We are importing improved pasture seeds not grass

 —Eze

March 29, 2016

COLLINS NNABUIFE spoke with the Director of Animal Production and Husbandary Services of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Egejuru Eze, on the recent news on the social media which said that the government was planning to import grasses into the country to feed animals.
 

Is the going actually planning to import grasses to feed animals in Nigeria?

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development did not say we are going to import grass to feed animals, what his said was that we are going to use improved pasture seeds/cultivars to plant in Nigeria, because we have our soil that can support the growth of these pasture seeds, so we can say because we have grass in Nigeria, and we have seeds in Nigeria, there is no need to bring in improved seeds. Similarly, we have palm trees in Nigeria and we still import improved palm seedlings.

What the Minister was saying was that we are going to look for those seed that have high productivity per hectare of land and also high nutritive value, that is what he wants us to bring in and add to what we have.

A lot of researches have been carried out on the type of grasses that can grow in different areas, for example, Alfalfa grass thrives in temperate areas and we have temperate areas in Nigeria at the Mambilla-Plateau, Adamawa, Jos-Plateau and Obudu, so we are trying to exploit the use of good seeds in that areas for diary production.

What do we need grass for in Nigeria?

If we want to improve our dairy and beef production, we have to feed the animals very well, so in that case, we need improved pasture that has high nutritive value, and if herdsmen can get the improved pasture anywhere they are, this issue of cattle roaming in search for grass will stop, the conflicts between farmers and herdsmen will not be there, cattle rustling will be eliminated, so that is why is very necessary to improve the pasture we have in Nigeria.

Is the planting of those seedlings only being focused in the north?

Different ecological zones will get there improved seeds which will be planted in those areas to add to what we have to improve the pasture we have in those areas.

What other pasture seedlings will be imported apart from Alfalfa?

Brachiaria is a grass that have been researched upon in Brazil, they took the Brachiaria from Kenya and Brazil worked on it for about 18 years and they have been able to increase the productivity of the Brachiaria that have made the pasture planted areas to reduce with increased beef production. We have problem with dry season in Nigeria, when the rain are going off, the grass dries up fast and the animals begin to follow the grass to the south, this Brachiaria seeds can thrive well during dry season it will sustain the animals.

What are the financial benefits of this pasture seed importation?

It is not about planting grass, further production will be commercialized, Saudi Arabia import pastures to feed their ranches, and if improved pasture is invested in, young graduates can make business out of it, they can process it into hay and silage that can be exported and that can be moved from South to North, so this is some of the strategies and plans the minister have.

After the first batch of pasture seed importation, are we still going to import more in the future?

We don’t need to be importing when we have established, when we import, we also try to see where they best fit in as much as they have tried there and it has to be a gradual thing. Those grasses will be established and it will take about a year to fully establish them, or else the animal will overrun them and we will back to square one. So it has to be sustained and it will be systematic and there will be intensification of production, so it will not be that we just plant the grazing reserves and allow the animals to just graze it. There must be proper management of this pasture development.

Apart from low quality grass, animal disease have been a major factor that reduces productivity in animals, what is the government doing to control disease among animals?

We have a programme we call Expanded Breeding Programme where we intend to cross our local breeds with foreign breed that have the potential to produce large quantity of milk and beef, so it will improve the genetic improvement of our breeds. We also intend to bring water which is very important to animals.

We also intend to provide veterinary clinic, that’s why we want the animals to be in a particular area where they will get all these services and it will also help us to trace the animals in terms of disease control, production system and others.