Off-farm fodder sources in agroforestry (trees and grasses)

Off-farm fodder sources in agroforestry

As a point of reference, this paper will consider a cultivated or improved pasture of such grasses as Pennisetum purpureum, Panicum maximum and the like as the on-famm source of forage. In the main, this is the type of pasture the colleges of agriculture and the Department of Agriculture's animal breeding centers have or strive to have. These pastures provide a sustained supply of herbage to a large number of productive animals This is the technology brought home from advanced countries where most of the Philippines' animal scientists and pasture agronomists were trained.

About 80 percent of Cattle and goats (99 percent for carabaos) are raised by small-holder farmers. In general, these farmers do not establish pasture. They raised cattle or goats because forage is available - from unused subdivision lots, wasteland, roadside, embankments, paddy bunds, etc., in the form of native grasses and trees, sometimes.

Fodder trees

The use of trees and shrubs as feeds is probably as old as the domestication of animals Through experience, the backyard farmers have determined the tree fodder, useful for their livestock. A tree species maybe used as herbage in some places but not in others. For example, mamalis (Pitiosporum pentandrum) leaves are used by farmers as animal feeds in Cebu and Bohol but not in Bicol. Bometimes, the farmer may not be aware of fodder trees but the animal would pick at them along the way as it is led to wallow or work field; or as it chanced upon the trees or shrubs as in the case of grazing animal. In many places in the Philippines, it is the practice of farmers to give grasses only as green chops to their animals except when ipi-ipil is available. The use of Leucaena in forage feeding (kumpay) is now widespread so that this species will not be considered as an off-famm tree fodder in this paper.

Research on forage production from trees and shrubs is very meager compared with the massive research efforts on pasture grasses. The subject matter falls between traditional purviews of animal scientists and foresters and thus accorded limited attention by either. When large pastures are established, usually trees and shrubs are first cleared away. But the use of these plants as fodder source is very appropriate for the livestock production system in the Philippines and they deserve extensive testing of their productivity and utilization. Some trees and bushes such as Desmanthus species are reportedly free of toxic materials unlike Leucaena Desmodium species are accordingly so palatable and nutritious that they are termed "alfalfas of the tropics"; Avicennia leaves, especially A. marina, have been reported as more nutritious than the queen of forages - alfalfa.

Table 14 enumerates some trees and shrubs that have been reported to be used as forage. Only very few of them, however, have been studied for productivity, chemical composition and utilization. Table 15 shows some nutrient components of a number of fodder trees.

Although most of the trees are legumes, there are species from other families that are promising such as Moringa and Morus of Moraceae family. It can be seen in Table 15 that fodder trees can supply the protein need of numinants. Napier grass in dry season has only about 7 percent crude protein at 60 days old (Castillo and Gerpacio, 1976). Most of these trees are luxuriant even at the height of summer when grasses are dying and can, thus, provide the feed at this crucial period.

Table 14. Selected forage trees and shrubs.

Scientific name	Common name	Family
Mangifera indica	Mangga	Anacardiaceae
Avicennia sp.	Api-api	Avicenniaceae
Cordia dichotoma (Boraginaceae	Anonang	Ehretiaceae
Albizia lebbek	Langil	Leguminosae (Mimosoideae)
Albizia lebbekoides	Malaghani	-do-
Albizia saman	Acacia, raintree	-do-
Calliandra calothyrsus	Calliandra	-do-
Desmanthus vergatus	Desmanthus	-do-
Pithecellobium dulce	Kamachile	-do-
Prosopis sp.	Prosopis	-do-
Cajanus cajan	Kadios	Leguminosas (Papilionoideae)
Derris indica		-do-
Desmodium gyroides	Karikut-rikut	-do-
Erythrina orientalis	Dapdap	-do-
Flemingia macrophylla	Malabalatong	-do-
Gliricidia sepium	Madre de cacao	-do-
Sesbania grandiflora	Katuray	-do-
Sesbania sesban	Sesban	-do-
Bauhinia monandra	Alibangbang	Leguminosae (Caesalpinoideae)
Baubinia variegata	Alibangbang	-do-
Cassia siamea	Thai shower	-do-
Cassia spectabilis	Antsoan-dilao	-do-
Cassia sturtii		-do-
Piliostigma malabaricum	Alibangbang	-do-
Tamarindus indica	Sampaloc	-do-
Hibiscus tiliaceus	Balibago	Malvaceae
Hibiscus rosa -	Gumamela	-do-
sinensis
Azadirachta	Neem	Miliaceae
indica
Melia azedarach	Paraiso	-do-
Antocarpus	Nangka	Moraceae
heterophyllus
Morus alba	Mulberry	-do-
Ficus sp.	Fig, balete	-do-
Moringa oleifera	Malunggay	-do-
Cocos nucifera	Coconut	Palmae
Pittosporum pentandrum	Mamalis	Pittosporaceae
Sonneratia alba	Pagatpat	Sonneratiaceae
Theobroma cacao	Cacao	Sterculiaceae
Guazuma ulmifolia	Guazuma	-do-
Kleinhovia hospita	Tan-ag	-do-
Trama orientalis	Anabiong	Ulmaceae

