Challenges of the forage crops in northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract Inadequate quality and quantity of animal feed are major factors influencing livestock production in Ethiopia. The primary feed sources (crop residue and natural pasture) were insufficient to meet even the annual maintenance requirement for livestock feed. To address this disparity, the production of cultivated forage is essential. Identifying the constraints and opportunities for improved forage production is critical for developing forage crops and intervention options for forage and livestock production. However, due to various constraints, the production and utilization of forage crops for animal feed are low in Ethiopia's highlands. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the types, strategies, and constraints of forage crop production in three agroecologies (high, mid, and lowland agroecologies) of the east Gojjam zone. Two districts were chosen at random from all agroecologies. A total of 12 peasant associations from six districts (two from each district) were chosen using a simple random sampling system. A total of 360 respondents were taken from all agroecologies using a simple random sampling system. The data was collected through focus group discussions and individual interviews, and it was analyzed using SPSS. According to the findings, only 51% of respondents developed forage crops, due mainly to factors such as land scarcity (60.4%), a lack of awareness (24.0%), a lack of seed (14.6%), a lack of water (8.3%), and a fear of farmers birds setting on forage (3.1%). Chamaecytisus palmensis (tree lucerne) was the only forage in the highland agroecologies, whereas Sesbania sesban was the dominant species in the midland agroecologies. The dominant improved forage development strategy in all agroecologies was backyard, which did not compete with food crop production.