Optimizing Food and Feed in Maize–Livestock Systems in Northern Ghana: The Effect of Maize Leaf Stripping on Grain Yield and Leaf Fodder Quality

Nurudeen Abdul Rahman,Kassim Wachiebine Sulleyman,Weseh Addah,Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon,Fred Kizito,Joshua Kubasari Adda,Asamoah Larbi

doi:10.3390/agriculture12020275

Abstract

Access to feed for livestock during the cropping season is a constraint to the smallholder crop–livestock farming system in northern Ghana due to backyard farming. A two-year (2017–2018) study was conducted to determine the effect of leaf stripping on yield and feed quality in maize–livestock farming systems in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions of Ghana. A factorial treatment combination of three maize-maturity types (extra-early: Abontem, early: Omankwa, and medium: Obatanpa) and three leaf stripping methods (control, leaf stripping at 50% tasseling, and leaf stripping at 50% silking of maize) were laid out in a strip-plot design with four replications per region. Stripped leaf biomass, grain yield, stover, cob size, and nutritional quality of stripped maize leaf were measured. The stripped leaf biomass, stover, and cob width of Obatanpa increased significantly relative to the other maize types in the Northern and the Upper West regions. Abontem recorded a higher (p < 0.01) grain yield than that of the other maize types in the Upper East Region. Leaf stripping had no significant effect on the grain yield and the crude protein (CP) content of maize leaf. The CP of the maize leaf (93–100 g/kg) was above the minimum CP requirement of a quality feed for body weight maintenance of ruminants. This suggests that smallholder maize–livestock farmers could strip maize leaves at either tasseling or silking to feed their livestock during the cropping season in northern Ghana and similar agro-ecological zones in West Africa.

Highlights

Mixed farming systems which involve the integration of crops and livestock are common in rain-fed agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa and these systems provide food, income, draft power, transportation, and employment for millions of poor subsistence farmers in the region [1,2]
Leaf stripping and the maize maturity type had no significant effect on metabolizable energy (ME), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), and crude protein (CP) (Figure 4)
Maize maturity type showed a significant response to stripped leaf biomass, cob width, grain, and stover yields

Summary

Introduction

Mixed farming systems which involve the integration of crops and livestock are common in rain-fed agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa and these systems provide food, income, draft power, transportation, and employment for millions of poor subsistence farmers in the region [1,2]. In West Africa, pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.], sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)], and maize (Zea mays L.) are the principal cereals, whereas sheep, goats, and cattle are the dominant livestock in the crop–livestock system [1]. Among these principal cereals, maize has replaced traditional cereals (sorghum and millet) as a major staple even in the dry regions of West Africa due to the availability of earlymaturing, stress-tolerant varieties; the higher yield potential of maize under improved management practices; and its ability to fit into different farming systems compared with sorghum and millet [3,4]. This yield gap is caused by several biotic and abiotic factors, and key among them is an increase in erratic rainfall patterns caused by climate change [11,12]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion