Sustainable Agriculture Extension Manual

Leucaena tea as a feed supplement

Leucaena leaves can be used to prepare a "tea" mixture which can be used as a daily feed supplement for cattle, or as a treatment to strengthen weak animals. This practice has been used for 5 years by the Baraka Farm in Molo, Kenya with mature cattle (not calves), but could probably also be used with goats and sheep. The tea mixture is especially effective for weak or sick animals.

Because leucaena leaves contain mimosine (a substance that can be toxic in large doses), the animal should not be given too much of the tea, or it can become ill.

Advantages

  • The animals benefit faster from the nutrients in the leucaena than if they eat the leaves.
  • The tea can be used as a daily supplement to improve the nutrition of ruminants.

Disadvantages

  • This practice has not been systematically tested and assessed. Further research needs to be done.

Requirements

  • Leucaena leaves (about 30 kg of green material).
  • Large drum (eg, a 44-gallon drum).
  • Sack made of porous material such as sisal (eg, a fertilizer bag).
  • Pole, rope
  • Plastic sheet to cover the drum.

Procedure

1. Chop 30 kg of leucaena leaves into small pieces.

2. Put the chopped material in the sack.

3. Fill the drum three-quarters full of water (about 120 litres, or 33 gallons).

4. Tie the sack of leucaena leaves to the pole, and suspend it in the drum. Cover the drum with a plastic sheet and tie it tightly to prevent nitrogen from escaping.

5. Leave the sack in the water for 14 days to ferment. Stir it every 3 days.

6. After 14 days, remove the sack from the water. The tea should be used within 5 days of removing the sack.

7. Dilute the tea with two parts of water for each part of tea.

8. For a mature cow (350-450 kg), give no more than 2 litres of diluted tea per day. Offer the diluted tea to the animal to drink. If it will not drink, put the liquid in a bottle and force the animal to swallow it.

 

Do's

  • As a feed supplement, give the tea to the animal every day. As a supportive treatment, give the tea to a sick animal each day for 3 days.

Don'ts

  • Don't overdose the animal. Give only the recommended dosage.

Bee-keeping

Bees are traditionally an important part of small-scale integrated farming systems. They are vital contributors to pollination and crop production, and they produce honey, beeswax and other products.

Location

Bees thrive in a wide range of warm, tropical climates and topography. They do well near natural forests and on integrated farms with abundant water and flowers.They do not survive in excessively cold, hot or dry locations.

Advantages

  • Bee-keeping does not require a large piece of land or a land title.
  • Bee products provide farmers with an additional source of income. Both local and international markets are readily available.
  • Bee-keeping requires a minimal amount of labour and no external inputs such as fertilizers or pesticides.
  • Bee-keeping skills are simple and easy to learn. Parents normally pass these skills on to their children.
  • Planting various flowers to attract bees helps maintain a range of insect life, maintaining the biological balance and controlling insect pests.
  • Bee-keeping encourages minimum tillage in the acre (0.4 ha) around the hive, since oxen or noisy equipment may disturb the bees.
  • Honey has many uses. It is used as a medicine for humans and livestock. It is a symbol of social prestige and is used to pay bridal dowries. In some cultures, an exchange of honey symbolizes the settling of major conflicts. Honey is also used as a food-preservative.

Disadvantages

  • Bees may be killed by chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides.
  • Bees may sting the careless. They can become aggressive if they are not handled correctly, or if they are disturbed by children or animals.
  • Bees may not survive prolonged rain or drought.

Protecting bees from predators and poisoning

Ants and birds (bee-eaters) are the main predators of bees. Below are some ways of protecting bees from these predators and from chemical poisoning.

Ants

  • Hang the hives from ropes and smear the ropes with grease or other substances to prevent ants from reaching the hive.
  • Sprinkle wood-ash around the hive-poles to hinder ants.
  • Keep the surroundings free of tall grass and weeds, so you can spot ants from a distance.
  • Smoke ants away from the hive by setting fire to an old cloth on the ant path.

Bee-eaters

  • Use a scarecrow to deter bee-eating birds.
  • To deprive the birds of perches, do not grow tall, branching trees near beehives, or keep the branches trimmed.

Chemicals

  • Weed manually or with a machine, rather than using herbicides that may harm bees.
  • If it is necessary to use chemical insect control, seal beehives temporarily with cow dung or mud until the insecticide has dissipated. Find out when nearby farmers plant to use chemical insecticides so that you can protect the bees by sealing the hives.
  • Grow flower-bearing crops, vegetables, shrubs and trees to keep bees around the homestead. This will protect them from the danger of being poisoned by pesticides used by distant farmers.
  • Avoid any form of chemical spray around the hives.
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