ILRI program outline: Feed and Forage
Development
Chris Jones
ILRI Institute Planning Meeting
4-7 October 2016

Program Strategy and Objectives
• To secure greater benefits from ASF production for
producers and consumers by:
• Reducing feed costs and;
• Providing improved feeds, forages and feeding
strategies

Thematic Areas of Research
• Feed resourcing and feeding as the interface between
the positive and negative effects from livestock
production
• Building and leveraging private sector research
capabilities for the benefit of small holder producers
• Developing feed supply-demand scenarios that take NR
needs into account
• Building small and medium enterprise opportunities
around feed production, transaction and processing

Structure and Teams
• Feeds and feeding strategies
• Conservation and use of forage diversity
• Making better use of genetic variability in feeds and
forages

Contribution to CRPs
• Livestock AFS: Feed and Forages Flagship
• CoA 1: Diagnosis of feed constraints and opportunities, and,
development of decision-support tools for prioritizing and
targeting feed and forage interventions
• CoA 2: Development of new feed and forage options
• Understanding genetic diversity; Forage and Full purpose crop
improvement
• CoA 3: Using existing feed resources better
• Gender & Youth (post doc)

Contribution to CRPs
• Genebank Platform
• Conservation Module: supporting and improving essential
genebank operations
• Use Module: empowering effective use of plant genetic
resources
• Policy Module: engaging in genetic resources policy
development and compliance
• Data management: a cross-cutting issue required in all modules

Contribution to CRPs
• Excellence in Breeding Platform.
• Enhancing the efficiency of breeding by creating “communities
of practice” and sharing best practices in areas of high priority
and common interest
• Developing and sharing new technologies that will increase the
efficiency, effectiveness and speed of breeding within
individual crop breeding programs
• Big Data

Cross Program Linkages and Opportunities
• BecA-ILRI hub
• Climate smart forages
• ABCFs
• Nutrition Lab
• Animal Genetics
• Common techniques, technologies and tools
• Policy, Value Chains and Livelihoods
• Gender post doc
• Sustainable Livestock Systems
• Adaptability and sustainability

Research in the Regions
• Africa (esp. Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi,
Tanzania and Ghana)
• Asia (esp. Vietnam and China)
• Joint Laboratory on Livestock and Forage Genetic Resources
(JLLFGR), China.
• South America (esp. Mexico and Brazil)

Broad (and loose) Theory of Change
Researchers, private sector and development practitioners
follow a structured interactive process in feed interventions
and are equipped with, and trained to use, a range of tools
to:
• Generate dynamic feed demand - supply scenarios for
livestock;
• Make better use of available feed resources and;
• Increase the quantity and quality of feed and forage
biomass

Impact Pathway (and what this means for
CapDev and CKM)
• Researchers and farmers are using diverse forage
germplasm, which is accessible and available from a
global collection
• Researchers and development agents are using a
comprehensive knowledge base on forage diversity for
selection and development.
• Training courses and graduate students
• Peer reviewed publications

Impact Pathway (and what this means for
CapDev and CKM)
• Impact and selection criteria established for
characterization, evaluation and dissemination
pathways of improved forage genetic resources
• Open access genomic tools of strategic forage genera
available to benefit the global tropical forage breeding
community and accelerate genetic gain
• Core populations of target genera established and
phenotyped, in partnership, in multi-location trials
across environments and management practices
• PhD and masters students
• Peer reviewed publications

Impact Pathway (and what this means for
CapDev and CKM)
• Full purpose crop concept adopted and implemented
• Researchers are equipped with, and trained to use, a
range of tools to generate dynamic feed demand -
supply scenarios
• Farmers make better use of available feed resources and
increase quantity and quality of feed biomass
• PhD and masters students; training courses and tool
development (FEAST, TechFit, FEEDBASE and Legume
Choice)
• Major events and nutrition briefs

Support Services Needed
• Finance
• Housing and conferencing
• ICT
• OCS
• POD
• Supply chain
• Security
• Engineering
• CAPDEV
• RMG
• CKM
• Farm/Kapiti
• EOHS (compliance)
• Business Development
• Legal and IP

Exciting New Science - Ammonia Fiber
Expansion (AFEX™)
• Leveraging spin-off technologies from 2nd generation
biofuels for deconstructing ligno-cellulosic biomass
• Potential game changer technology
• Ongoing pilot studies on rice straw, wheat straw, maize
stover, sorghum stover and pearl millet stover
(ILRI and Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI))

3 7 4 0 4 3 4 6 4 9 5 2 5 5 5 8 6 1 6 4 6 7 7 0 7 3
2 .7 5
3 .0 0
3 .2 5
3 .5 0
3 .7 5
4 .0 0
4 .2 5
B e s t (n = 8 1 )
G o o d (n = 2 6 0 )
M e d iu m /lo w
(n = 2 7 3 )
In v itro d igestibility o f rice straw (% )
PriceofricestrawatKolkatatradersfrom
2008-2009(IndianRupees/kg)
A v e ra g e ric e s tra w d ig e s tib ility (IV O M D ) a fte r A F E X tre a tm e n t
c o m p a re d to th e IV O M D o f d iffe re n t ric e s tra w s tra d e d
in ra in fe d In d ia in 2 0 0 8 to 2 0 0 9
A v e ra g e IV O M D o f ric e
s tra w a fte r A F E X tre a tm e n t
Enhanced rice straw digestibility
Blümmel, M., Steele, B. and Dale, B.E. 2015. Opportunities from second-generation biofuel technologies for upgrading
lignocellulosic biomass for livestock feed. CAB Reviews 9 (041)

Exciting New Science - Genetic Diversity of
Napier Grass
• Our gene bank holds a
diverse set of Napier grass
genotypes
• Opportunities from
genomics to fast-forward
Napier breeding initiatives
• G x E x M studies to select
better adapted varieties
• Molecular breeding will
enhance selection efficiency.
• Gene identification and
discovery

Exciting New Resource Mobilisation
Opportunities
• Forages into use
• Build an enabling environment for forage adoption
• Promote tools and practices for targeting forage options
• Enhance forage establishment, management and use capacity
• Provide sustainable forage germplasm supply system
• Strengthening forage and forage seed systems to make
livestock production more productive and sustainable

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
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