Banana stalk silage
Published
2024-04-23
On-farm feeds are an important part of smallholder options for livestock management. Farmers without access to major feed materials like meals, bran, or mineral salts often have to rely on fodder-based nutrients and other on-farm feed options. One on-farm feed that is heavily used on the ECHO Asia and ECHO North America farms is banana stalk silage. Banana stalk silage is a fermented feed that can be used for pigs, ruminents, and even fowl. Fresh sliced or shredded banana stalks are mixed with sugar and coarse salt (at a ratio of 100 kg chopped stalks : 4 kg sugar : 1 kg rock salt) and fermented anaerobically (without oxygen) in a bucket. You can add nutrient-boosting ingredients like high-protein bran or fish meal to the completed product before feeding to livestock if you have access to them.