Dr. Emilio Cruz, the Center head, has come up with different modules that can be easily adopted even by small scale goat raisers. Practically every crop residue can be fed to goats, he said. And one module he has set up at CLSU is a corn field intercropped with peanuts, soybean and other beans. The fruits of the legume crops as well as the corn could be for the consumption of the farmers while the stalks and other residues could be all fed to the ruminants.

Another showcase is a mixture of leguminous trees and shrubs which could be the perennial source of leafy cuttings for the goats. One particularly interesting forage tree is a hybrid kakawate which produces bigger and much more numerous leaves than the native variety. A kilo of forage can be harvested monthly from every linear meter of plantation, according to Dr. Cruz.

There are also other easy-to-grow forage crops for goats. Did you know, for instance, that the leaves of the cassava is also a good feed for goats?

Desmanthus virgatus is another feed crop for goats. This is very resistant to drought, hence it is recommended for growing in areas with long dry season such as the Ilocos region.

Even the katuray is a good feed for goats. That’s what they use to feed their goats in Vietnam. And according to Dr. Cruz, the katuray seeds are rich in protein and could be fed to goats. Katuray produces a lot of long pods that yield a lot of seeds.

Another eye-opener from Dr. Cruz is that according to him, the leaves of Gmelina, the popular forest tree for commercial planting, is also good for feeding goats. In fact, it has an added advantage because it has been proven that Gmelina has anthelmintic properties. This means that it can check intestinal parasites of the animals.

As per their research, the pineapple pulp is also relished by goats. And this has also anthelmintic properties.

Incidentally, the center has also come up with other integrated modules for raising goats. There’s a module for raising goats in fishponds. Forage grasses and trees can be grown in fishpond dikes for feeding the goats. There is also a module for plantations of mangoes and other fruit trees.

If you want to acquire planting materials of the many forage crops for livestock, you can get them cheap at CLSU. Some are being sold at only R5 per plant or even cheaper if you are a regular customer.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cruz has big plans at the Center in the offing. The center will be pursuing the embryo transfer technology to accelerate the production of high-quality animals. This is the transfer of fertilized embryos from a selected mother goat to foster parents that may include ordinary breeds.

Under this technology, selected mother goats will be made to superovulate with the use of a hormone, producing 10 to 15 embryos at a time. These will then be transferred to host parents which will nurture them up to the time they are born. The selected mother goat can be made to ovulate four times a year, thus it can produce as many as 60 offspring a year with the help of foster mother goats.

Goats have a gestation period of 150 days. But the imported goats usually don’t give birth two times a year. They may give birth only three times in two years. Hence, the embryo transfer technology will really accelerate multiplication of the imported breeds.

Incidentally, Dr. Cruz reveals that even big corporations are now getting interested in going into the goat business. One of them is Monterey which is better known for its cattle and swine projects.

One indication that there is a keen interest in goat raising is the fact that so far no less than R100 million worth of breeder goats have been imported this year. One favorite source is Australia which has been exporting a lot of the Boer breed.