Table 16. Chemical composition of some fodder trees percent

Species	Crude protein	Crude fiber	Ca	P
Albizia samar	20.69	20.33	1 20	0.14
Albizia falcata	17.42	13.33	1.43	0.23
Cajanus cejan	22.49	21.71	1.26	0.37
Ceiba pentandra	7.69	15.67	3.80	0.24
Delonix regia	15.21	8.10	2.65	0.24
Gliricidia sepium	17.11	10.96	-	-
Morus sp.	18.20	13.54	-	-
Sesbania sesbania	25.29	9.29	1.80	0.43
Tamarindus indica	13.32	21.97	2.54	0.23
Leucaena leucocephala	24.59	11.16	1.98	0 27

Source: Castillo L.S. (1986)

Abiria saman	24.12	36.84	0.92	0.22
Bauhinia monandra	15.15	41.70	2.36	0.17
Erythrina orientalis	23.67	31.50.	1.45	0.23
Gliricidia sepium	22.98	24.43	2.04	0.28
Moringa olefeira	22.89	28.83	2.01	0.28
Pithecellobium dulce	24.16	29.72	1.59	0.27
Tamarindus indica	18.38	28.36	1.20	0.2 1

Source: Calub B.M. (1990)

Albizia lebbek	18.94	29.54	2.71	0.18
Bauhinia variegata	15.81	27.04	1.76	0.22
Moras alba	16.64	14.38	3.62	0.23
Leucaena leucocephala	15.22	15.02	2.99	0.19

Source: Samuel, C. (1990)

Off-farm grasses

The main source of forage of the subsistent livestock farmer is the uncultivated or offfarm grasses which abound in his surrounding. Some of these grasses are promising in palatability and yield but have not been given emphasis in research. For example, barit or sacate (Leersia hexandra) and bungalon (Panicum stegninum) were described by Loosli et. al (1954) as very palatable and imparting unusual stamina to horses, yet they are more known as cropland weeds.

Table 16 presents the chemical composition of some selected Philippine forage grasses.

Table 16. Chemical composition of some selected forage grasses percent

Grasses	Dry matter	Crude protein	Ether extract	Crude fiber	ASH
Aguingay (Rottboellia exaltata)	15.0	1.1	-	5.2	2 5
Alabana-X (Dicanthium aristatum)	36.6	3.1	1.2	12.8	3.0
Bamboo (Bambusa sp.)	42.0	7.6	1.5	12.1	5.2
Barit (Leersia hexandra)	34.2	2.5	0.8	10.6	5.3
Batad-batadan (Sorghum helepense)	19.0	2.4	0.6	6.3	2.6
Bungalon (Panicum stagninum)	19.3	1.3	0.4	6.5	2.3
Cogon (Imperata cylindrica)	23.3	2.3	0.5	7.7	2 0
Damong San Victores (Pennisetum setosum)	24.1	1.4	0.4	9.6	2.5
Kulape (Paspalum conjugatum)	20.5	2.5	0.9	6.2	2.5
Molasses grass (Melnis minutiflora)	17.4	1.2	0.2	7.2	1.7
Pulang-pwet (Echinochloa colona)	8.6	0.8	0.1	3.1	16
Talahib (Saccharum spontaneum)	24.1	1.9	0.5	9.6	2.5
Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)	20.4	1.4	0.5	7.7	2.9
Napier grass (Pennisetu purpureum)	27.5	1.6	2.2	6.8	3 5

References:

Bagayan, R,L. 1991. Mamalis: A Lesser-used Species. Canopy International. 16(5): 2-5.

Calub, B.M. 1990. Evaluation of Local MPTS for Fodder Production. In Research on Multipurpose Tree Species in Asia, Taylor and MacGicken (eds.), 259 p.

Castillo, L S. and A.L. Gerpacio. 1976. Nutrient Composition of Some Philippine Feedstuffs. UPLB Technical Bulletin 21, 114p.

Catibog, C.S. 1978. Wild Plants for Food and Feeds. FORI, DENR. College, Laguna, 170 p.

Dichoso, WL. and R.P. Arcilla. 1991. Ficus: Current and Potential Uses as MTS. Canopy International. 16(6): 4-11.

Hensleigh, T.E. and B.K. Holaway. 1988. Agroforestry Species for the Philippines. AJA Printers (Philippines), 404 p.

Loosli, J.K., V. Villegas and L.A. Ynalves. 1954. The Digestibility of Barit (Leersia hexandra) and Bungalon (Echinochloa stagnina) by Horses and Sheep. Phil. Agri. 38: 73-75.

National Academy of Sciences. 1980. Firewood Crops. Washington, D.C. 237 p.

Nitis, I.M. 1989. Fodder trees and Livestock Production Under Harsh Environment. Asian Livestock 14(10): 116120.

RISE. 1991. Reforestation Species. Vol. 3: Nos. 4,5,6 and 11. ERDB, DENR, College, Laguna, Philippines.

Samuel, C. 1990. Role of Fodder Trees in Livestock Production Under Harsh Environment. Asian Livestock. 15(1): 1 -9.