1. BIG IDEAS
Mitigating feed and fodder shortages
through development along the whole
value chain
B
oth a problem and business opportunity: farming systems are unable to
meet the rising demand for feed and fodder due to the demand-driven livestock
revolution.
For example in India, there is a deficit of 24% dry fodder, 33% green fodder and 37%
concentrates and this deficit is further growing owing to the increasing demand for
milk and meat products.
A holistic approach is recommended, developing the whole value chain for
feed and fodder. This will range from breeding for feed/fodder to processing,
storage, policies and market access.
Science with a human face
www.icrisat.org
November 2013

2. Solutions that are science based
The value chain development will include:
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
▪▪
Breeding programs that focus on:
- dual-purpose cultivars with high fodder
quality
- high-tillering, fast growing, multicut forages with high palatability and
digestibility
- water and nitrogen-use efficiency
- disease and pest resistance
- feed resources free from/with low HCN,
lignin, polyphenols, Oxalic acid, Aflatoxin
Best-bet options for quality fodder production
and mechanization of production and
processing
On-farm efficiencies and intensification
Efficient utilization of common property
resources
Fodder warehouses establishment
Advocating subsidizing/custom hiring of the
machinery for fodder processing and better
utilization
Reviewing quality assurance of animal feeds
Encourage and facilitate decentralized small
scale business enterprises around feed and
fodder
Strengthening linkages between various actors
– NARS-Milk Federations, Governments and
NGOs
Background on selected crops,
adaptation and feed value
Sorghum and Pearl Millet
Sorghum and pearl millet are among the important
dual-purpose and forage crops. Sorghum is a
prominent forage crop in India occupying 3 m
ha area out of total 8 m ha forage area in the
country. Therefore there is large private sector
interest in forage seed production and distribution.
High biomass production, high palatability and
digestibility, regeneration ability, drought tolerance
(sorghum and millet need less water than maize
per unit of biomass produced) and adaptability
2
A concept note for
Ensuring nutritional security in rural India
to a range of climatic and soil conditions make
these crops most suitable for increasing the forage
production across the world. Besides, sorghum and
pearl millet are tolerant to salinity and heat. While
the fresh and dry stover have high digestibility, the
sweet sorghum bagasse based feed blocks are found
to be at par with commercial feed blocks terms of
animal intake and productivity.
Chickpea and Pigeonpea
Chickpea is a cool season crop grown on residual soil
moisture and highly responsive to applied inputs.
Its fodder is used as high protein fodder mixed
with cereal straw and is fed to the cattle/goats as a
nutrient-rich supplement augmenting the feed from
the main cereal source. Pigeonpea is an important
grain legume crop of rainfed agriculture. Owing to its
drought tolerance and soil fertility enrichment ability
it finds an important place in sustainable cropping
system. By virtue of fodder quality attributes such
as high nitrogen content and in vitro organic matter
digestibility coupled with higher vegetative growth it
augments excellently to mitigate fodder shortage in
semi-arid tropics.
Groundnut
Cultivated in more than 100 countries groundnut is
one of the major dual-purpose crops grown for its
haulms as well as for pods in dry tropics. The haulms
are rich in protein with high in vitro organic matter
digestibility. This makes groundnut a preferred dual
purpose crop. Further there is a high diversity for
traits related to its haulm quality as fodder and with
little or no trade-offs between pod yield and haulm
yield. Groundnut de-oiled cake (after extraction of
oil) is a prized concentrate feed for all classes of
livestock. Its low fiber and high protein contents
make it an even more valuable ingredient for poultry
rations.
Involvement
Invest in the feed and fodder value chain.
Contact
A Ashok Kumar, Senior Scientist (Sorghum Breeding),
E-mail: A.AshokKumar@cgiar.org