Food security for Goats & Sheep with CO4, Agathi

Here is wishing all our blog followers a very happy and prosperous 2013 filled with good health, wealth and peace. May the new year bring joy and success to everyone. 

Here at Savera Farms, 2012 was spent in expanding our cultivation and development and 2013 would be spent in consolidating what he have developed so far. Having said that, we also plan on diversifying into animal husbandry in the new year. Some of you have already seen the developments around the goat project at the farm.

As you probably know, before getting into any animal husbandry project, it is imperative to ensure that there is enough fodder available internally in order to reduce operational costs. General guidance that I have been able to collect so far :

• Daily intake of 3-4 Kg of Green fodder & 1/2 kg of dry fodder is recommended
• 1 acre of fodder is sufficient for 30 animals
• 50% acreage should be CO4, COFS29 and 50% acreage should be leguminous like Agathi, Velli Masal (Hedge Lucerne). 
• Leguminous take 70-90 days for harvest while CO4 take 45-50 days.

A variety of fodder ensures the animals get a balanced and nutritious diet. One has to cultivate any of Monocotyledons which comprises of Maize, Jawar, Hybrid Napier, Gunea Grass , Oats and Para grass. These fodders are rich in energy and are used for supplying energy to animals and this should contain 66% of the diet.Additionally, you have to also grow any of the 1 Dicotyledons like Stylo , Lucerne, Berseem and Subabul. These fodders are rich in protein and helps in Body building of animals and Milk Production.

We started our fodder cultivation in August in a phased manner since we were hoping to start the operations in November. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we shall be procuring a mix of goats and sheep in a few days from now. CO4 Slips can be procured from your local KVK center at a very reasonable rate of Rs 0.20 per slip. 

Slips were procured as whole pieces (approx 5-6 ft long). Smaller pieces of 10-15 inches were cut before planting. 

Existing drip infrastructure of watermelon (from last year) was used to irrigate the fodder. Although rain gun is the preferred source of irrigation for fodder crops. For now, we have intercropped it with mango.

At approx 1 month. Timely rain led to rapid development.

Ready to be cut and fed..

Agathi seedlings : In addition to CO4, we have planted Agathi as well. Seeds were procured and saplings were developed in portrays.

Approx 1 month old on the field 

Young seedlings have tender leaves and is well munched by rabbits. A net in place to obstruct rabbits from eating away the seedlings. The experiment was fairly successful as there was a good survival rate.

Growth in Agathi was not as uniform as CO4 and invited a whole lot of weeds during monsoon. (Maybe due to its nitrogen fixing qualities)

Apart from CO4 and Agathi, Subabul has been planted along the goat shed and in other open areas.  Hopefully, this was a good insight on the fodder cultivation. Stay tuned for more info on the goat and sheep that we procure in a few days. As mentioned in the previous post, feel free to mail me at saverafarms@gmail.com regarding more info on the goat marketing consortium.