Masaka livestock farmers ask govt to expedite review of seed policy
MASAKA– Livestock farmers in the districts of Lyantonde, Sembabule, Rakai, and Masaka have asked the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] to expedite the review of the National Seed Policy 2018, arguing that it should forage crops as well.
Forage crops are crops grown specifically to be grazed by livestock or conserved as hay or silage. Forage crops assist in achieving production targets for attributes such as growth or weight gain and to make up seasonal shortfalls between feed demand and supply.
The government’s national seed policy only focuses on regulation of seeds for food crops and leaving out forage seed systems.
During a field visit by officials from the Agriculture Ministry and International Livestock Research Institute [ILRI], farmers said they are suffering due to lack of a national forage seed policy that regulates the standards and quality of livestock feeds. They said they want to improve livestock nutrition and production in their area.
Ezekiel Mwesigye, a dairy farmer at Kyabaresa village in Lugusulu Subcounty, Sembabule district, said most manufacturers sell adulterated animal feeds to farmers, and this, he said, has affected their dairy cows.
He said they have tried to plant fodder grasses like Sweet Sugar Napier, Bracidia, Gliricidia, and Rhodes grass among others, but they are affected by the changing weather patterns such as prolonged dry spells, making grasses, not enough for diary animals to produce enough milk.
”Currently, our animals depend mainly on local pastures and crop residues which are often of low quality due to scarcity of quality feeds, thus low production of milk,” he said.
Sembabule District Production Officer, Dr. Emmanuel Kawooya said advised farmers to always consult veterinary doctors on the right animal feeds for their animals. He said the district has a total of 200,000 cows but the milk production is low because of poor quality feeds.
He said ”livestock farmers resorted to formulating homemade feeds yet many do not have adequate knowledge about feed formulation and animal requirements”. He added that they produce substandard feeds because they rely on trial and error.
National Agricultural Research Organization Specialist, Dr. William Nanyenya Ntege said if a good policy with regulatory services is put in place, farmers can easily get proper standards and good quality animal feeds but currently there is no clear focus on forage seed certification and standardization because without a policy, farmers cannot get quality feeds and this is affecting the livestock industry.
He noted that lack of quality regulation and certification has resulted in the supply of poor-quality feeds to livestock farmers consequently leading to low productivity.
The Country Representative for ILRI, Dr. Ben Lukuyu said Uganda is lacking the schedule for forage crops that would guide on how to evaluate animal feeds before they are put on market for livestock farmers to start using them.
He said they are trying to discuss the matter with the Agriculture Ministry to have a schedule that screens the forage seed so that they are registered before being put on market. He also said they want to empower small-scale farmers and livestock farmers to make high-quality yielding forages that are resistant to dry harsh conditions.
A senior Veterinary Officer in the Diary Production department in the ministry of agriculture, Dr. Deo Wonekha said government is trying to ensure that there is a forage seed system in place.
According to the last National Livestock Census conducted by UBOS in 2008, cattle is estimated at 11.4 million; 8.5mln goats, 3.4mln sheep, and 3.2mln pigs while poultry is estimated at 27.5mln.
UBOS also indicates that Ugandan milk production is mostly dominated by small-scale farmers who own over 90 percent of the national cattle population. The southwestern areas of Masaka, Bushenyi, and Mbarara are dominated by a semi-intensive cattle production system while the central Uganda milk shed is dominated by zero-grazing farmers.
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