Report on 4 farmer field days about pellets and mash in Tunisia

Abstract

The CRP livestock “feed and forages” flagship wants to develop business around feed processing technologies like pellet and mash production. A mobile grinder, which can be operated by PTO or 380 V has been introduced by the project. The grinder is produced by a local blacksmith in Central Tunisia and can chop organic materiel like straw, hay, cactus cladodes and fruits, barley grains, olive cakes, leaves and branches, dates and date leaves, etc. This grinded materiel can be mixed in suitable proportions to produce animal feed for small ruminants. Straw or hay being chopped are by 50% less wasted as animals will consume more of it; whereas if not chopped they leave less digestible parts like nodes aside. The project organized two field days to present the technology to interested farmers, agri-preneurs and extension staff. The first day was held in Ouslatia, on March 29 with a participation of 18 men and women. The second field day was held on June 11, 2019 with 30 participants in the AVFA training center of Jougar Two field days were organized to present the pellet technology. The pellet producing machine is produced by the same blacksmith who produces the grinders. Whereas the grinder costs only about 1000 US $, the pellet machine costs about 2.600 US$. Part of the pellet machine is a grinder as it is important to chop the ingredients before pressing particles together into pellets. Depending on the type of the ingredients the production capacity varies between 1 and 2 tons per day.