Ruminant feed resources research
Poor nutrition because of poor quality feeds and fluctuating feed supply is a major constraint to tropical livestock productivity. The need to supply greater quantities of quality fodder requires development of both new forages and feeding strategies that will enhance the efficiency with which conventional on-farm feed resources are used. Research at ILRI has identified a range of herbaceous forages and fodder tree species which can be used to alleviate the constraints of lack of feed and which can be incorporated as part of sustainable farming systems.