Livestock fodder such as leaves and pods of trees is an element of agroforestry. Livestock namely Cows, goats, sheep, buffalo, etc. fond of edible tree leaves and pods. Tree-based fodder is a good source of vitamins, crude protein, and minerals for livestock. The availability of tree-based fodder is year-round, especially because it is a good animal food source in the rainy season of Bangladesh.
Availability of tree-based livestock fodder
Generally, green grasses and dried rice straw is the major element of fodder in Bangladesh. However, the majority of farm families feed their goats and cows on green leaves, twigs, and pods of many local shrubs and trees. The following are the available trees used as livestock fodder.
- Iipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala)
- Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
- Babla (Acacia arabica)
- Mander (Erythrina oralifolia)
- Karaie (Albizia licida)
- Shewara (Streblus asper)
- Mango (Mangifera indica)
- Badam (Sterculia alata)
- Bel (Aegle marmelos)
- Bot (Ficus bengalensis)
- Demur (Ficus glomerata)
- Jum (Garuga pinnata)
- Kaori (Albizia procera)
- Kool, bane (Zizyphus mauritiana)
- Moala (Sterculia colorata)
- Neem (Azadirachta indica)
- Rain tree (Enterolobium saman)
- Sajna/Moringa/Drumstick (Moringa pterygosperma)
- Sal (Shorea robusta)
- Sisoo (Dalbergia sisoo)
- Tetul, tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
- Tiktashk (Crataeva religiosa)
- Tut (Mores indica)
Above locally growing trees of Bangladesh are liked by cattle, goats, and sheep. Fruit-type trees such as Mango, Bel, Badam, Tetul, Jackfruit, and Sajna are grown in the homestead areas. On the other hand, Sisco, Ipil-Ipil, Sal, Raintree, Tut, Mander, Babla, etc are grown on the roadside, river bank, and boundery of the orchard.
Are all tree-based livestock fodder is safe?
All tree-based livestock fodder has high levels of digestibility. Although, safety issues of tree-based livestock fodder is not considered by farmers who are feeding their livestock on leaves, twig, and pods. Most importantly, the presence of toxic materials in tree-based fodder may kill an animal. There are some examples of the intoxication of livestock after feeding green fodders. Therefore, need more research on the safety of feeding tree leaves and pods are necessary for adding new tree species as animal fodder.
Livestock Feed Composition
Apart from grazing, it will be better to feed animals different types of feeds such as straw, green leaves, and other feeding materials as a mixture. Livestock may face problems if feeding a similar kind of fodder on a large scale. It is best practice to feed livestock by collecting leaves from the trees rather than allowing the livestock to graze directly from the fodder trees.
Climate Resilience Fodder
Bangladesh is a climate change-affected country in the world. For example, the riverine, coastal, and low-lying areas of Bangladesh have gone underwater during rainy seasons for almost 3-4 months. Trees can survive water-logged and saline conditions as well as trees usually planted on roadsides, river banks, and hilly areas. Meanwhile, during crisis times such as water-logged and drought, farmers can collect tree-based fodder and carry it to feed livestock.
In conclusion, Bangladesh needs to invest more time and effort to get information on the potential tree fodders as feeds for livestock. A complete inventory of fodder trees grown in farmer homesteads, roadsides, river banks, hilly areas, and forests are necessary for tackling climate-change consequences.
