Lylian wrote:
>I had the opportunity to see the system in Montfort Boys' Town...and I
>would like to know if farms in your country are able to set such system.

I had the opportunity to visit Suva last July and was impressed with the
ease with which the system is being maintained. Brother (Superior) Paul
Kado and Ms Streeter who administer the IBS told me that the system is
financially self-sufficient, thanks to the sale of pigs, fish and soon
mushrooms (with the spent mushroom substrate planned to being fed to the
pigs after the mushrooms have been harvested). Of course, they have a total
of 22 boarders who look after the system day after day. Therefore, as an
initial phase, we feel that IBS such as the one in Suva, Fiji should be
replicated in similar situations, e.g. boarding schools. It offers ideal
teaching opportunities for the students, provides income for the
institution and acts as a demonstration unit for the country. OLSSI is
aiming at setting up such a system in a secondary school setting close to
Apia, our capital.

There are several village developments in Samoa where natural ponds have
been transformed into fishponds stocked with Tilapia. None of them are
managed in an integrated fashion and invariably fish is fed either with
imported fishmeal (the ultimate irony: fish being fed with fish!), copra
cake or chicken manure. The addition of a small animal rearing unit and a
digester to receive the animal wastes could replicate easily the Montfort
Boys' Town demonstration pilot project. However, there is one problem, most
ponds are of a small size, about 1/3 the size of the Montfort Boys' Town
one. One of the points stressed by Ms Streeter was that in her opinion, the
size of the pond is critical to have a stable IBS. Anything smaller than
the pond at the Montfort Boys' town (which is 1500 m3 big) would have
problems with drying out and not enough oxygen for the fish...The whole
idea at Montfort of course is that the only water that is added to the pond
is the amount used to wash down the wastes into the digester. That works
out at about 600 liter per day. We would welcome comments from the
participants on this technical question: "How small a fishpond can support
an IBS?"

>Could you provide more details about "enhanced cassava"

The technique involves the inoculation of grated cassava with amylolytic
microfungi (Rhizopus sp.) and a nutrient solution (containing urea,
Potassium (dihydro) phosphate, Magnesium sulfate and citirc acid). After a
40-hour fermentation process at ambient temperature, the microfungi will
have multiplied and will have transformed the carbohydrates in the cassava
into protein (producing so-called Single Cell Proteins (SCP)). By a rather
simple process, cassava meal with an average protein level of 1% can thus
be transformed into "enhanced cassava" with a protein level of more than
20%. This enhanced cassava can then be used as a Feed supplement for pigs
and poultry which are fed the normal locally available energy feeds, such
as coconuts, bananas, breadfruit or cassava. In this way a low-cost,
balanced animal ration will become available to the local farmer, entirely
made up of local resources. This could then well allow farmers to raise
pigs and chickens at reduced costs and allow them to produce animal meat
products that can compete with imported pork and poultry products.

Step by step procedure to make "enhanced cassava"
1. Fresh cassava roots are washed and grated, using a low-cost hand-operated grater.
2. Using a simple foot-operated press, excessive moisture is removed from the grated cassava, resulting in "cassava meal".
3. The cassava meal is placed on galvanized perforated trays that can be held inside a 44-gal drum.
4. The cassava meal is steam-sterilized for 30 minutes
5. After cooling, the trays with the gelatinized cassava meal spread in a 2-cm thick layer are placed in a protected area, in a slightly slanted position and the standardised inoculum of Rhizopus spores and the nutrient solution are sprayed over the cassava meal on the trays.
6. After about 40 hours  the cassava meal should be sufficiently enhanced and is ready for use.
7. The "enhanced cassava" can then be mixed with the animal feed and fed right there and then or it can be dried (solar or artificial dryer), ground and kept for several months and used as feed supplement when needed.

Some of the literature that you might find useful is the following:
Daubresse, P. et al. (1987) "A Process for Protein Enrichment of cassava by Solid Substrate Fermentation in Rural Conditions" Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol.XXIX, Pp. 962-968.
Balagopalan, C., Padmaja, G. and George, M. (1991) "Improving the nutritional value of cassava products using microbial techniques" FAO Animal Production & Health Paper No.95 Pp. 127-139.
I Putu Kompiang (1994) "Cassapro: a Promising Protein Enriched Cassava as Animal and Fish Feed" Indonesian Agricultural Research and Development Journal Volume 16, No. 4 Pp. 57-62.
Pham, C. B. et al. (1994) "Enriching Cassava Protein, using solid state fermentation" The cassava Biotechnology Network. Proceedings of the Second International Scientific meeting. Bogor, Indonesia, 22-26 August 1994.
Sukara, E. and Doelle, H.W. (1988) "Cassava starch fermentation pattern of Rhizopus oligosporus" MIRCEN Journal, Vol.4, 463-471

>Is it easy to dry (the cassava leaves)?

Samoa has a dry season between May and September: solar drying is no
problem. During the wet season one could use the widely available "copra
dryers". Our associate, SAC Farms uses the "Los Banos" dryer, a model
designed at the University of Los Banos, Philippines, that uses charcoal
(made from coconut husks and shells) for heat production. Such low-cost
dryers, which are disposable and can be moved from plantation to plantation
can dry one ton of copra in 2 days: no doubt cassava leaves need much less
time!

>What else do you intend to feed the pigs.

Fresh coconuts and copra meal is the main animal feed in Samoa. Most farmers
supplement with thick stemmed grasses (awaiting the duck weed that we hope
to trace one day and multiply!)

Kind regards,
Walter Vermeulen