Soya is a viable substitute for mukene. The future of animal feeds, especially protein lies in soya, since mukene is getting scarce by the day.
Rich in proteins
Soybean is one of the most nutritious crops in the world, containing 40% protein and 20% oil, both of which are vital in human and animal diet.
Soybean contains at least 100% more proteins than any other crop and yields 5-10 times more proteins per unit area than other crops.
The future of the poultry industry lies in soya.
Soya contains high quality proteins like lysine, which by far has the most important amino acids for poultry. The future of the poultry industry lies in good feeds, of which soya feed takes the lead.
Poultry farmers can utilise soya by properly heating it to deactivate the trypsin inhibitor, which slows the growth of the birds, before mixing it with other ingredients.
Full soya (full fat soya) is high in energy when properly heated resulting to a full package of proteins and energy, improving efficiency and productivity.
Soya which is not properly heated slows down the growth of the chicks and weaning pigs resulting to poor quality, financial loss and complaints from your customers.
Full fat soya contains high quantities of fats. If full-fat soybean meal is used in the poultry or animal feeds, there will not be any need for added fat.
There will also not be a need for costly equipment to add fat to the diet. It is a perfect replacement for a considerable amount of the protein source in the diet.
Feeding in poultry is very important for 70% commercial production, therefore, quality output is key.
Ready market
Apart from animal feeds, soya is also used in industries, to produce oil.
There is certainly a good market for it. Farmers should, therefore, produce it and earn from it.
Planting and managing soya
Soya can thrive in several farming systems. The crop can be grown alongside other crops that are grown on low acidic, loam soils. This means that it can grow in most parts of Uganda.
Seeds are obtainable in most registered agriculture input stores.
As the case is today, one has to take a soil nutrient test to identify the missing nutrients. Soya needs NPK at a rate of 50kg per hectare to perform well if the soils are poor. This means that application of DAP is important.
Some farmers use a fertiliser called ‘alizobia’, where they mix with one-and-a-half cups of water, in which the seeds are dipped before planting.
The optimum spacing is 60cmx5cm, giving a plant population of 330,000 plants per hectare.
50-60kg of seed is required depending on seed size. After three to four months, soya is ready for harvesting.
The average harvest for most farmers is 10 bags of soya beans per acre of land.
