Better lives through livestock Integrated Forage Production Methods in the Ethiopian Highlands Tesfa Getachew, Liulseged Alemayehu, Meseret Girma, Temesgen Alene, Melkamu Bezabih, Aberra Adie, Kindu Mekonnen and Million Gebreyes 09-13 June 2025 Debre Birhan, Ethiopia 2 Integrated forage production methods • Under-sowing and intercropping • Rotational (Sequential) cropping, Relay cropping • Hedge row intercropping / Alley farming • Backyard forage production • Strip forage planting/establishment • Over-sowing/enrichment planting on grazing areas and enclosure areas • Multipurpose forage production- feed and pest management 3 1. Under-sowing and Inter-cropping Under sowing and intercropping are methods in which two or more crops usually cereals and legumes grown simultaneously in the same field and growing season. Advantages: • No extra land required • Maintain soil fertility and reduced erosion • Produce additional quality forage • Improves feeding value of crop residues • Provide variety of returns • Increases efficiency with which scarce resources are used 4 1. Under-sowing and Inter-cropping Under-sowing • Under-sowing involves the planting of crops (forage legumes) into another crop after the main crop is established Intercropping • Intercropping is a modification of under-sowing, which is useful in areas where row planting is common. The legumes intercropped in two or three rows at the same time as or after the main crop. • The forage species are under-sown with crops such as maize, sorghum, barley, wheat or plantation crops (e.g. coffee). 5 1. Under-sowing and Inter-cropping Important considerations during intercropping and under-sowing: • Selection of species • Easiness for establishment • Compatibility in rate of growth, height, maturity, nutrient and water requirement, tolerance to different climatic conditions such as frost, drought, water logging • Herbage yield and nitrogen fixing ability • Harvesting and utilization • Persistence and reseeding ability for perennial legumes to be continued as permanent pasture 6 Examples • Dolichos, cowpea and vetch under sown in maize, sorghum and millet fields • Clovers and vetch under-sown in wheat and barley • Desmodium under-sown in coffee and other plantations • Oat intercropped in faba bean fields in southern Ethiopia Dolichos under-sown in maize Faba bean/oat intercropping Vetch under-sown in maize 7 2) Sequential (Rotational) Cropping, Relay Cropping • Sequential or rotational cropping is planting different crops in sequence or in rotation one after the other, usually legume crops/forage plants following cereals. • Relay cropping is a sort of sequential cropping but usually the following crop is planted before the preceding crop is harvested or immediately after harvest. Relay cropping is practiced: - During establishment of perennial pastures - In areas with residual moisture. - To control plant pests, weeds and diseases - In areas with poor soil fertility 8 It is an agroforestry practice in which browse trees or shrubs are planted as hedgerows in crop fields or other parts of the cropping areas. Hedge-row practice is integrated in the farming system to: • Control soil erosion and improve soil physico- chemical properties • Use forage biomass for animal feed/mulching- soil management • Improve crop productivity that grow in between the alleys • Enhance sustainable use of the land resources Challenges: • Poor adoption of the practice • Competition for water and nutrients • Free grazing system 3) Hedge-row intercropping or alley Cropping 9 • Soils in backyards are usually fertile, and this supports forage species to be productive. • The practice engages women and youth meaningfully. • It enhances application of a cut and carry system. • Free grazing and browsing is a challenge for forages not to perform well in backyards. 4) Backyard forage production • Backyard forage production is the growing of forages around the residential areas, compounds and along the fence lines. 10 • To maximize efficiency of land utilization the forage crops could be planted or grown • Along the fence lines as hedges (usually forage trees) • They can be intercropped or under sown with existing perennial backyard crops • It is also possible to grow forages on plots in the garden • Backyard forage crops also improve soil fertility, used as shelter and source of fuel wood • Leucaena, Sesbania, Tagasaste, Erythrina, Pigeon pea, Napier grass, Alfalfa, Fodder beet are commonly used backyard forages 4) Backyard forage production 11 5) Forage strip establishment • Forage strips are narrow lines of forage established between arable crops. It has several uses: • They provide forage for cut and carry • They prevent soil erosion • They provide wood for fuel and • shelter belts if tree legumes are used • They improve soil fertility 12 5) Forage strip establishment Types of forage strip establishment: • Forage on bunds and terrace walls. These strips can be either in arable areas or in stock exclusion zones • Forages planted on contour strips without bunds or terraces • A sort of alley farming, this is where tree or shrub legumes are planted in parallel rows in crop growing areas • Forage planted as shelter belts around crop plots 13 6) Forage production in fragile/ degraded sites • They could be planted on sloppy areas to rehabilitate eroded gullies It has several uses: • They provide forage for cut and carry • They prevent soil erosion • They provide wood for fuel and shelter • They improve soil fertility 14 7) Over-sowing on grazing and stock exclusion areas • Over - sowing is the rehabilitation of degraded natural or cultivated grazing land by sowing suitable forage crops to produce forage • Forage crops could also be over-sown on stock exclusion areas, usually for rehabilitation of degraded lands. • The forage will be used as cut and carry or hay. • Different grass and legume forage species could be used for over-sowing • In the highlands: Vetches showed better performance THANK YOU Slide 1: Integrated Forage Production Methods in the Ethiopian Highlands  Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8 Slide 9 Slide 10 Slide 11 Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 14 Slide 15