Farmers’ utilization practice, yield and chemical composition of selected improved forages grown in natural resource management areas of Farta District, South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

The study was conducted with the objective of assessing farmers’ utilization practice, yield and chemical composition of selected improved forages grown in natural resource management areas of Farta District, Ethiopia. The methodology of this study encompassed questionnaire survey, group discussion, field measurement and laboratory analysis. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample consisting of 100 households in the district. Forage samples were collected from three sample places in mid and highlands Kebeles (lower level political administration in Ethiopia).-Samples of forages were taken after 2 months of equal cutting and used to determine the biomass yield and chemical composition. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS and SAS software. The result indicated that of the total respondents 91% and 88% of in high land and midlands, respectively, did not use any forage improvement practice after plantation. Concerning forage utilization as feed, 96 and-94% in the high and midland, respectively, practiced cut and carry system. From the sampled forages, a biomass DM yield of Sesbania sesban in highland midland of the study area was 7.8 and 7.64t/ha, Elephant grass 14.28t/ha and 13.84t/ha and Tree Lucerne 7.65t/ha and-7.4t/ha, respectively. The crude protein (CP) content of sample forages was varying from 8.02% in Elephant grass to 25.9% in Sesbania sesban. Overall, improved forages grown in natural resource management areas have a very important function in terms of contribution of nutrients to livestock and indirectly for the household economy in both mid and highland areas. Hence, intervention on management and utilization of forages grown in the natural resource areas is crucial to exploit the resources.