Napier Grass Feed Resource: Production, Constraints and Implications for Smallholder Farmers in Eastern and Central Africa
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NAPIER GRASS FEED RESOURCE: © The Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) PRODUCTION, CONSTRAINTS AND All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be reproduced for non- IMPLICATIONS FOR SMALLHOLDER commercial purpose provided the Eastern African Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and FARMERS IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL Central Africa (ASARECA) are acknowledged. AFRICA Correct citation: Kabirizi, J.; Muyekho, F.; Mulaa, M; Msangi, R.; Pallangyo, B.; Kawube, G.; Zziwa, E.; Mugerwa, S.; Ajanga,S.; Lukwago, G.; Wamalwa N.I. E; Kariuki, I.; Mwesigwa, R.; Nannyeenya-Ntege, W.; Atuhairwe, A.; Awalla, J.; Namazzi, C.; Nampijja, Z. 2015. Napier grass feed resource: production, constraints and implications for smallholder farmers in Eastern and Central Africa. ISBN: 978-9970-9269-1-6 ISBN: 978-9970-9269-1-6 9 7 8 9 9 7 0 9 2 6 9 1 6 i © The Eastern African Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purpose provided the Eastern African Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) are acknowledged. Correct citation: Kabirizi, J.; Muyekho, F.; Mulaa, M; Msangi, R.; Pallangyo, B.; Kawube, G.; Zziwa, E.; Mugerwa, S.; Ajanga,S.; Lukwago, G.; Wamalwa N.I. E; Kariuki, I.; Mwesigwa, R.; Nannyeenya- Ntege, W.; Atuhairwe, A.; Awalla, J.; Namazzi, C.; Nampijja, Z. 2015. Napier grass feed resource: production, constraints and implications for smallholder farmers in Eastern and Central Africa. ISBN: 978-9970-9269-1-6 ii Preface Milk is an important part of the diets of people in Eastern and Central Africa (ECA) and makes a major contribution to national food security, income generation and rural development. Smallholders produce the vast majority of milk in ECA. Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) constitutes 40-80 percent of forages used by smallholder dairy farmers. The productivity of Napier grass in the region is currently threatened by stunt and smut diseases causing yield reduction of over 40 percentage. Responding to Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) Thematic Area 4: fodder and pasture research along the dairy value chain, the regional project “Enhancing adoption of Napier grass and alternative fodder grasses resistant/tolerant to stunt and smut diseases for increased feed availability in smallholder systems in Eastern and Central Africa region” generated and disseminated technologies and innovations for managing Napier stunt and smut disease in the ECA. The project improved capacity of stakeholders to utilize technologies for managing smut and stunt diseases through awareness creation and encouraged information sharing to enhance the adoption of high yielding alternative forages and tolerant Napier grass accessions in the region to alleviate feed shortages, improve milk yield and household income. The grasses tolerant to stunt and smut diseases produced higher dry matter yields and were integrated into the cropping systems. Adoption of genetically diverse, high yielding and climatically adapted fodder plants will improve the performance of the dairy sector, alleviate the current shortages and environmental crises associated with forage diseases, pests and climate change and create employment opportunities. This will contribute to food and nutritional security, social and gender protection, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. The lessons learned are particularly valuable for dairy farmers, students, development parteners, policy makers developing national and regional dairy strategies and for those planning national food security and human development programmes. This book is one of numerous outputs of a collaborative project between the Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (EAAPP), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Easterns and Central Africa (ASARECA), National Agricultural Research Organization (Uganda); National Livestock Resources Research Institute (Uganda); National Crops Resources Research Institute (Uganda); Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kenya); International Livestock Research Institute (Kenya); International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE- Kenya); International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT-Kenya); Rwebitaba Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Uganda); Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA - ILRI) Hub (Kenya); Alupe Research Station (Kenya); Department of Biological Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Cooperatives, Dar es Salaam (Tanzania); Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (Kenya); Makerere University (Uganda) and Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (Tanzania). I acknowledge financial and technical support from the World Bank and ASARECA; Special thanks to the regional project research team for contributing to the project outputs. Dr. Tobias Onyango Coordinator, Regional Dairy Centre of Excellence, Naivasha, Kenya July 2015 iii Table of Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Abbreviations/Acronyms ...................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: Smallholder dairy industry in Eastern and Central Africa (ECA) 1.1 Smallholder Agriculture in Eastern and Central Africa: Trends, Constraints and Opportunities ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Smallholder dairy production in ECA ..................................................................................... 1 1.3 Major constraints to smallholder dairy production in ECA ................................................. 3 CHAPTER 2: Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP) 2.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 The Regional Dairy Centre of Excellence (RDCoE) overview .............................................. 9 2.3 Thematic areas of the RDCoE ................................................................................................... 14 2.4. RDCoE approved projects ......................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 3: Napier grass: challenges, establishment, management and utilization 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2. The role of Napier grass in smallholder dairy farming systems ......................................... 12 3.3 Establishment, management and utilization of Napier grass .............................................. 13 3.4 Challenges to production of Napier grass .............................................................................. 18 3.5 Napier grass head smut ............................................................................................................. 19 3.6 Napier grass stunt disease ......................................................................................................... 19 3.7 Efforts to improve Napier grass productivity in ECA .......................................................... 20 CHAPTER 4: Status of Napier grass stunt diseases in the East African region 4.1 Status, Napier stunt and smut disease and farmers management practices in Uganda .................................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Napier Stunt Disease in Uganda: farmer perception and effect on fodder yield ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.3 Status, Napier stunt and smut disease and farmers management practices in Western and Central Kenya ................................................................................. 33 4.4 Status of Napier grass stunt diseases in southern highland zones of Tanzania and management strategy ................................................................................... 42 4.5 Status of Napier stunt disease in Rwanda .............................................................................. 47 iv CHAPTER 5: Napier grass resource evaluation 5.1 Evaluation of Napier grass (Pennisetum Purpureum) accessions for dry matter yield, nutritive quality and tolerance to Napier stunt disease in Uganda ............................................................................................................. 54 5.2 Epiphytology of Napier head smut disease and progress in the search for tolerant cultivars ....................................................................................................... 62 5.3 Evaluation of Napier stunt and smut tolerant napier grass clones and alternative fodder grasses for forage yield in Kenya ..................................................... 75 5.4 Screening Napier accessions for resistance/tolerance to NSD using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification of DNA (LAMP) ................................. 78 CHAPTER 6: Epidemiology of Napier stunt disease in Eastern and Central African region