途上国森林ビジネスデータベース

Commercialization of caragana artificial feed in China

The initiative of commercialization of caragana artificial feed in China started in the late 1990s in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. Production started in the early 2000s and it has now been developed as a new industry, albeit small, in areas within the autonomous region, where caragana grows well.

One of the reasons behind making caragana artificial feed is that a grazing ban policy was implemented on a full scale in the late 1990s and demand of feed for herbivorous livestock, which mainly includes sheep, cows, and goats increased. In addition, an effective management method for caragana is to regularly cut it down and coppice as it starts to weaken in ten-odd years (in several years for specific species) in many cases, and was used for the caragana shrubland that was created as a result of the afforestation project that the government had promoted from the early 1970s, about 30 years earlier.

One of the nutritional value characteristics of caragana feed is, according to an analysis using Caragana intermedia, that it produces a long-lasting feeling of satiety for livestock as it obviously contains a larger amount of crude fiber, although crude protein and fat are close to the average value of general hay feed. Caragana contains a higher percentage of woody components compared to general grass and there was concern about palatability, however, according to the palatability test carried out on sheep by Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Agriculture and Forestry Academy, it was found out that sheep, goats, and cows can easily eat it if it is crushed into granules 1 to 3 mm in diameter or threads and that feed intake is increased by 13.1% compared to silage of corn stems and leaves, and moreover, cows like pellet feed of caragana the best.

Caragana grass feed

Pellet feed

Sustainable harvest by coppicing

For regeneration by coppicing in harvested shrub stands, the biomass quantity becomes 80% or more of that before harvesting in three years and 100% or more in four years. The nutritive value as feed is at its best if harvested at the third year. It is safe to harvest from newly planted caragana in or after its fifth year. Cutting no more than 5 cm from the ground is best for work efficiency and the growth of sprouts.

Harvesting in caragana shrubland is carried out three or four times per shrub stand in order to maximize the environmental preservation effects such as the wind shield effect. The plants should preferably be cut down in strips with a width of around 10 m. This is to protect coppiced plants from wind as the wind shield effect range of shrubbery with caragana of 1-1.5 m in height is about 10 m.

Caragana planation (two years old)

Caragana planation (three years old)

Individual caragana (three years old)

Coppiced caragana (four years old)

Caragana feed, processing and production plant

The method of caragana harvesting depends on the terrain of the woodland, but it is done by automatic harvesters in places where tractors can move. In areas where it is difficult for machinery to move around, backpack brush cutters are used. In China, many types of self-propelled or traction type harvesting machines for shrubs including caragana have been developed. There is large machinery where reaping, packing, compressing, and transport functions are integrated, and self-propelled machines only for reaping. It is possible to choose from them depending on natural conditions and the scale of business.

The feed processing method is simple: break harvested whole caragana into pieces, and compress them into pellets as necessary. A grinding machine is indispensable. In China, conventional grinding machines for stems and leaves are remodeled to be more powerful and used for small-scale production by individual farmers with production amounts of 1.5-2 tons of grass feed per day. In the case of factory production, processes such as grinding, pellet production, packaging are automated, and there are few problems in mechanical production ability as long as ingredients keep being supplied.

Consideration of caragana artificial feed project in Mongolia

In Mongolia, where the number of livelihood increased rapidly due to the shift to the market economy, desertification due to grazing pressure on grassland has advanced across the country, causing a vicious cycle of further shortage of feed. It is urgently necessary to produce artificial feed domestically and expand its use. For this reason, a livestock feed production business model through caragana plantations was examined with reference to the already commercialized artificial feed production of caragana in Ningxia, China. In Mongolia, caragana grows naturally and widely. However, based on the factors that sheep and goats eat it intensively in winter and that the decrease of caragana, which has a function for desertification prevention, is feared, afforestation with caragana is assumed. With the low availability of grazing land, the target area is set to be around the Gobi Desert, where the Mongolian government recommends afforestation, and considering the costs such as capital investment and employment cost at a little lower price than that of imported feed, it was estimated that 1,500 tons or more of trees for raw material are needed annually to be profitable. Based on this estimation, for example, a business model where it is possible to recover investment from the seventh year can be expected by afforesting caragana under the following conditions: harvesting amount to be 3.5 tons/ha at the third year, regeneration by coppicing, period of three years, and an area of 1,500 ha (500 ha/year). Caragana feed is higher in nutritive value than wheat bran, which is the common feed in Mongolia. It can be a feed for race horses by making it into pellets, so it is conceivable that investment from the race horse industry such as horse owners can be expected.