Brava: Associação Biflores wants to increase forage fields and work on sustainable grazing

The Biflores association is working on some strategies to increase forage fields for the production of silage and thus work on sustainable grazing for the island of Brava and then shared at national level.

The information was given to Inforpress by the technician Vani Furtado, highlighting that this sustainable grazing project is the first in the country, but that it is no longer only known by the people of Brave, highlighting that the participation in the Agricultural Fair of Cape Verde 2023, gave a greater visibility to the project, which later, after being implemented on Brava, will be shared with the other islands.

According to him, in this project, the environmental association will try to use the resources they have on the island to transform them into food for the animals, which can be stored for a longer time with quality and quantity, but will also start to raise the awareness of breeders that it is it is necessary to find solutions and alternatives to reduce and perhaps eradicate, over time, the practice of free grazing.

However, the technician made it clear that the idea is not to sensitize the breeders to stop practicing free grazing all of a sudden, as they know that it is not an easy process.

From there, he informed that Biflores has been working on the process of ensilage and silage of bagasse and other forage plants, which allow breeders to have a stock of pasture for the animals, and show them that it is possible, yes, to have a cattle raising with satisfactory results without the practice of free grazing.

This year, to continue the process, he emphasized that they will organize with the shepherds, in the sense of working in partnership, and develop other types of fodder, thinking of taking advantage of the land that today is no longer cultivated in the higher and cooler areas, exemplifying with Campo das Fontes, to create a large amount of forage, make the silage and share it with the breeders.

Thus, Vani Furtado underlined that it is possible to have sustainable grazing and minimize the situation of erosion, loss of biodiversity, which will also cause a change in attitude towards the environment and thus begin to work towards the balance of the ecosystem.

As for participation in the Cabo Verde Agricultural Fair 2023, he says he believes that the message was passed on to visitors, taking into account the content they presented, and then the opportunity arose to present this project to some creators in Santa Catarina, on the island of Santiago , an initiative that the local municipal council has undertaken to follow up and work on massively publicizing among creators in the municipality.

The same source considers that "the best way to carry out conservation actions is to have an organized agriculture and livestock", hence underlines the fact that Biflores is working on this project in Brava, as it is the first plan of its kind in Cape Verde and the The idea is to do exchanges to share with other creators from other islands.

And in this light, he informed that next April they will receive a group of breeders from Santo Antão and São Vicente, organized in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture to work on raising awareness of the practice of sustainable grazing and as soon as the implementation of the project on Brava and with visible results, information and methodologies will be shared with the other islands.

Inforpress/End