1–1.5 T/H Cassava Poultry Feed Pellet Machine in Ghana

Why the Cooperative Uses Cassava in Broiler Feed

Ghana has a large cassava production base, making the crop commercially relevant for feed projects where the cooperative can control processing and quality. Cassava root is rich in starch but relatively low in protein, so it is used as an energy ingredient rather than as a complete poultry feed on its own. The cooperative combines processed cassava meal with protein sources, cereals or cereal by-products, vegetable protein meals, minerals, vitamins and other ingredients according to the broiler finisher formulation.

The project does not use a permanently fixed formula containing 50–60% cassava. Cassava inclusion is established by the feed nutritionist according to analyzed starch, fiber, residual cyanogenic compounds, protein balance and the other available ingredients. For initial commercial production, the cooperative works with a more controlled cassava inclusion range and adjusts it only after feed analysis and poultry-performance evaluation.

SZLH250 Capacity and Project Configuration

The 1–1.5 T/H range is used consistently throughout this project. Actual output can move within that range as cassava inclusion, oil level, mash moisture, die resistance and steam condition change. At 300 operating days and approximately 16 effective pelleting hours per day, theoretical annual machine availability is about 4,800–7,200 tonnes, so a target close to 6,000 T/Y is technically compatible with one SZLH250 when the plant genuinely operates two shifts.

Fresh Cassava Must Be Processed Before Feed Production

Fresh cassava root cannot simply be ground and fed to poultry. The roots contain cyanogenic compounds whose concentration depends on variety and processing condition. The cooperative therefore separates cassava detoxification and drying from pelletizing.

Roots are cleaned and reduced into smaller chips or another suitable form to increase the surface area for moisture and cyanide reduction. Depending on the cassava variety and the cooperative's validated preparation method, processing can include chipping, soaking or fermentation followed by thorough drying. The material is then checked before it is accepted as a poultry-feed ingredient.

Sun drying can be used when weather and hygiene conditions permit, while mechanical drying provides greater control during wet periods. The dried cassava is typically brought to approximately 10–14% moisture for storage and subsequent grinding. Proper drying also matters for mold control; cassava chips exposed to rain, dirty drying surfaces or prolonged humid storage are not automatically suitable for feed simply because their moisture later falls.

From Dried Cassava Chips to 1–3 mm Meal

The feed pellet mill receives formulated mash rather than whole or chipped cassava. After drying, the cassava chips first enter the existing hammer mill and are reduced to approximately 1–3 mm. This gives the batching and mixing section a more uniform energy ingredient and avoids sending coarse root pieces toward the conditioner and ring die.

The grinding target is a particle-size range rather than a claim that every particle is exactly the same dimension. Hammer-mill screen opening, chip hardness, moisture and aspiration all affect the final distribution. The customer therefore evaluates the ground meal by both screen setting and actual mixing behavior.

Cassava meal is then weighed together with the other formula ingredients. Depending on availability and nutrition requirements, these can include maize, rice by-products, soybean meal, palm kernel cake, fishmeal or other approved protein sources, plus premix and minerals. Ingredients that are already sufficiently fine do not need to be ground again simply because the plant has a feed hammer mill.

The Conditioner Does Not Detoxify Cassava

The SZLH250 conditioner prepares an already safe and formulated feed mash for pellet formation. Steam introduces heat and moisture before the feed enters the ring die, improving the physical conditions for compression and helping starch-containing formulas form pellets.

It should not be treated as the main cyanide-removal step. Cassava detoxification must take place during upstream root processing, drying and quality control before the meal is admitted into the broiler-feed formulation. A short conditioning stage cannot be used to justify feeding inadequately processed cassava.

Conditioning temperature and added moisture are also not fixed permanently at 75–80°C or 16–17%. Operators establish the working range from the actual formula, initial mash moisture, steam quality, motor current and finished pellet condition. Cassava starch can contribute useful binding characteristics, but the degree of starch transformation is not assumed to be a fixed 70–80% simply from the conditioner temperature.

Producing 4 mm Broiler Finisher Pellets

The cooperative uses an approximately 4 mm ring die for its main broiler finisher product. Prepared mash passes through conditioning and then enters the SZLH250, where rollers force the material through the ring die openings to form cylindrical pellets.

The 4 mm diameter is the selected specification for this project, not a universal rule stating that 3 mm is too small or 5 mm is always too large for finishing broilers. Feed form depends on bird age, feeder design, farm management and the producer's own product specification.

After pelletizing, the hot feed must be cooled and screened before storage or bagging. Cooling stabilizes the pellet after steam conditioning, while screening removes excessive fines. The cooperative's existing downstream equipment therefore needs to support the same 1–1.5 T/H production range as the pellet mill.

Why the 500 T/Month Target Requires Two Shifts

Capacity arithmetic is important in this project. One eight-hour shift operating 25 days per month gives the SZLH250 only about 200–300 tonnes of theoretical pelletizing capacity. It cannot produce 500 tonnes per month under that schedule.

Running approximately 16 effective hours per day changes the calculation to 400–600 tonnes per month, which places the 500-tonne target inside the machine's practical capacity envelope. The customer therefore schedules the pelleting section across two shifts when monthly demand approaches the full target.

If future demand rises substantially above 500 tonnes per month, the cooperative would need to review not only the pellet mill but also cassava drying, grinding, batching, steam supply, cooling and packaging. A larger pelletizer is useful only when the rest of the plant can support the same additional throughput.

Shipping the Pellet Machine through Tema

The SZLH250 Cassava Poultry Feed Pellet Machine in Ghana is prepared for export from Qingdao, China, with the Port of Tema used as the Ghanaian entry point before inland delivery toward the cooperative in the Bono Region. Tema handles containerized and general cargo and provides a practical logistics gateway for imported industrial equipment serving inland Ghana.

Before shipment, RICHI reviews the existing feed-mill interfaces, including mash-bin elevation, steam connection, electrical supply, pellet discharge position, cooler capacity and maintenance space. The site electrical system must be checked against the delivered motor and control configuration rather than assuming that one voltage or breaker specification automatically applies to every Ghanaian facility.

What Must Be Confirmed for a Cassava Poultry Feed Project

• required pelletizing capacity and realistic daily operating hours;
• fresh cassava volume and dried cassava meal availability;
• cassava variety and validated cyanide-reduction process;
• moisture after drying and storage condition;
• ground cassava particle size before mixing;
• cassava inclusion level based on feed formulation rather than a fixed substitution percentage;
• required pellet diameter and downstream cooler capacity;
• existing grinding, batching, mixing, steam and packaging equipment.

A 1–1.5 T/H Cassava Poultry Feed Pellet Machine in Ghana

This Cassava Poultry Feed Pellet Machine in Ghana project uses one RICHI SZLH250 with a 22 kW main motor to manufacture approximately 4 mm broiler finisher pellets. Properly processed cassava is dried to a stable condition, ground to approximately 1–3 mm and incorporated into a balanced compound-feed formula before conditioning and pelletizing.

The machine provides approximately 1–1.5 T/H. With two shifts totaling around 16 effective hours per day and 25 production days per month, theoretical output is approximately 400–600 tonnes per month, making the cooperative's 500-tonne monthly target achievable without falsely describing it as a one-shift project. For another Ghanaian cassava-poultry project, RICHI Machinery needs the processed cassava specification, target inclusion rate, required T/H, monthly feed target, pellet size, operating schedule and existing equipment configuration before final machine selection.