What began as a small experiment is now an integral part of agricultural practice at CAAS: when Alassane Boré, agricultural director of the center, brought the first elephant grass plants with him a few years ago, he wanted to test whether the robust plant was suitable as a source of fodder. Elephant grass, a fast-growing, perennial grass from sub-Saharan Africa, is now successfully cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It has also proven to be extremely resilient in the CAAS: It greens various areas in Kalassa 1 and now covers a large part of the fodder requirements for animal husbandry.
An area of just under one hectare was divided into five plots and follows a rotating harvest calendar. Following the planting of over 38,000 seedlings in September last year, the crop now provides nutritious green fodder all year round – even in the dry season. The majority of the investment was covered by the company’s own efforts, for example by propagating its own cuttings.
As the project has also aroused the interest of other livestock farmers in the region, CAAS is working on further research and optimization of elephant grass cultivation so that the benefits for animal husbandry in the region can be sustained.
