Plants that feed our food: Napier taking over farmland to support livestock boom
In recent years, Bangladeshi farmers have become encouraged to raise more cattle. With the growth in cattle farming, the need for cattle food also shot up. Napier cultivation is a part of the efforts to produce cattle food domestically
When cattle feed prices started to skyrocket a couple of years back, Selim Mia, a marginal farmer from Bhairab, thought he wouldn't be able to rear cows any more.
There was a time when livestock in Bangladesh, especially beef cattle, would graze on the uncultivated fields or the bank of canals or rivers. For the monsoon, when much of these lands go underwater, there would be a severe scarcity of grass, but the farmers would have kept straw from the last paddy harvest and, of course, ground rice husk.
The straw and the husk part never changed, but there has been a tremendous evolution in the cattle feed scene in the country.
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With population growth at a rate of 1.33% and consequent agricultural land loss of 1% every year, there isn't much land left in the country to be used as pasture. As a result, only small-scale farmers with one or two cows can let their cattle graze in open fields.
For others, the only feasible approach to raising cattle is feedlot, which refers to intensive farming in confined areas where cattle are provided with a mix of a balanced diet.
Today, Bangladesh is largely dependent on imports of industrially manufactured cattle feed as large farms prefer to nourish their cattle with feed concentrates. However, one thing is growing fast alongside the use of such industrial feed – the cultivation of forage grass species, most notably Napier.
Grass constitutes the main food for cows, and is the most natural.
"If we can grow enough Napier and hay, we will not need to import cattle feed from abroad."
Napier is a tropical, perennial grass with its roots in Africa. It is also called elephant grass or Uganda grass. Napier grows even in most arid soil and helps stop soil erosion. The grass can grow 10 feet tall.
Although Napier was introduced in Bangladesh in the 1990s, with high school students being taught about it in agriculture textbooks, cultivation of the grass actually spread across the country in recent years.
Selim Mia is one of the farmers who got oriented to Napier cultivation in recent times. He started growing the grass four years back and thus saved his tiny farm of seven cows.
Department of Livestock Services officials say growing Napier varieties like Pakchong coupled with hay production can significantly reduce cattle feed imports.
Small or big - everyone's choice
Selim Mia grows Napier on 39 decimals (over one bigha) of land adjacent to his home. Another cattle farmer from his village, Kamrul Islam, does on six bigha land.
Both farmers have been raising cattle for many years, but have been growing Napier for 4-5 years. They said they never saw this grass when they were younger.
"Napier came to this area 5-6 years back. I've been doing this for the last four years," said Kamrul, and Selim echoed.
The village, Chandiber Uttar Para, now has 20-30 bigha land under Napier cultivation, the farmers informed. It's rather small, to be clear, because the area is located inside Bhairab Municipality, and is not particularly big in agriculture and animal husbandry.
To draw a contrast, Touhid Parvez Biplob, proprietor of Bogura Bhandar Agro Farm, alone grows Napier on 15-20 bigha land. He feeds around 15-20 kg Napier grass to each of his cattle every day, Biplob told TBS. Bogura Bhandar is a big cow-fattening farm that raises hundreds of cows in peak season.
Kamrul has 18 cows. Both he and Selim are largely dependent on Napier for forage, although they use other supplements such as straw and bhushi (ground husk).
Prices of bhushi shot up significantly in recent years, giving the farmers a hard time. Napier came as a rescue.
When first planted, Napier takes two months to grow up to five feet. The grass also spreads new shoots and keeps growing in groups. Thereafter the grass can be harvested every month, and it keeps growing back. During the monsoon, the grass can be harvested thrice in two months. But it grows all year round and does not require watering in the winter.
It requires fertilising though. Selim mia puts all the cow manure he collects from his cattle shed, and also applies urea in the fields. Kamrul uses DAP fertiliser.
The farmers in this area only grow enough grass for their own cattle, and there is no marketplace to sell it. However, about eight kilometres away in Mirarchar, Napier grass is sold in small amounts.
Selim Mia says indigenous grass has more protein in it than Napier. However, local grass is hard to find in abundance since cattle herders compete for the resource. Also, they are not as massive as Napier. Besides, the grass lives at least four years before it needs to be replanted.
As to how much grass is produced per bigha land, none of the farmers could give a number.
"Tons and tons. I grow them, cut them, and they regrow. It's hard to keep track," said Kamrul.
According to the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), on one acre land, 180-190 tons of Napier grass can be produced every year.
But there is an obvious opportunity cost for Napier. Selim used to grow paddy, potato, wheat, etc on his land. Now he has to buy them even for his family's own consumption.
The government promotes the grass
MD Tayabur Rahman, a deputy project director at the DLS, said, "If we can grow enough Napier and hay, we will not need to import cattle feed from abroad."
"The Livestock Department is promoting Napier Pakchong grass across the country," he added. The project titled 'Promoting Hybrid Grass Cultivation for Improved Nutrition for Livestock' promotes a hybrid variety of Napier called Pakchong.
The official could not tell how much land is used for cultivating Napier but said it is now being cultivated in all upazilas of the country.
He said for every 100 kg live weight of a cow, 5-6 kg Napier grass and 1.5-2 kg hay is required to provide it with enough nutrition.
Hay can be produced from leguminous plants such as Khesari (Indian pea) and Mashkolai (black gram). To produce hay, which is high in protein, such plants must be used when 30% of the field's plants have flowered.
"Hay made even from harvested plants is 10 times better than straw," Tayabur said, "but it's best used before flowering." There is around 20% protein in khesari and Mashkolai hay, he added.
Moringa leaves are also good in protein, but producing enough is a challenge, he opined.
If produced enough, the grass can be turned into silage, which can be preserved for one year.
Another high-protein plant, Alfalfa, is also starting to gain traction in the country.
The leguminous plant also lasts 4-5 years and can be harvested many times during its lifetime.
A booming sector
The Indian government's tougher stance on the informal border trade of cattle encouraged Bangladeshi farmers to raise more cattle in recent years. With the growth in cattle farming, the need for cattle food also shot up. Napier cultivation is a part of the efforts to produce cattle food domestically.
The share of livestock in the Agricultural GDP of Bangladesh is 16.52%. The contribution of livestock and poultry to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in the years 2022-23 was 1.85%.
The livestock population (excluding poultry) of Bangladesh was 5 crore 71 lakh in 2022-23, up from 5 crore 35 lakh in 2013-14.
