The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) – new developments

The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) helps us to understand how local livestock are kept and fed. Standardized data visualizations give a good overview of where feed comes from, how it varies seasonally and what farmers view as the main problems and opportunities for feed improvement. In recent years, around 1000 people have downloaded the app. Here’s an update on a few recent developments with FEAST that may be of interest. Continue reading →

Guide to silage making in the subtropics

This extension brief by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shares the principles of silage making that smallholder farmers can use to make forage for feeding animals in dry seasons. Continue reading →

Digestibility and metabolizable energy of selected tropical feedstuffs estimated by in vitro and prediction equations

This poster, produced for the Tropentag 2016 conference, highlights a study that compared digestible organic matter (dOM) and metabolizable energy (ME) estimates of tropical feeds derived from selected equations with those determined by the in vitro gas production method. Continue reading →

Innovation platforms for dairy development in India and Tanzania

Multi-stakeholder innovation platforms were set up at different levels as part of the milkIT project, resulting in more milk sales, more interactions and better linkages among different value chain actors in India, and, in Tanzania, access to a larger variety of better feeds. This video explains how the milkIT project worked with innovation platforms Continue reading →

Smallholder dairying: better marketing or better feeding – which comes first?

The milkIT project hypothesis was that improvements in milk markets would lead to increased productivity by farmers. This video explains the approaches followed: linking farmers to markets (using market ‘pull’ to drive productivity increases) and farmers’ productivity increases which will attract the market to them. Continue reading →

Working out how to improve livestock feeding: The FEAST feed assessment tool

The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) was one of the key tools used in the milkIT project to assess local feed resource availability and use, guiding targeting and appropriate intervention strategies. This video explains how FEAST was used in the project: Continue reading →

Female dairy farmers laid the foundation for a village-based ryegrass seed enterprise in Danyore valley, Pakistan

Rye grasses are widely grown cool season grasses that are better suited and have greater agronomic potential in the northern mountainous regions of Pakistan. Since 2015, the AIP-ILRI project has been working to improve dairy production through higher biomass production of improved fodder varieties, especially in mountainous areas like Gilgit. Continue reading →

Early introduction of calf starter to enhance growth rate of cattle in Pakistan

The various livestock feed companies in Pakistan are suggesting that livestock farmers must introduce calf starter to their calves at the age of three months, at a recommended dose of 10% of their body weight. The AIP-ILRI project has been working to improve livestock production and create awareness among livestock farmers that they must fatten their calves to get higher economic returns. Continue reading →

Improving livestock production and productivity: the potential of Napier grass

For better livestock production and productivity, it is essential to assess the genetic diversity of the food which is fed to livestock. One of the main food sources for livestock in East Africa is Napier grass. Continue reading →

Use of grain legumes residues as livestock feed in the smallholder mixed crop-livestock production systems in Ethiopia

Livestock productivity in Ethiopia is much lower than the existing potential due shortages of quality feed in the country. However, adopting grain legumes can help boost annual production with concomitant increase in grain legumes residues. Continue reading →