Brachiaria Pasture

This pasture was planted 3 months ago from seeds obtained from NAPRI/ABU. It is one of the best pasture grasses for cattle. It is so sweet that I have seen cows seize it from each other's mouth.The one hectre grown here is a trial plot which we intend to extend to five next year.

At maturity, just 2 wks after the last rain of the season (in November possibly), it will be harvested, dried and baled. It can be served whenever needed. The beauty of these grasses lies in their perennial habit. Just plant them once and continue to harvest them for 100 years and more. All you need to do is to fertilize them annually and avoid overgrazing. At the beginning of each rainy season, the cattle can lightly graze on them before they are withdrawn to allow growth during the last two months of the rainy season. If you can irrigate them during the dry season, you can harvest it up to three or four times a year.

The yield is spectacular. Total dry matter, a specialist told me, can reach up to 25 tonnes per hectre. Wao! Wao! Wao! Imagine what you can get with even a modest land of 5 hectres: 125 tonnes!!! Ya Salaam! Ku tashi mu farka yan Arewa, ku san barci aikin kawai ne!

Some tips are important for us the beginners, though. From our very little experience on this grass and on Chloris gayana, pasture grasses need well drained, fertile soils for good establishment. So make sure that you choose a drained land, fill it with manure and apply a non-selective herbicide before soil preparation (ploughing and harrowing). Then apply fertilizer, especially urea, once or twice as required as it grows. You will need to weed it, manually is the best, just once, a month or so after planting. Once it picks up, this grass can overcome any weed dramatically. Just do the above and see wonders. For better advice, please contact Dr. Kalla and Dr. Sabo at NAPRI, arguably, the best pasture specialists around.

It is surprising that these grasses along with exotic cattle breeds were introduced during the defunct northern region in the 1950s. (Remember the song of Illon Kalgo: Gonar Bakura, gonar Sardauna.) Yet, over half a century, we have failed to make them commonplace in the country. Since the discovery of oil and the corruption that it engendered, everything else was abandoned. In Bauchi State, the farms at Azare, Galambi and Gubi were among those established by the defunct Northeastern State government. Of the three, the one at Gubi, along Bauchi-Kano road, is the smallest: 800 hectares! All the three lie waste. The cattle were looted by military administrators and the pastures overtaken by weeds and shrubs. All are abandoned. Give me 800 hectres and see what I will transform it into. A beg, 50 hectres sef!

I wonder what has happened to other similar farms established by that government in today's Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Taraba and Gombe states.

I wonder when we will wake up. The truth is that we lack continuity both at public and private levels. I have seen many such farms abandoned after the death of their founders. The inheritors simply let them ruin, finally sell the land away in millions and naira and share the booty. The old man will be crying in his grave. A year later, the money is gone.

As I establish these pastures, I also wonder how long would mine last after my death, which is just by the corner anyway.