Bernard Kipkoech Korir

SUPERVISORSProf. Wanyoike, M.M.MProf. Badamana, M Dr. Kuria, J.K.NDr. Mwangi, D. M

Effects of Supplementation with Brachiaria, Cassava leaf meal and Azolla on beef cattle productivity and rumen microbes in

semi arid areas Kenya

Background• ASALs have great potential but overlooked

• fastest-growing agricultural subsector

• 30% agric. GDP in developing nations (IFAD, 2010).

• In Kenya: – 70% livestock pop. – Valued Kshs 70b – 67% of red meat (Juma et al., 2010)

Background• Contribution of livestock to Kenya’s economy

– Employs 50% of agric labour force– 5.6 – 12.6% to national GDP (KEBS, Muthami et al 2011)– 30-45% of agric GDP (Muthee 2006)– Source of livelihood for 6 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists living in ASAL

• The population estimates for beef cattle is 14M heads and projected to increase to 18.5M by 2014.

• Beef production is mainly from Zebu animals with a small proportion from commercial exotic/zebu beef animals.

• Kenyans consume ~600,000 MT of red meat per annum (meat & offal from cattle, sheep, goats and camels).

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Background …• While pastoralists account for majority of Kenya’s meat supply (60-65%

of the total)

– 35-45% come from the ASALs

– The rest (20-25%) comes from neighboring countries (Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda),

– Culls from dairy farms contribute another 30% of beef, while ranches provide 4% of which 15% is slaughtered for home consumption.

– Hence Kenya is a meat deficit country.

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Background …• Overall, the annual deficit of beef is is expected to increase to 50,000

MT by end of 2014;

• If and when KMC re-opens, there is potential to start beef exports to the African, Middle East and EU regions subject to meeting export regulations and sanitary standards set by importers.

• There is also potential for exports of live animals (value-added by fattening) to Middle East, EU and Africa.

• Research on beef should focus on its production to meet the national deficit and development of markets especially meeting standards for international markets (Livestock APVC Report).

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Problem statementPoor nutrition is the most important factor contributing to low productivity of grazing

livestock particularly in the rangelands due to seasonality of forage production and fluctuating quality , lack of strategies for year-round feeding as well as mineral deficiencies, imbalances and toxicities

The fluctuation in feed quality affects rumen microbial organisms resulting suboptimal feed fermentation and digestion

Need to evaluate alternative feed supplements of high nutritive value such as the recently introduced brachiaria mulato II, cassava leaf meal and Azolla that can be used to ameliorate the poor quality feeds and improve beef cattle performance

Problem statement …

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Justification

Adequate nutrition is essential for achieving desirable levels of animal performance including body condition, weight gain, milk yield, reproductive efficiency and ultimately farm profitability.

Supplementation of cattle with high quality fodder and commercial concentrates during periods of feed scarcity has been shown to be beneficial.

In spite of the potential benefit from the use of supplementary feeds during the dry period, most beef cattle producers do not practice it and suffer major losses in production.

The main cause is that available supplementary feeds such as cotton seed cake, sunflower cake etc are expensive and not easily accessible.

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Justification …

• Therefore, there is need to identify, test and promote affordable feed supplements aimed at improving beef cattle nutrition and health.

• This may provide the necessary incentive for the adoption of improved production methods, including supplementation.

• This would lead to increased production efficiency and improved long-term economic viability of cattle rearing enterprises.

• Such feeds include Cassava leaf meal, Brachiaria and Azolla

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What is Azolla?• Azolla is an aquatic fern regarded as “Live Nitrogen Manufacturing

Factory” because, it has a symbiotic association with the nitrogen fixing Cyanobacteria.

• The genus Azolla belongs to the family Azollaceae and it has 5 species namely:-

• A.Pinnata• A. nilotica• A. filiculoides• A. Mexicana• A. caroliniana• A. microphylla

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CHARACTERISTICS OF AZOLLA

• Extensively used as biofertilizer and green manuring for rice cultivation

• Azolla has very fast growing character

• It doubles its biomass in 3-5 days

• Azolla fixes 40-60 kg N/ha in rice crop

• It is rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals

• On a dry weight basis, Azolla has 25-35% protein content, 10-15% mineral content, and 7-10% comprising a combination of amino acids, bio-active substances and biopolymers (Kamalasanana et al., 2002)

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CHARACTERISTICS OF AZOLLA …..

• It has been reported that one hectare of Azolla can produce 540-720 kg of protein per month Tran &Dao (1979) .

• Experiments have proved that the quantity and quality of milk yield of cattle improves when fed with Azolla

• Azolla therefore shows a huge potential in both Biomass yield and protein per unit time and area

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Comparison of Annual biomass and protein content of Azolla with other fodder

Biomass (MT/ha) DM content (MT/ha) Protein content (%) • Napier 250 20-30 9.7 ( 2.8 – 22.7)

• Lucerne 80 8-12 20.6 (12 – 31.8)

• Rhodes grass 35 10-25 8.9 (5.1 – 15.9)

• Azolla 1,000 80 24 (13.9-28.1)

Source www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Newpub/napier/tumbukiza_method.htm Feedipedia - Animal Feed Resources Information System - INRA CIRAD AFZ and FAO © 2012-2013

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Objective

The overall objective of this study will be to evaluate Brachiaria mulato II, Cassava leaf meal and Azolla as supplements to cattle.

