AGROSAVIA announced the use of potato by-products for livestock nutrition

In total, three field days were held together with Federación Colombiana de Ganaderos, Fedegan, and Universidad de Pamplona in the municipalities of Concepción, Cerrito (Santander), and Mutiscua (Norte de Santander).

 

Bucaramanga, Santander. June 22, 2023. The three workdays were carried out within the framework of the project entitled “Research, linkage, and expansion of the technological offer available for the productive improvement of potato cultivation in the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander,” financed with resources from the General System of Royalties SGR from the governments of Santander and Norte de Santander.

The main objective of this agricultural research work is the benefit of approximately 500 potato producers in the region, as well as the increase in crop yield, for which the research team assigned to the project is located in different Research Centers of AGROSAVIA: La Suiza (Santander), Cúcuta Headquarters (Norte de Santander), and Tibaitatá (Cundinamarca).

With the support of allies, such as Fedegan, Fedepapa, Universidad de Pamplona, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Universidad de Santander, UDES, and the Technological Units of Santander, during the last year, training days have been held with agricultural producers on issues related to integrated crop management, production costs, seed propagation, integrated soil management, and post-harvest by-products.

On this occasion, and with the aim of promoting a more sustainable livestock production system, the recommended methodology for the preparation of nutritional blocks and silage for cattle farming using potato crop residues was shown to producers.

The workdays were in charge of Viviana Cuarán, MSc. Researcher of the La Suiza Research Center, who leads the project, and Juan Leonardo Cardona, who works as an MSc. Associate Researcher at the La Suiza Research Center of AGROSAVIA in Rionegro – Santander.

During the three days, the Researcher Juan Leonardo Cardona revealed the importance of optimizing the available resources of the potato crop, which are usually wasted, to improve animal nutrition, thus, allowing better results in producing meat and milk.

Likewise, the relationship between potato production systems and livestock in the area was evidenced since they are usually the most preferred crops by farmers in the region. During these three days, the main aspects that must be considered in the implementation and maintenance of the livestock production system were announced by the regional technical secretariat of Fedegan in charge of Juan Pablo Chacón,

With the support of the research project directed by AGROSAVIA and through the workdays, it was possible to demonstrate the reduction in costs generated by the use of potatoes, the selection of the optimal raw material according to the needs and availability of potato varieties in each area, and the procedure with the step-by-step recommended from the research point of view for the improvement of animal nutrition.