Can the conditions for good silage making be met?
2. Is there a need for ensiled forage? Silage making is practised widely in intensive animal production systems in temperate regions, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, because during the winter period there is no high quality feed available in the fields and secondly in order to feed high quality conserved supplements (e.g. maize) at any time of the year to complement grass to improve milk production and/or nitrogen utilization. Whether silage making is recommendable in the tropics depends on the type of farm system and on the climate. For a start, feed conservation is generally only a proposition for intensive farm systems, such as milk production for a liquid milk market. Secondly, in humid and sub-humid climates with green forage available year-round, forage conservation is generally not profitable. If the quality of forage from permanent sources (pastures, road-sides) is inadequate, it is nearly always possible to grow a fodder crop (Saleem 1985) or harvest stockpiled forage (Andrad
