Tanniniferous forage trees: alternatives to cope with nutritional limitations in smallholder livestock
T.T. Tiemann
1, M. Kreuzer
1and H.D. Hess
1,21ETH Zurich, Institute of Animal Science
2Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux, Swiss Federal Research Station for Animal Production and Dairy Products (ALP)
Trees for poverty alleviation
ZIL Annual Conference June 9, 2006, ETH ZurichPurpose of the project Purpose of the project
To develop feeding systems based on tanniniferous trees and shrubs that contribute to higher feed efficiency and reduce the dependence on purchased supplements
A joint project with:
A joint project with:
Swiss Centre for International Agriculture Schweizerisches Zentrum für Internationale Landwirtschaft Centre Suisse pour l’Agriculture Internacional Swiss Centre for International Agriculture Schweizerisches Zentrum für Internationale Landwirtschaft Centre Suisse pour l’Agriculture Internacional
Milestone 1 Milestone 1
¾Relations between the plant nutritional status and forage quality are defined
Milestone 2 Milestone 2
¾Combinations of tanniniferous legumes with legumes free of tannins for improved protein supply are available
Milestone 3 Milestone 3
¾Utility and viability of the new feeding strategies derived from the project are well defined
Important results Important results
¾Selecting appropriate planting sites may improve the feeding value of Calliandra calothyrsus var. Patulul
¾The response in biomass production of shrub legumes to soil fertility at the planting site and fertilization varies widely among species
In vitro fermentation systems are an important tool in assessing the feeding value of tanniniferous legumes
Goal of the project Goal of the project
To contribute to the improvement of the productivity and efficiency of tropical low-input production systems and the competitiveness of resource-poor livestock keepers
Activities Activities
¾Assessment of the potential impact by ex-ante economic analysis of new legume-based technologies at farm level on animal productivity and farm household income
¾Definition of areas in tropical regions with high potential for adoption of legume-based feeding strategies for future extension activities
‘FloraMap’, a decision support tool developed by CIAT, allows to predict the potential distribution of plant species
Important results Important results
¾High quality legumes may be partially replaced by tanniniferous legumes without any negative effect on ruminal fermentation of the complete diet
¾The inclusion of tanniniferous legumes in mixtures with legumes free of tannins increases the amount of forage protein available for post-ruminal digestion Ruminants play an important
role as assets and source of food and income for rural populations in developing
countries
Protein deficiency is one of the most important factors limiting livestock productivity in small-
scale farming systems
Many of these species contain tannins that could be either advantageous or disadvantageous
in terms of feed efficiency and metabolizable protein supply Promising forage trees and
shrubs have been identified to overcome these limitations
