Fodder chopper for livestock producers: A case study of commercialization of machinery for smallholders in Bangladesh

Farmers in Bangladesh are very interested to produce more milk products and beef to meet rising consumer demand. Small and medium livestock farmers have between 10 and 30 cows or beef cattle. A major constraint to the expansion of dairy holdings and beef production in Bangladesh is the scarcity of quality fodder, especially during the dry winter season (Haque et al., 2008). Straw from paddy rice is the main source of fodder for livestock in Bangladesh, but has being abundant and low quality (Haque et al., 2008). Napier grass, fodder maize, para, jambo grass, triticale and lathyrus are all grown as higher quality fresh fodder supplements to rice straw. These fodders are normally fed to cattle in the form of whole fresh or dried stems and leaves, and commonly 15 to 20 per cent of the material is refused and wasted. To reduce wastage, some farmers are trying to chop straw and other fodders by hand for their cattle but this is slow, laborious and costly. To overcome the problem, the Power Straw and Fodder Chopper (PSFC) was developed in 2006 and commercialized. This short paper describes the PSFC, its uses, initial experiences with its promotion and marketing by the Pilot Program on Increasing the Availability of Quality Fodder for Dairy Production in Bangladesh (PPIAQFDP) funded by DANIDA