It takes approximately 500 shrubs of calliandra calothyrsus ( Kalibwambuzi in Swahili) to feed a cow for a year. For 3 kg of calliandra and 1 kg of dairy meal, a farmers can get an extra two litres of milk for his/her cow. With the plant maturing in approximately 12 months, calliadra can be pruned and fed to livestock for up to 20 years. The shrubs can be grown in hedges around the farm perimeter or along the contour ridges to reduce erosion. The major advantage of this fodder shrub is that farmers do not have to stop growing other crops to make room for them.It is best to prune the shrubs to a height of about one metre to avoid shading nearby food crops. With lack of inexpensive high protein animal feed, grazing land in short supply, and because of periodic drought, raising animals in Kenya is a risky business that can easily defeat the most skillful farmer. Fodder shrubs such as calliandra (milk shrub) could be the solution to these plagues. Produce more milk Fodde...
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