Availability of cassava residues and by-products for goat production in cassava based farming system

Abstract

A study was carried out to investigate into the availability of cassava residues and by products and the utilization of the residues for goat production in Odeda local government area of Ogun state. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire coupled with occasional farm visits and personal interviews, from the farmers involved in the production of goats and cassava. Results showed that cassava is a major crop in the area and the cultivation of different cassava varieties is common. Cassava leaves, peels and sieviate were the common residues and by-products available and most farmers used these residues to feed their goats. The response of goats to cassava residues based diets was investigated using sixteen (16) West African dwarf goats, aged 4 to 6 months with average body weight of 6.5kg in a completely randomized design. The four treatments used namely (diets A to D) contained varying levels of cassava leaves, peels and sieviate and were repli performance increased (P < 0.05) with increasing level of cassava leaves in the diets. Weight gain of goats ranged from 30.02 to 37.85g/day across the dietary treatments. In conclusion, cassava residues are readily available in the study area and the response of goats fed diet C consisting 50% cassava leaves, 30% cassava peels and 20% cassava sieviate produced the best performance in terms of feed intake, digestibility and weight gain. This can therefore be recommended as best combination strategy in making use of cassava residues in goat feeding in Nigeria.