In Cambodia, 85 percent of the total population is dependent on
agricultural activities. Most of their annual income comes from
agriculture mainly rice cultivation and livestock farming. A survey
conducted with 230 families in Pursat, one of the Northwest
provinces of Cambodia, showed that a family owned an average of 2.9
± 0.14 cattle, 0.87 ± 0.106 pigs and 7.3 ± 0.72
adult chickens (Khieu Borin, 2007). Devendra and Thomas (2002)
reported that livestock make significant contributions to food
security and income generation of people in the developing world.
It contributes up to 20% of the agricultural GDP in the Southeast
Asian sub-region, which includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In order
to maintain these important contributions, livestock have to be
adequately fed, well managed, and properly cared for. An important
aspect in terms of sustainable integrated farming systems practiced
by rural smallholders is the utilization of crop wastes and
by-products for which ruminant animals are the appropriate species
(Chantalakhana, 2001), although these agricultural products and
byproducts are low in essential nutrients for ruminants and are
susceptible to seasonal inadequacy.
In order to improve the productivity of farm animals at small-holder level, there is a need to look at ways for extending the availability and quality of the available local feed resources as suggested by Preston and Sansoucy (1987). Numerous studies have been made to improve the utilization of rice straw for cattle such as treatment with ammonia, supplementation with urea-molasses blocks, and with green forages. These have been evaluated on-station and on-farm to access their potential to enhance productivity of ruminants. As a result of their use, income of the farmers has been shown to increase substantially.
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a poor farmer crop, which
is grown in many regions of Cambodia. The main purpose is the root
production that is for human consumption and nowadays it is
extensively used for processing to starch in factories in Cambodia.
Cassava leaves are a valuable feed resource for livestock due to
their high protein content and they are available after root
harvest, or they can be harvested form cassava managed as a
perennial crop. Khieu Borin and Frankow-Lindberg (2006) reported
that the total forage yield of cassava was 18-23 tonnes per ha per
year when fertilized with 350 kg nitrogen per ha per year of
effluents from biodigesters loaded with cow and pig manures. The
opportunity to collect leaves after root harvest could solve one of
the farmers' problems of feed shortages particularly in the dry
season, and at the same time improve feed quality. During the
harvest of cassava roots, more leaves are available than the
immediate needs of their animals. Several methods of preservation
have been developed, either ensiling or drying, with the advantage
that these processes decrease the content of cyanogenic glucosides,
making it safer to feed the foliage to animals. Cassava foliage and
cassava hay have been fed to ruminants with good results both for
beef and for dairy cattle (Ffoulkes and Preston, 1978; Devendra,
1977; Wanapat et al., 1997). However, the use of cassava hay as a
supplementation for cattle under Cambodia conditions has not been
documented.
To study effect of levels of sun dried cassava foliage on
growth performance of cattle fed rice straw
To conduct a survey on assessment of feed utilization for
cattle production in Takeo province