7.5 Urea and Poultry Manure as Protein Supplement to Low Grade Grass for Sheep in the Accra Plains

1982 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 151-153
Author(s):  
F. K. Fianu ◽  
R. K. G. Assoku

The low protein content of dry season forage and its growth retarding effect on livestock has long been recognised as one of the main technical bottlenecks in ruminant livestock production in the tropics (Oyenuga, 1957; Lansbury, 1958; Rose-Innes, 1960). Such nutrient deficiency results in as much as 15% live-weight loss in grazing animals during the dry season, this delaying their maturity (Rose-Innes, 1960; Otchere, Dadzie, Erbynn and Abyebo, 1977). To help solve this problem, nitrogenous feedstuffs such as urea, poultry manure, groundnut cake and copra cake have been examined. Reported here is work on urea and poultry manure tested on West African Forest Type lambs at Legon, Ghana.

Author(s):  
T. Smith ◽  
S. Sibanda ◽  
C.R. de Souza ◽  
C. Chakanyuka ◽  
R.M. Chihora

A feeding trial with young cattle, supported by measurements of digestibility and intake in lambs, was carried out to compare dried poultry manure (DPM) with cottonseed meal (CSM) or a urea maize mix (UM) as supplements to unimproved dry season grazing.Eighty Mashona steers, aged 9 months, initial live-weight 157 kg, were divided into eight groups, one of which was used as an initial slaughter group. The remainder were grazed by day and penned overnight (119 days). Whilst in the pens they received either no supplement (C) or DPM; CSM; UM; DPM + CSM; CSM + CSM; UM + CSM. The single supplements contained 150g crude protein and the double supplements 250 g crude protein per day. All animals were offered a mineral supplement and water was available during the day. At the end of the dry season half of the animals from each group were slaughtered and half retained to measure compensatory growth.Twelve lambs housed in crates each received one of the treatments (C, DPM, CSM, UM) with veld hay ad libitum (CP 2.5%) to measure digestibility and intake.


1969 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. H. Pike ◽  
T. G. Boaz

SUMMARYIn a factorial experiment the effect of two protein intakes and three patterns of feeding in the second pregnancy of 48 Large White x Wessex Saddleback sows was examined. The high protein (HP) diet (19·5% crude protein) contained 15% white fish meal. The low protein (LP) diet (10·5% crude protein) contained cereal protein only. Nutrient components of the diets differed in protein only. The pattern treatments involved allowances of 1·8 kg (L), 2·7 kg (C) and 3·6 kg (H) per day, the three pregnancy patterns being HL, C and LH with the changeovers made from the 49th to the 63rd day post coitum (p.c). Sows on the three pattern treatments received the same total amount of feed from 0–112 days p.c. and were treated alike at farrowing and during lactation.Fertility and parturition results were similar for all treatments, but the number of piglets alive after birth (when weighed) was least for LP sows on the HL pattern. At 3 weeks of age the size and weight of litters on HP sows were significantly greater than those on LP sows (P < 0·05 and < 0·001 respectively). More piglets were weaned by HP sows than LP sows (P < 0·05). HP sows gained more weight in pregnancy (P < 0·001) which was slightly longer, and lost more weight in lactation (P < 0·05) than LP sows.The HL pattern of feeding was associated with smaller live weight gains in pregnancy than the LH pattern (P < 0·001) and the total birth weight of HL litters was lighter than LH (P < 0·05), mean piglet weights being similar. Lactation performance was unaffected by pattern treatment.The main conclusion is that a low intake, particularly during the latter half of pregnancy, of protein which is of vegetable origin, is associated with decreased viability of the piglets at birth and in early suckling life, and with lower capacity of the sows for milk production.


