Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) in Mashonaland West province, Zimbabwe has embarked on a commercial animal vitamin block production aimed at supplementing animal feed during the summer and winter seasons.
Professor James Madzimure who is in charge of the production of the vitamin blocks at the university confirmed the development in an interview this week saying the block licks had proved to be popular with commercial, small-scale and wildlife farmers across the country.
“SANBIO challenged us to produce a product which is commercialised and currently we are producing blocks which cover ruminant animals and game animals, and we are operating under CUT and our products are branded CUT Agro Plant,” he said.
SANBIO stands for Southern Africa Network for Biosciences, and the entire production of the vitamin blocks is done at the university.
Madzimure said the blocks were unique in that they did not contain urea, a component which farmers usually find to be a challenge to feed animals on because of urea, a product if not well-managed it can be poisonous.
“So we are trying to supplement our animals’ feed so that we increase their growth rate, we increase their milk production and generally increase their health status because there are metabolic diseases that are associated with the shortage of feed.
“In the dry season from June to November, just before the rains, we encourage farmers to use the winter block. In summer periods when the rains start in December up to April, we encourage farmers to use the summer block, which is rich in fortified minerals that are usually in short supply during the summer period because of the leeching that happens.”
Madzimure added that CUT had also upgraded the variety of its blocks on the market and wildlife farmers were now also able to purchase the vitamin blocks for their game.
“For game animals, farmers can now get the winter and also the summer blocks to supplement their animals, which can include the impalas, zebras, giraffes and most animals you find in the game.”
Turning to the marketing of their products, Madzimure explained: “In terms of our market, we are riding on the wings of big companies that have found confidence in our blocks, companies like Capital Foods, Agrovet, Farmers’ Choice and Windmill.
“We have the advantage that our products are now found countrywide. We are supplying both the commercial and small-scale farmers. Our products besides being urea-free are very cost-effective costing about US$14 per kg.
“The future focus is that we are expecting to expand our coverage by opening more branches operated under the CUT brand. Farmers are challenging us saying: ‘there are some areas that are not well covered, and if we can tap into that gap as CUT and try to open (more retail) shops’.
“It is something that we are looking into and we are looking to expand our production. We have also convinced some Diasporans who were importing from South Africa and they have tested our products and are well-convinced that our products are competitive and they have abandoned the importation of the blocks that they were doing from South Africa.”
Madzimure added CUT was also working with the country’s trade market arm, ZimTrade to penetrate the Southern African regional market for the animal vitamin blocks.
