Assessment of the feeding potential and utilization of Erythrina burana and Casimiroa edulis in Eastern Harerghe zone of Ethiopia

摘要

AnassessmentofthefeedingpotentialandutilizationofErythrinaburanaandCasimiroaeduliswasmadeinEasternHarerghezoneofeasternEthiopiathroughsurveyquestionnaire.Twodistricts,namely;GursumandHaramayaandatotalof90respondentfarmerswereselectedonthebasisofavailabilityandutilizationofErythrinaburanaand/orCasimiroaedulis.Aquestionnairewasusedtointerviewfarmersindividually.Datawassupplementedwithinformationobtainedfromkeyinformantsandsecondarydatawascollectedfromdifferentstakeholders.nbsp;Over85%and50%ofrespondentsrepliedErythrinaburanaandCasimiroaedulistobethedominantfoddertreesinGursumandHaramaya,respectively.Bothplantsareownedprivatelyandover85%and65%ofrespondentfarmersrespondedErythrinaburanaandCasimiroaedulistobeavailableinthebackyardandtherestaspartoftheagroforestrysystem,respectively.Thecurrentownershipofthesefoddertreesappearstobeagoodopportunityfortheirutilizationasfeedthroughcutandcarrysystem.ThemajormeansofpropagationofErythrinaburanaisbyseedandvegetativelyfromstemcutswhileCasimiroaedulisissolelypropagatedbyseed.Over60%and35%ofrespondentsrecognizedErythrinaburanaasadroughttolerantplantanddemandinglessagronomicpractice,respectively.Morethan65%ofintervieweesreportedCasimiroaedulisasaplantthatcaneasilybeestablished.Theseplantsarecurrentlyutilizedassourceoffeed,fuel,shadeforlivestockandcoffee,fenceandfruit(particularlyCasimiroaedulis).ErythrinaburanaisintensivelyutilizedasfeedsourcebutitisreportedtosheditsleavesfromFebruarytoMay.Ontheotherhand,Casimiroaedulisisanevergreenplantbutnotintensivelyutilizedasfeedsourceduetolackofawarenessamongtherespondents.ThepresentstudyhighlightedthatbothErythrinaburanaandCasimiroaeduliscanbegoodsourcesoffeedforlivestock.However,theexistinglowlevelofunderstandingonthefeedingvalueofCasimiroaedulisinparticularandthedeciduousnatureofErythrinaburanaareconstraintsfortheirefficientutilizationasfeedforlivestock.Hence,extensionworkneedstobestrengthenedtocreateawarenessamongtherespondentsonthefeedingvalueofCasimiroaedulisandconservationoftheleavesofErythrinaburanabeforebeingover-matureandfalltotheground.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;