Dear Editor,
The growing emphasis on agricultural development makes it useful to examine the status of ingredients used in the manufacture of stockfeed.
Items such as rice, corn, soyabean and copra are some of the main inputs at this time. If some of the imported items can be replaced with no loss in quality, it would be of immense benefit.
A food technology laboratory, if established, can look into the potential for using locally grown products such as ground provisions, as part of the formulation. This applied research could also be sponsored by local industry. There is no compelling reason to believe that corn and soyabean are absolutely essential for this product.
Any work done can also help nurture processing possibilities for human consumption, and positive results can promise a steady income to a small farmer who would not have to rely exclusively on consumption of the fresh produce.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Scott