Agricultural dissemination: Silage or cassava yogurt

In the agricultural sector there is not only bovine livestock for obtaining meat and milk, there is also swine production (pigs) from where meat is obtained that is also widely consumed by the population. The pig is an animal that has certain characteristics that can facilitate its management because it is an omnivorous animal, that is to say that they can feed on meat, fruits and vegetables they adapt easily to different climates and environments, it has a great transformation capacity to produce meat of high nutritious quality, and good performance because everything that makes up its body is paid at a good price and is used such as meat, bacon, fat, blood, among others.

It can be said from a sustainable point of view that one of the limitations for pig production is feed because producers usually use commercial concentrated feeds. Therefore, it is important to develop technologies that make it possible to use the resources available in agroecosystems for feeding pigs at their different stages. For this reason, for some time now alternative ingredients have been sought for the diet with tropical crops that have a rapid growth and provide enough biomass to cover much of the nutritional needs, in pigs for fattening, foods such as cereals, vegetable waste, cassava flour among others have been tested, which is an alternative to lower production cost.

In the same vein, the ideal is to take advantage of the resources available in agroecosystems and thus have a production more in line with the conditions of the small producer, which will translate into greater profitability and better self-sufficiency. Systems have already been designed for pig production, in which existing resources on farms or communities are combined, with a minimum contribution of commercial concentrated feed, seeking to turn pig production into a profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly activity, being cassava yogurt (Manihot esculenta) healthier and more natural for a healthy diet.

It is important to consider that the cassava crop (Manihot esculenta) is one of the oldest crops of tropical adaptation, being a rustic plant, with a fast vegetative cycle, high nutritional value, adaptable to high temperatures, good starch or protein storage capacity, with no competition with human consumption, and the use of it is in an integral way, since, the aerial part is an excellent source of protein and the root is a starch reserve, according to Gil, Escobar and Buitrago (2001) presents the following nutritional values and of chemical composition; Humidity: 5.88%, crude protein: 5.46%. crude fat: 0.69%, crude fiber: 24.10%, ash: 7.59%, carbohydrates: 56.28%.

The main disadvantage of the consumption of cassava for animal feed according to the aforementioned authors is its content of hydrocyanic acid, these can affect if it is supplied directly but these levels can be partially or totally decreased with the fermentation process through the presence of anaerobic bacteria. That is why the anaerobic method is used to make cassava silage or yogurt, since the cassava is ground or cut into smaller portions, it is introduced into a container, whey is applied to provide lactic bacteria and water is also added, then it is sealed hermetically with a gas outlet through a manquera as if it were a biol.

Dear readers, it can be evidenced once again that there are agroecological alternatives for feeding animals including pigs, cassava is a crop that can be sown with vegetative seed, therefore, it becomes economical to sow this type of crop for marketing and the discarded cassava is used for the preparation of silage or cassava yogurt. In future posts we will explain how to make this type of products.