The
Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) has recommended that dairy farmers
should adopt integrated farming system so as to improve fodder in a move to
advance milk production from an average of 6 to 16 litres a day.
Speaking in an exclusive interview
with The Guardian in Morogoro at the weekend, SUA senior lecturer Prof Lusato
Kulwijira said that integrated farming system helps dairy farmers to preserve
fodder for use during the dry season.
Prof Kulwijira noted: “It is
something exiting for those of us who are practicing this system in Njombe
Region. Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) is working with the dairy
farmers, looking at all the elements of farming to see how they all work
together.”
He added: “When SUA and the
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) started the research Programme for
Agricultural and Natural Resources Transformation for Improved Livelihoods in
Tanzania (PANTIL) from 2006 to 2009 and its success or Enhancing Pro-Poor
Innovations in Natural Resources and Agricultural Value-chains (EPINAV) project
which started in 2010 and is expected to end in 2015 have shown a great
impact.”
He pointed out that productivity
of dairy farming system in Njombe Region has tremendously increased from 6
litres to about 16 litres a day.
“Enhancing Pro-poor Innovations
in Natural Resources and Agricultural Value-chains (EPINAV) project of the
dairy cow project in Njombe Region has resulted into the best practices and is
now being scaled up to ten villages from four,” he said.
He insisted: “Dairy cattle in the
villages that we are implementing this project have drastically improved milk
yields even the dry season.”
He underscored that a well-kept
and clean udder reduces the chances of the cow to get infected with mastitis.
Mastitis occurs when cows are milked under unhygienic conditions, allowing
bacteria to go into the teat canals.
“In addition to the importance of
hygiene when milking, it is also important to remove all faces from the
enclosures where the animals are kept. Here, utilisation of manure comes into
the picture. The manure is used in three ways. First, the urine is removed
through a drain and stored because most of the soil in Njombe is acidic, the
urine works as a buffer that elevates pH levels,” he said.
He insisted: “The dung is either
used for biogas production or turned into dry manure. The use of urine and dry
manure result into a great increase in crop yields per acre, therefore dung can
also be turned into biogas, which is a renewable energy source used for
lighting and cooking.”
The don also said that
experiences from the project show that using biogas reduces the time spent by
women and children to fetch firewood and improves the health of the family, as
there is no smoke from the cooking.
“The EPINAV entered into a
collaboration agreement with the Tanzania Domestic Biogas Programme (TDBP) to
carry out studies on the use of bio-slurry and to extend biogas technology to
all the six new villages in Njombe Region,” he said.
SUA has over the years developed
and tested a good number of productivity enhancing technologies and best
practices in various pilot villages in the country. Uptake of the technologies
to wider communities in the Districts and Regions remains a challenge.
EPINAV Programme came into effect
on December 2010 when the agreement between the governments of Tanzania and
that of Norway was signed. It covers a period of four years beginning November
2010 and ends in 2015.
The principal objective of EPINAV
programme is therefore to address the up-scaling of proven technologies and
promote adoption of agriculture and natural resources to the effects of climate
change.
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