Complete Feed Production With Integration of Energy Plantations and Community Empowerment

Feed and markets are the two most important things in the world of livestock. Farmers who are able to get safe, nutritious, affordable, adequate and sustainable feed will produce the best quality and quantity. One of the safe categories is not GMO. For more details, you can read it here. It is possible to make these feeds yourself by utilizing the local potential. The expertise to provide feed is of course very important for professional farms. Likewise, broad market access allows the livestock business to be increasingly profitable. The current era of the internet is also very supportive of gaining such broad market access. Social media such as whatsapp groups, telegram, twitter, youtube and so on can be used for this.

To get complete nutrition so that it becomes a complete feed, of course, cannot be obtained from just one source. Malnutrition which results in decreased quality and livestock production will inevitably occur, if the feed nutrition is inadequate. It is possible that the development of an energy plantation or a biomass plantation with leguminoceae plants such as gliricidia and red calliandra is very likely to be integrated with the livestock business. Sheep, goat and cow farms are the best choices for this farming business. It is also hoped that later progress in the renewable energy sector from energy or biomaterial plantations will be in line with the livestock business. While glicidia leaves or calliandra have the main content in the form of protein which can reach 25%, other sources of nutrients such as sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals can be obtained from the environment around the plantation. Communities around the plantation area can be empowered to plant these nutritional complementary crops or take advantage of their various agricultural wastes such as straw, grass and so on. 

The leaves of gliricidia or calliandra as a source of feed are estimated to be a maximum of 30% of the complete feed. With leaf productivity per hectare of around 30 tonnes / wet year or 18 tonnes / dry year. This means that for every 1000 hectares of gliricidia plantation will produce 18,000 tons / year of dry leaves. If a goat / sheep eats 3 kg / day (30% of the total consumption of complete feed), it means that for 1 year 1 sheep / goat consumes about 1 ton of dry leaves or with a volume of 18,000 tons / year means that it can be sufficient for 18,000 sheep / goats for 1 year.

The animal feed innovation must also be carried out so that the conversion of feed to meat product, milk or breed is high, even the feed formulation should be adjusted to the age level of the livestock. Researches to obtain varied feed formulations or recipes, especially those that are adaptive to local potential, are very important. This includes identifying and developing as many feed sources as possible. The more identified feed sources and feed formulations, it is hoped that the livestock business will grow rapidly. Case studies on gliricidia and calliandra leaves have several anti-nutritional substances, so these substances must also be reduced or even completely eliminated so that the feed nutrients are absorbed effectively. Anti-nutritional substances in gliricidia are dicoumerol, HCN (cyanide acid) and nitrates, while red calliandra is an anti-nutritional substance of tannins.