Feedback corner

READER: I am a dairy farmer and I read an interesting article on Smart Harvest issue of April 4, 2015 regarding biogas and silage making. I am interested in both clean energy and silage making. I wish to congratulate The Standard on Saturday for coming up with such informative magazine.

[Stanley]

EXPERT: Your question on silage making is so timely considering the fact that we have just had a prolonged drought which has negatively affected the nutrition of livestock and subsequently milk production across the country.

This has attested to the importance of feed management in dairy and beef animal production versus alternating seasons punctuated with either abundance or scarcity of animal feeds.

Currently, the rains are here and in a few weeks the landscape will be filled with a lot of green lush pasture. This pasture has high moisture content and cannot be preserved as hay.

The time is, therefore, ripe to harvest this lush pasture and store it for future use as silage. Silage has many advantages over hay as it is more palatable and has a higher food value to the animal and therefore can sustain your milk production during dry seasons. Silage can be made on a small or large farm and various techniques are available in the market and the process is also fairly simple and straight forward. Silage is made by storing fodder in silos and initiating and maintaining anaerobic bacterial fermentation process to produce lactic acid from the plant sugars and this is what preserves the silage by preventing mould growth.

For this to happen the fodder is harvested, chopped into about 3cm pieces and compressed in a pit, a polythene bag or plastic drum to eliminate as much air as possible through compression.

The quality of silage is dependent on the plant feed value on the efficiency of ensiling – especially the sealing. The quality of silage can be improved by adding molasses which provide more sugars for the lactic acid forming bacteria and also binds the forage together improving on the air tightness.

If this is well done, then the silage can be stored for long as five years. For more details walk to your nearest Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries offices and you will be assisted to make silage.

Thank you for showing interest in biogas production, it is not only a way of saving costs but also contributes to environmental conservation. The process of making biogas requires technical expertise but applies locally available materials and is relatively cheap.

The size of the digester is determined by the amount of dung (number of animals). You will need to acquire a special gas cooker since the pressure of biogas is not as high as the conventional gas cooker.

The government through the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and several NGOs are promoting the use of this alternative energy and can be approached for help.

 

I also know of individual technicians who are equally good in biogas plant installation.

{Dr Joseph Othieno, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi}

READER: I am a 24-year-old university graduate with Bachelor of Business Management degree without a farming background. Smart Harvest has opened my eyes to farming. We own three hectares of land on the banks of River Tana in Garissa town, but it has not been put into proper use. I want to make use of the modern ways of farming. Where can I access your offices for expert advice.

{Maalim}

EXPERT: Thanks for interest in checking information on how to do farming in Garissa. May be the first place to check is with the Ministry of Agriculture office in Garissa because I know there are a number of people doing irrigated agriculture in the county. If there is any specific area that you want help from the University then we can organise the logistics on how you can be assisted. What you need to have in mind is:

1. What to grow

2. Where to market

3. Cost of operations like installing irrigation system

4. Conflict between pastoralism and farming if the farm is not fenced yet.

5. Source of seeds and other farm inputs (agro-chemicals, fertilisers)

6. Labour for farm operations (manual or mechanized)

7. Post-harvest handling of the harvested crop.

8. Access to the farm

I am sure the county Agricultural office in Garissa will be helpful to you in addressing these issues and other queries that you may have. Thank you.

[Dr David M Mburu, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology]

Do you have a farming-related question? Send it to our pool of experts from reputable universities at [email protected]