Damascus-SANA
Government agencies are working to increase the support provided to livestock breeders in all fields, especially with regard to the cultivation of high-quality and productive fodder alternatives, and providing it throughout the year, which contributes to reducing labor costs and lowering product prices.
The director of the Livestock Development Project at the Ministry of Agriculture, Eng. Muhammad Hassan Akko, told SANA that the Livestock Development Project is working to expand the experience of cultivating forage cactus by distributing cactus panels to livestock breeders and training them to grow and care for them.
Akko said: The smooth cactus is considered a palatable fodder for animals and has other benefits such as using it as a fence around agricultural projects and obtaining a financial return from its fruits. It contains a large amount of water by 95 percent. It reduces the animal’s consumption of water, especially in summer, in addition to its ability to adapt to the effects of climate change and withstand drought. It requires a lot of water to grow and farmers can continue to produce fodder and feed their animals even when rain is scarce, pointing out that it is used as a supplementary food for livestock as it is rich in minerals such as calcium, phosphorous and magnesium and with moderate levels of protein and fibre.
Akko confirmed that about 40,000 tablets were allocated annually to be distributed to breeders wishing to plant them according to the area of their lands, pointing out that there are four nurseries that produce smooth cactus, distributed in the countryside of Damascus, Lattakia, Sweida, and in the Al-Ghab area.
In turn, Engineer Iman Mahmoud, Head of the Forage Resources Development Department in the project, indicated with a similar statement that smooth cactus is grown in all governorates and in the first and second agricultural stability areas. Homs, Sweida and Rural Damascus come at the forefront of the agricultural areas, noting that every 5 kilograms of smooth cactus is equivalent to one kilogram of fodder Center.
She added: The smooth cactus panels are distributed to breeders to plant them either at the beginning of the spring season at the end of the third month or at the beginning of autumn at the end of the ninth month and the panel is left for ten days in the shade away from sunlight before planting, pointing out that the process of harvesting the panels to be presented as fodder material begins two years after planting them after The produced aloe vera bars were left for three days to wilt and cut before serving as fodder.
A number of breeders from Damascus Countryside talked about the importance of expanding the smooth cactus cultivation project and its adoption as a source of nutritious fodder for animals, which reduces the costs of buying fodder, especially for small livestock breeders, especially in light of its drought-resistant properties and low cultivation costs.
Amjad Al-Sabbagh - Alia Hishma
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