Methods of conservation of agricultural by-products in the Maradi region: Case of departments of Madarounfa (Safo and Bargaja), Guidan Roumdji (Karazomé, Karo Sofoua) and Dakoro (Baban Kori and Akora Idi)

This work was carried out in the departments of Guidan Roumji (Karazomé and Karo Sofoua), Madaroumfa (Safo and Bargaja) and Dakoro (Baban Kori and Akora Idi) in the Maradi region. The objective was to identify the different methods of conservation of agricultural by-products in rural areas. In order to achieve this objective, a sample of 296 farmers was surveyed out of the 300 planned, chosen on the basis of the simple random type probabilistic method. The results show that 98.64% use the conservation of agricultural by-products. These residues are mainly cowpea haulms (96.29%), sorghum straw (91.55%), groundnut haulms (85.82%) and millet straw (80.4%). The most dominant conservation methods are the hayloft (78.38%), on the open-air shed (58.11%) which are observed in all the villages. It appears from this work that the smallholder farmers attach great importance to the conservation of crop residues in the study area. Nevertheless, this conservation of agricultural by-products is done in a traditional way. It is therefore necessary to train smallholder farmers on the conservation of crop residues used in animal feed. This will allow more rational management and better conservation of the nutritive value of crop residues.