Training Workshop on Silage and Haymaking in Morocco

Abstract

Silage making is not common in Morocco. The reasons for this include; the dominance of an extensive grazing system for small ruminants throughout the year; favourable climate for hay making as a low-cost system and a high proportion of smallholder farmers. Silage making is mainly undertaken by larger dairy farms which incorporate maize or sorghum in their feeding rations and by goat farms which undertake milk production. Nevertheless, there is increasing interest in silage making in Morocco due to changes in the agricultural structure. Farm sizes and herd sizes are increasing and there is a growing tendency towards intensive animal production. The interest in silage making is focused on producing silage from maize and sorghum. However, hay making will tend to remain the most important method of forage conservation for the other forage crops which include alfalfa, forage barley and oat, forage grasses, forage legumes and mixtures. In collaboration with CECAMA (Moroccan-German Agricultural Advisory Center) three training workshops for silage making of sorghum and maize were organized for interested farmers, agripreneurs and government extension staff.