Download Establishment and management of lablab for feeding

Establishment and management of lablab for feeding dairy cows
Nutritive value of lablab
The protein content of lablab is 1419%. The dry matter yield is about
10.9tons per hectare at flowering
stage (about 110 days after
germination of the seed), which
is slightly above average when
compared to many forage legumes.
Lablab has more protein than
grasses, however, the protein
content decreases with maturity of
the plants.
Lablab as a livestock feed
Lablab can be fed as fresh foliage, hay
or silage. Lablab has the potential of
alleviating nutrient deficiencies in
poor quality diets especially during
the dry season.
Lablab can be mixed with Napier grass to feed dairy animals
Fresh lablab forage should not be
fed to milking animals within at
least two hours before milking time.
Wilting or drying lablab foliage
before offering it to the cows helps
to avoid “off-flavour” in the milk.
This information is partly drawn from experiences
from the project on “Crop-livestock integration for
sustainable management of natural resources
and building livelihoods resilience in Eastern and
Central Africa” of the Livestock and Fisheries
Programme of ASARECA
Establishment and
management of
lablab for feeding
dairy cows
Establishment and management of lablab for feeding dairy cows
Notes from experiences of researchers
and farmers
Farmers in Masaka district in Uganda have
reported that dairy cows on their farms which
were fed on a combination of diets of Napier
grass-forage and legume mixture with 3kg
per cow per day of Lablab hay increased milk
production by 1-2 litres per cow, per day.
Lablab is a dual-purpose legume traditionally
grown as a pulse crop for human consumption
in Kenya. Lablab flowers and tender young
pods are also used as vegetable.
Uses
Lablab is used as a fodder legume. It is sown
for feeding in the cut-and-carry systems and
also used as green manure or cover crop.
It can be intercropped with cereals such as
maize and sorghum to retain soil fertility and
improve the quality of the legume-stover
mixture which can be used to feed livestock
when the cereal has been harvested.
Establishment
Lablab grows well where annual rainfall is
650-3,000mm. It is drought tolerant when
established but loses leaves during prolonged
A farmer cuts lablab for feeding his dairy cows
dry periods. It tolerates short periods of
flooding, but is intolerant to poor drainage
and prolonged floods.
As a single crop, seeding rates for Lablab are
between 12 and 20 kg/ha. Rows should be
60-120 cm apart, with 30-60cm between
plants. Lablab germinates and stabilises
easily when sown into sub-surface soil to a
depth of at least 5-10 cm.
Management
For optimum feeding value, the first cutting
should be done at the beginning of flowering.
The following cuttings provide forage with
more stem than leaf, which has lower feed
value. The recommended cutting height is
about 30cm above ground level and above
the branches to allow for regrowth. If properly
cut, it is possible to harvest lablab foliage
(leaves and young stems) three times a year.