Aquatic micro-crops cultivation to promote animal feed production
Jun 16, 2014
The first aquatic micro-crops technology in Africa is to produce 1.5 tonnes of feeds every hour and is to create an essential component of a rich new, local, large scale source of protein for animal and human feeds and renewable fuel feedstock located in at Entebbe.
By Tony Rujuta
The first aquatic micro-crops technology in Africa is to produce 1.5 tonnes of feeds every hour and is to create an essential component of a rich new, local, large scale source of protein for animal and human feeds and renewable fuel feedstock located in at Entebbe.
Today the world’s food supply can feed approximately 7 billion people and in the next 40 years this will increase to 9 billion, according to the United Nations estimates.
This means that 30% more food will have to be grown to ensure the rising population maintains the current average level of nutrition per person.
Add to this, the multiplier effect of creating life sustaining diet for all by 2035, global food needs are expected to be approximately 45% greater than today.
President Museveni, in his goal to modernise agriculture, he went ahead on June 13, 2014 and launched the Aquatic Micro-crops cultivation for Animal feed Production Technologies through Lemna and Azolla growing and processing in Africa.
The president was very pleased with the project because it’s the first of its kind.
The President was also very willing to give the investor (Parabel) land on lease so as to expand and teach other farmers on how the technology works.
During the launch, the State Minister for Animal Husbandry, Bright Rwamirama explained how Micro-crops are cultivated, one of them is the Lemna which is a genus of free-floating aquatic plants from the duckweed family.
The second is the Azolla which is a genus of seven species of aquatic ferns in the family Salviniaceae.
Both of them can be got in our water bodies in Uganda.
Rwamirama also explained that the feeds from Micro-crops have 80 % of what the cow needs in their feeds that is high quality protein used in animal feed for aquaculture, poultry, swine and other industries.
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