Brachiaria grass significantly increases livestock productivity in East Africa

Forages are the most important feed resources constituting up to one hundred percent of daily diets of livestock in East Africa. Shortage of forages both in quality and quantity especially during the dry seasons is major reason for the lowest livestock productivity in the region.

Prepared for the BecA-ILRI Hub 15 year event on 3 February 2016, this poster explains ways research in the Hub aims to increase availability of quality forage in the program areas of Kenya and Rwanda through the development and promotion of drought and low fertility adapted Brachiaria grass varieties. The program also aims to establish Brachiaria seed production business as an additional income source to the smallholder farmers of program countries.

Related posters:

• Genetic diversity of Brachiaria grass in East Africa as revealed by single sequence repeat (SSR) markers
• Bacterial endophytes associated with the tropical forage grass Brachiaria spp
• Fungal endophytes of important African forage grass Brachiaria spp. in Kenya