Cattle Feed

This article was sent to me:

Studies have shown that the nutrients in water hyacinth are available to ruminants. In Southeast Asia some nonruminant animals are fed rations containing water hyacinth. In China pig farmers boil chopped water hyacinth with vegetable waste, rice bran, copra cake and salt to make a suitable feed. In Malaysia fresh water hyacinth is cooked with rice bran and fishmeal and mixed with copra meal as feed for pigs, ducks and pond fish. Similar practices are much used in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand (National Academy of Sciences, 1976). The high water and mineral content mean that it is not suited to all animals.

The use of water hyacinth for animal feed in developing countries could help solve some of the nutritional problems that exist in these countries. Animal feed is often in short supply and although humans cannot eat water hyacinth directly, [although it can be cooked and eaten - ed] they can feed it to cattle and other animals which can convert the nutrient into useful food products for human consumption.

Feed the Cattle

I was reading a back issue of the Standard the other day, where it was describing how cattle in the Isiolo region were dying because there was no cattle feed.

Regular readers know that Baba Mzungu, with Kenyan community Initiative Support has met up with Salim Shaban of the African Christian Organnization Network, who are researching ways of using harvested water hyacinth taken from Lake Victoria at Kisumu.

I have also read that water hyacinth is fine as cattle feed, so I put the two together and wondered why the weed was not transported to areas where cattle are suffering due to lack of grazing or silage.

If the KWS can transport 1,000 zebra half-way across the country to feed starving lions, I am sure that someone, somewhere can shift a few tons of dried water hyacinth from Kisumu to Isiolo or other areas where it is needed.

Well, can't they?