Some studies carried out in the southern province of Rwanda (where the Nyamagabe district is located) have reported crop failure for bush beans because of soil acidity and aluminium toxicity (FAO 2006b). To address this issue, the Rwanda Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR) and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) carried out research trials and were able to recommend climbing beans, which could resist this stress. However, less attention has been given to the poor quantity and quality forage for livestock.
fertilizer applied (Ndikumana and Leeuw 1996). It gives a high quality of forage resulting in high yield of beef and milk (Rivas and Holmann 2005). However, animal production (especially body weight and milk production) declines after a few years on acidic soils planted to B. decumbens unless fertiliser is applied every two to three years (Abdalla et al. 1999).
3.4.2 Cenchrus ciliaris
Cenchrus ciliaris originated from tropical and sub-tropical Africa and southern Asia. It has been naturalised and expanded in northern and western Queensland in Australia (Cameron 2004) and in Texas and Mexico (Mandy 2002). It is well adapted to well drained soil, especially on sandy loam soils, but its growth is inhibited by tight clay soil or waterlogging, salinity and deep sandy soils (Wayne 1988). Cenchrus ciliaris grows best in the tropics and subtropics with rainfall ranging from 300–1200 mm year-1 (Cameron 2004). Cenchrus ciliaris can be established using a seeding rate of 3 to 4 kg ha-
1 or by tillers and is used to re-seed denuded arid lands (Whiteman 1980, Ndabikunze 2004). When stolons are used to establish it, it requires enough rainfall for rhizomes to sprout (Mandy 2002).
The DM production of 4–5 t ha-1 has been obtained in Australia with fertilizer application. With application of N (20 kg ha-1), the annual DM production increased from 942 to 1785 kg ha-1 over ten years in arid zones of India (Rao et al. 1996). Increases of 300 kg ha-1 DM of C. ciliaris were obtained when applied fertiliser was combined with mulching in Ethiopia (Gebremeskel and Pieterse 2008).
Cenchrus ciliaris is an aggressive grass that grows in disturbed, mesic conditions and can compete with other grasses. According to Marais et al. (2006), when conducting a trial of irrigation on perennial grasses in South Africa, they suggested that C. ciliaris should not be used as control grass under irrigation trials because it is known as drought tolerant grass.
CHAPTER FOUR–ASSESSMENT OF LIVESTOCK FEED RESOURCE-USE PATTERNS IN THE BUGESERA AND NYAMAGABE DISTRICTS OF RWANDA
Abstract
Livestock rearing in Rwanda, including the Bugesera and Nyamagabe districts is practised under stalling. This is due to the high human population which results in a land shortage. More land is devoted to cropping than to livestock production. In the Bugesera district, animal feed is constrained by low rainfall whereas in the Nyamagabe district, it is constrained by acidic soil with aluminium toxicity. As feeds for animals have become labour-intensive, within a community, men and women may have different interests in livestock production. In addition, wealth status of farmers may influence the development of livestock production under the problem of land shortage and different abiotic and biotic stress conditions. The objectives of this study were (i) To determine feed resources and the availability of each feed resource that was used by farmers each month and (ii) To analyse the role of gender and wealth categories in livestock activities in target areas.
Focus group discussions were held by 20 farmer representatives from each district.
Farmers were divided into two groups of males and females and each group drew up livestock activities related to gender. In each district, 20 farmers identified criteria to rank the identified feed resources. Individual farmers gave scores to each identified feed resource according to farmers‟ criteria and the scores were considered as quantities measured. It was found that in both districts, livestock activities were shared between genders, but certain activities (e.g. milking cows, animal shed construction) were intended for males due to the culture beliefs. In both districts, wealth ranking showed that land, number of cattle and the type of cattle owned by farmers were the important characteristics of categorising the community. In the low rainfall district (Bugesera), four exotic, three indigenous fodder species and six crop residues were identified with preference scores ranging from zero to ten. Pennisetum purpureum (Napier grass) was given the highest score which ranged between six and eight because of its availability all year round. The indigenous grass received a median score of five for its availability year
round. In acidic soil area district (Nyamagabe), five exotic fodder species, five indigenous fodder species and 11 crop residues were identified. Napier grass and Commelina benghalensis were scored high with a median score of eight. Panicum maximum (indigenous grass species), maize stovers (crop residue) and Albizia amygdalina (indigenous tree species) were important forage because they were given a median score of seven. The preference ranking confirmed that overall Napier grass was the major fodder crop used throughout the two districts followed by some indigenous species and crop residues. The scores for availability, quality and quantity of feeds showed a shortage of livestock feed resources in both districts indicating a need for suitable forage species adapted to these areas of low rainfall and acidic soils.