By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
One Hundred livestock farmers drawn from Ten LGAs of Bauchi State are being trained on the sage of crop residue as livestock feed for value addition and use as buffer livestock feed during the off-season.
The training, held at the conference hall of the BSADP on the 30th November, 2024, was organised by the World Bank Assisted Livestock Productivity and Resilience (L-PRES) Project.
The objective of this training was to educate the One Hundred livestock farmers on the benefits of using crop residue as livestock feed, including reduced costs and improved livestock productivity and demonstrate the proper collection, storage, and processing of crop residue for use as livestock feed in line with L-PRES Project Development objective.
Speaking shortly before the commencement of the training, the State Project Coordinator (SPC), Musa Adamu One said that the primary objective of the training was to train farmers on how to analyze the nutritional value of crop residue and determine its suitability for different livestock species.
The SPC said that the training is aimed at introducing farmers to various treatment methods to enhance the nutritional value of crop residue, such as urea treatment or ensiling.
He stressed that the activity will also emphasize the importance of proper feeding strategies and ration formulation to ensure optimal livestock performance.
“This training will guide you on marketing and value addition strategies for crop residue-based livestock products, with a view to encouraging you to adopt sustainable agriculture practices, reducing waste and promoting a circular economy”, said Adamu.
Declaring the One Day training open, the Bauchi State Commissioner of Agriculture, Professor Simon Madugu Yalams, who was represented by Director Livestock Services in the Ministry Alhaji Sagir Muhammad Idris said that the Ministry welcome such training.
The Commissioner enjoined the participants to pay rapt attention and to also step-down the training in their respective communities so that others could benefit too.Our Correspondent gathered that at the end of the training,, livestock are expected to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to:
Identify suitable crop residues for livestock feed.
Collect, store and process crop residue efficiently.
Analyze and improve the nutritional value of crop residue.F
Formulate rations and implement feeding strategies
Manage feed scarcity during the off-season and, and to
Develop sustainable and profitable livestock production systems.
Some of the participants expressed their enthusiasm saying that the training will enhance the livelihoods of livestock farmers, promote sustainable agriculture practices, and contribute to the overall development of the livestock industry.