Specific Objectives

To investigate and document the production, and chemical composition of Brachiaria, Cassava leaf meal and Azolla in Kenya.

To formulate and evaluate feed supplements from Brachiaria, Cassava and Azolla for grazing cattle in Kenya.

To determine the influence of the feed supplements on rumen microbial characteristics and fermentation patterns in beef cattle.

MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiment one: To investigate and document the production, and chemical composition of

Brachiaria, Cassava leaf meal and Azolla in Southeastern Kenya.

1. Information on Cassava farming will be gathered through administering a questionnaire

i. A motorable road will be selected and used as a transect and every third household on either side (alternately) will be selected

ii. Heads of 120 households will be interviewed

iii. Data to be collected will include acreage under cassava, the varieties grown and how they are utilized

2. Information on yields will be obtained from secondary data and the KARI

Kiboko farm

MATERIALS AND METHODSTo investigate and document the production, and chemical composition of

Brachiaria, Cassava leaf meal and Azolla in Southeastern Kenya

2. Data on Brachiaria productivity will be obtained from the KARI Kiboko forage farm. The grass is under over head irrigation and was planted in July 2011.

i. The data to obtained will be biomass (DM) yield per unit area.

ii. A quadrant measuring 0.25 m2 will be randomly placed in the field and all the plants inside the quadrant will be clipped

iii. For DM yield samples will be oven dried at 650c for 48 hours and dry weights taken.

MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiment one cont’d:

3. The productivity of Azolla

I. Biomass characterization of Azolla from different areas of the country.

II. The different species and/or ecotypes will be grown separately in 2x2 m ponds to determine their productivity

III. About 10kg of soil will be uniformly spread on the pond

IV. The pond will be filled with water up to a depth of 10cm and then inoculated with Azolla

V. Samples will be collected after an initial 15 day period following inoculation of the ponds

VI. Biomass yield will be determined

MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiment one cont’d:

4. Determination of the chemical composition of brachiaria mulato II, Cassava and Azolla (CP, NDF, ADF, Ash, EE and IVDMD)

i. Dried feed samples will be ground with hammer mill through a 1-mm sieve and stored for subsequent analysis

ii. Crude Protein (CP) will be determined through the Kjeldal procedure (AOAC 2005)

iii. The fibre fraction will be determined through the method described by Van Soest et al. (1991)

iv. In vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) will also be determined as described by Menke et al. (1979)

MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiment two To formulate and evaluate feed supplements from Brachiaria, Cassava and Azolla

from Southeastern Kenya.

i. East African Short Horned Zebu weaner steers will be used to evaluate the feeding value of the formulated supplements

ii. The experimental animals will be grazed in natural pastures composed predominantly of Eragrostis superba, Cenchrus ciliaris and Chloris roxburghiana

iii. Treatment 1 shall not receive any supplements

iv. Treatment 2 shall receive brachiaria mulato II

v. Treatment 3 shall receive brachiaria mulato II plus cassava leaf meal

vi. Treatment 4 shall receive brachiaria mulato II plus Azolla

MATERIALS AND METHODSExperiment two cont’d

i. The experiment will be a completely randomized design (CRD) and each treatment will be replicated four times

ii. Each animal will be the experimental unit

iii. Water and Mineral salts will be available ad libitum in the night pen

iv. The diets shall be formulated such that they provide the shortfall in the cp the animals get from grazing

iv. Weight gains by the weaners will be used to monitor performance of the experimental animals for 16 weeks

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiment three: To determine the influence of the feed supplements on rumen fermentation patterns and microbial populations in beef cattle

i. Rumen samples will be obtained from the animals in experiment two by use of rubber tubing inserted through the mouth

ii. Rumen fluid will be immediately measured for pH

iii. Rumen ammonia nitrogen will be determined using an auto analyzer

iv. VFA will be analyzed using the HPLC according to procedure of Samuel et al 1997

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experiment three cont’d

i. DNA extraction and amplification using the PCR as described by Yu and Morrison (2004)

ii. Cleaning of PCR products described by Simpson(1999)

iii. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) as described by Yu and Morrison (2004)

iv. Analysis of DGGE DNA bands for identification of microbial organisms

v. Use RT(Q)-PCR for quantification of microbial organisms

Expected outputs

1. Biomass yields and nutritional content of brachiaria mulato II, cassava leaf meal and the different species of azolla determined and documented

2. Nutritional value of brachiaria mulato II, cassava leaf meal and azolla as supplements to grazing animals tested and documented

3. Ruminal microbial dynamics and fermentation patterns with supplementation identified and documented

4. PhD Thesis

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