1954 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. E. Moon

1. Examination of the composition of hay grown in the east of Scotland during the 4-year period 1948–51 has confirmed earlier work indicating the low protein content of this material. In addition, the digestibility of the protein was found to be low, particularly in the case of the seeds-hays, most of which contained insufficient digestible protein to balance the starch equivalent in meeting the maintenance requirements of cattle.2. In nutritive value the seeds -hays were markedly inferior to samples from England and Wales examined by other workers, but very similar to mature ryegrass hay grown in Northern Ireland. The meadow hays examined were of similar starch equivalent but somewhat richer in protein, and this was associated with a higher digestibility of the protein; in consequence the ratio between digestible protein and starch equivalent was more nearly balanced for the maintenance feeding of cattle.3. Applications of sodium nitrate or ‘Nitrochalk’ about 10–20 days before mowing produced very variable responses in the unusually dry season of 1949, but in other years significant increases in protein content were almost invariably obtained. Low protein seeds-hays of the type commonly found in the Lothians were more responsive to this fertilizer treatment than timothy meadow hay, and while increases in protein content of 20–30% were commonly obtained, when relatively heavy dressings of fertilizer (3 cwt. or more per acre) were used, increases in the region of 50% were sometimes recorded. In most years treatment about 10 days before mowing was fully effective in improving the protein content of the hay. Earlier treatment may be preferable in a very dry season, but in more normal years this may increase the yield of the hay and so diminish the effect on protein percentage.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Xu ◽  
Xu Lian ◽  
Ingrid Slette ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract The timing and length of the dry season is a key factor governing ecosystem productivity and the carbon cycle of the tropics. Mounting evidence has suggested a lengthening of the dry season with ongoing climate change. However, this conclusion is largely based on changes in precipitation (P) compared to its long-term average (P ̅) and lacks consideration of the simultaneous changes in ecosystem water demand (measured by potential evapotranspiration, Ep, or actual evapotranspiration, E). Using several long-term (1979-2018) observational datasets, we compared changes in tropical dry season length (DSL) and timing (dry season arrival, DSA, and dry season end, DSE) among three common metrics used to define the dry season: P < P ̅, P < Ep, and P < E. We found that all three definitions show that dry seasons have lengthened in much of the tropics since 1979. Among the three definitions, P < E estimates the largest fraction (49.0%) of tropical land area likely experiencing longer dry seasons, followed by P < Ep (41.4%) and P < P ̅ (34.4%). The largest differences in multi-year mean DSL (> 120 days) among the three definitions occurred in the most arid and the most humid regions of the tropics. All definitions and datasets consistently showed longer dry seasons in southern Amazon (due to delayed DSE) and central Africa (due to both earlier DSA and delayed DSE). However, definitions that account for changing water demand estimated longer DSL extension over those two regions. These results indicate that warming-enhanced evapotranspiration exacerbates dry season lengthening and ecosystem water deficit. Thus, it is necessity to account for the evolving water demand of tropical ecosystems when characterizing changes in seasonal dry periods and ecosystem water deficits in an increasingly warmer and drier climate.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Laris ◽  
Moussa Koné ◽  
Fadiala Dembélé ◽  
Lilian Yang ◽  
Rebecca Jacobs

Abstract. Savanna fires contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. While it is recognized that these fires play an important role in the global methane cycle, there are too few accurate estimates of emissions from West Africa, the continent's most active fire region. Most estimates of methane emissions contain high levels of uncertainty because they are based on generalizations of diverse landscapes that are burned by complex fire regimes. To improve estimates we used an approach grounded in the burning practices of people who set fires to working landscapes. We conducted 97 experimental fires collecting data for savanna type, grass type, biomass composition and amount consumed, scorch height, speed of fire front, fire type and ambient air conditions for two sites in Mali. We collected smoke samples for 36 fires using a canister method. We report values for fire intensity, combustion completeness, patchiness, modified combustion efficiency (MCE) and emission factor (EF). Our study finds that methane EFs ranged from 3.71 g/kg in the early dry season (EDS) to 2.86 in the mid-dry season (MDS). We found head fires had nearly double the CH4 EF of backfires (4.89 g/kg to 2.92). Fires during the MDS have the lowest intensity values and the lowest methane emissions 0.981 g/m2 compared with 1.030 g/m2 for EDS and 1.102 g/m2 for the late dry season (LDS). We conclude that policies aimed at shifting the burning regime earlier to reduce methane emissions will not have the desired effects, especially if fire type is not considered. We recommend using the adjusted mean value of 0.862 g/m2—based on the carbon content for West African grasses—for calculating emissions for West African savannas.


