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Participatory survey on the performances of some forage species perceived by smallholder dairy farmers in Rwanda: case study of ngoma and bugesera districts
Abstract
Farmers in semi-arid areas of Ngoma and Bugesera districts used to cultivate exclusively Penissetum purpureum var French Cameroon which was susceptible to Napier Stunt Disease, a real cause of loss of forage biomass. To remedy the problem, a pilot experiment with the introduction of improved forage species was carried out in conjoint participation with the farmers for three months. Using a participatory approach, this survey assessed farmers’ perception and criteria for selecting forage species on seven improved forages. Using pair-wise comparison, results in both Bugesera and Ngoma” showed that palatability ranked first against all criteria while drought tolerance and leaf/stem ratio ranked second and third respectively. In both districts, the palatability criterion was preferred by farmers due to high intake when feeding dairy cattle. Forage color was ranked last by farmers and the trait was considered less important for future forage improvement in both districts. According to farmer’s perception, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraes, Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, Penissetum purpureum var Kakamega 1 and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Piata was selected first for capacity to mitigate soil erosion, weed control, improve soil fertility as well as carbon sequestration. Brachiaria cultivars cv. Basilisk, Piata and Xaraes and Penissetum purpureum cv. Kakamega 1 showed higher perception performance for soil coverage and drought tolerance across all sites. Findings suggest that palatability, leaf/stem ratio and drought tolerance were more important in evaluating forage as livestock feeds for Bugesera and Ngoma districts. Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Xaraes, Piata, Penissetum purpureum cv. Kakamega 1 and Desmodium distortum were viewed as a breakthrough for increasing milk yield for dairy animals. In addition, Brachiaria cultivars could contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration, soil cover and soil erosion control.
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References
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DOI: 10.33687/ijae.010.02.4061
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