of sown herbaceous pasture.
  • Comparative assessment of three herbaceous legumes Chemaecrista rotundifolia, Centrosema pascuorum and Stylosanthes (cook and verano mixed) for improvement of rangeland productivity in the Northern Guinea Savanna.
  • Production and utilization of Columbus grass (Sorghum almum) in Nigeria.
  • Evaluation of cereals and pulses for food and fodder production.

Collaboration

  • With the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the effect of supplementing growing cattle with cowpea of groundnut bay.
  • Utilization of maize as forage crop for the livestock industry (WECAMAN-funded project and the IAR-NAPRI research project).