1955 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
P. Schoorl

The Friesian cow in Indonesia gives about 1, 500 1. milk in about 240 days compared with 3, 800 1. in 300 days in the Netherlands. The author believes that the main reason for the low production in the tropics is not climate, but faulty feeding practices. A cow fed a typical Indonesian ration of reedy grass and fibrous concentrates gave 1, 003 1. milk in the first no days of her first lactation, but increased to 1, 870 1. in the first 102 days of her second lactation when given a diet containing much less crude fibre, in spite of the fact that the former lactation was in the wet and the latter in the dry season. G.F.S. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)


Author(s):  
Paulo Artaxo

Tropical forests, with their high biological activity, have the potential to emit large amounts of trace gases and aerosol particles to the atmosphere. The accelerated development and land clearing that is occurring in large areas of the Amazon basin suggest that anthropogenic effects on natural biogeochemical cycles are already occurring (Gash et al. 1996). The atmosphere plays a key role in this process. The tropics are the part of the globe with the most rapidly growing population, the most dramatic industrial expansion and the most rapid and pervasive change in land use and land cover. Also the tropics contain the largest standing stocks of terrestrial vegetation and have the highest rates of photosynthesis and respiration. It is likely that changes in tropical land use will have a profound impact on the global atmosphere (Andreae 1998, Andreae and Crutzen 1997). A significant fraction of nutrients are transported or dislocated through the atmosphere in the form of trace gases, aerosol particles, and rainwater (Keller et al. 1991). Also the global effects of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other trace gases have in the forest ecosystems a key partner. The large emissions of isoprene, terpenes, and many other volatile organic compounds could impact carbon cycling and the production of secondary aerosol particles over the Amazon region. Vegetation is a natural source of many types of aerosol particles that play an important role in the radiation budget over large areas (Artaxo et al. 1998). There are 5 major reservoirs in the Earth system: atmosphere, biosphere (vegetation, animals), soils, hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, rivers, groundwater), and the lithosphere (Earth crust). Elemental cycles of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and other elements interact with the different reservoirs of the Earth system. The carbon cycle has important aspects in tropical forests due to the large amount of carbon stored in the tropical forests and the high rate of tropical deforestation (Jacob 1999). In Amazonia there are two very different atmospheric conditions: the wet season (mostly from November to June) and the dry season (July-October) (see Marengo and Nobre, this volume). Biomass burning emissions dominate completely the atmospheric concentrations over large areas of the Amazon basin during the dry season (Artaxo et al. 1988).


Author(s):  
B Manyuchi ◽  
S Ncube ◽  
T Smith

Dry season feed for ruminants is characterised by a shortage of energy and protein. Technology for improving the utilization of crop residues may not be available because of shortages of money or inputs. Chemical treatment, supplementation and handling of stovers available in Zimbabwe has been studied.Lambs were allocated to treatment by blocking according to live weight and then randomizing within blacks. Three weeks acclimatisation was followed by intake measurement over 7 days and digestibility over 5 days.


Author(s):  
B. Manyuchi ◽  
T. Smith

Cattle not fed a supplement on dry season grazing lose weight. The magnitude of this loss and the extent of recovery during the subsequent wet season were measured in Mashona steers.Mashona steers aged 8 and 20 months at the outset (groups A and B respectively) were used. Within each group (n = 50) steers were fed cottonseed meal (CSM, 250g per 100kg live-weight) or not fed CSM during the dry season.


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