To facilitate access to data generated through community focus group discussions, version 2.0.0 of the FEAST Global Data Repository is available with enhanced data management and visualization functionalities. The underlying code is open to facilitate collaboration and further development of the platform and applications. Continue reading
Category Archives: ILRI
The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) – new developments
The latest developments with the feed assessment tool – FEAST Continue reading
New insights into the diversity of Napier grass: More productivity in fully irrigated systems
Originally posted on ILRI news:
? Napier grass growing in the ILRI field gene bank in Ziway, Ethiopia (photo credit: Shawn Landersz/Global Crop Diversity Trust). Napier grass commonly referred to as elephant grass, or Uganda grass and scientifically known as Cenchrus purpureus, is one of the most important fodder crops for the small-scale dairy farmers in…
Irrigated forages improve livestock productivity and livelihoods in Ethiopia
This video describes the work of ILRI and the Amhara Region Agricultural Institute, which worked with farmers in Robit-Bata kebele (sub-district) in the Amhara region through the Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project, to introduce the cultivation of irrigated Napier grass (ILRI 16786). Continue reading
FeedLink – to link fodder surplus-deficit regions
Feeding livestock year-round requires innovative approaches. This post reports on an innovation in India that helped to convert wasteland grass into enriched silage after value addition and densification. It is now being explored as a commercial opportunity. Continue reading
Animal nutrition approaches to profitable livestock farming and sustainable livelihoods
Feed resourcing and feeding is at the very interface where the positive and negative effects of livestock, income, livelihoods and environment are negotiated and animal feeding and nutrition deserves greater attention as a critical discipline in addressing the environmental impacts of animal-sourced foods production. Continue reading
Thirty percent of ILRI genebank collections now safely duplicated at the global seed vault in Norway
Originally posted on ILRI news:
Alieu Sartie, ILRI genebank manager (right) and technician Solomon Fikre checking forage seed samples before delivery to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (photo credit:ILRI/Lei Sun). The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is home to the world’s only genebank dedicated wholly to forages. Located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the ILRI Forage Genebank…
Optimizing variations of food-feed traits of wheat cultivars to benefit mixed crop-livestock systems in Ethiopia
Scientists from ILRI, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research tested bread wheat cultivars released in the Ethiopian highlands to better understand the potential trade-offs between food and fodder traits. Continue reading
Desho and Napier grasses help Ethiopian farmers produce year-round forage
Desho grass has become particularly popular as a means of biological control in stabilizing soil bunds and controlling runoffs and soil erosion. Continue reading
New studies provide the first accurate estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from East African livestock
Originally posted on ILRI Clippings:
ILRI scientist John Goopy describes ILRI’s Mazingira Centre research on livestock and greenhouse gas emissions to ILRI partners at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and leads them on a tour of Mazingira’s Greenhouse Gas Laboratory, in Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: CCAFS/S Kilungu). The following…