Digital Commons Network^™

Economics Of Bn Hybrid Grass Production Bundelkhand Region Of India: A Case Study, Satendra Kumar, Ravi Pratap Singh, Rajiv K. Agrawal, J. B. Singh, M. M. Das, Sunil Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Napier grass is also called as Elephant Grass due to its tallness and vigorous vegetative growth. The plants tiller freely and a single clump may produce more than 60 tillers under favorable climatic and soil conditions. Unfortunately, the grass coarse-textured, the leaf blade sheaths as well as sharply serrated, leaf margins. Therefore, cross was made between Bajra which is more succulent, leafy, fine-textured, palatable, fast growing and drought resistant and Napier to combine these qualities with its high yielding potential. The outcome Hybrid Napier is a perennial grass which can be retained on field for 2-3 years. Hybrid napier grass …

Economic Review Of Pasture Development Options For North Australian Beef Enterprises, Neil D. Macleod, Dianne Mayberry, Lindsay Bell, Ian Watson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Beef cattle grazing (~14 million head) native pastures is the dominant economic use of northern grazing lands (2.3 million km2). Few enterprises make positive economic returns in most years or achieve the necessary productivity gains (~2% per annum) to offset an ongoing cost-price squeeze (McCosker et al., 2010). A significant contributor to poor performance is low reproductive performance, management of first calving heifers, calf growth and weaning rates and liveweight gain - linked to nutrition and the low quality of pastures. Pasture development technologies (Gramshaw and Walker, 1988) are available but uptake has been poor. Three pasture development options …

Economic Trade-Offs Of Novel Forage Use In Livestock Production Systems: Insights From Australia, Marta Monjardino, Neil D. Macleod, Dean K. Revell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Globally, livestock are a major component of agricultural systems and natural resource management, as well as an important contributor to nutrition and livelihoods, but are often undervalued (Herrero et al., 2009). In Australia, livestock production systems occupy half of the available land and contribute to ~50% of gross agricultural production. The main livestock systems are beef cattle grazing at low intensity in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern and central Australia; and sheep flocks integrated in crop-livestock systems in the temperate zone of southern Australia (Bell et al., 2014). Despite increased physical productivity (changes in outputs relative …

Profitability Of Early Weaning Of Beef Cows At Northern Sonora, Mexico: A Rancher Experience, Salomón M. Moreno, Fernando Ibarra-Flores, Martha Martin Rivera, Maria Del Socorro Antunez Navarro, Rafael Retes Lopez, Jesus Fimbres Preciado, Agustín Cabral Martell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Amount and distribution of precipitation is normally inadequate and uncertain in arid and semiarid Sonoran Desert rangelands. Low precipitation reduces forage quality and quantity and it can negatively influence livestock yield reducing milk production and calf gains. Early removal of the calf from its dam reduces forage needs of the cow-calf enterprise and has been found to improve body weight gain and pregnancy rates in the cow herd (Mulliniks et al., 2013). Additionally, weaning calves early can result in improved animal performance by increasing pregnancy rates, cow body condition scores and increased steer carcass quality while reducing forage needs …

The Grasscutter: An Untapped Resource Of Africa’S Grasslands, E. K. Adu, A. Asafu-Adjaye, B. A. Hagan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The grasscutter (or Greater cane rat – Thryonomys swinderianus) is a common rodent in Africa, south of the Sahara. Its distribution ranges from The Gambia to southern Sudan, across the continent down to south Namibia and South Africa (Fritzinger 1995). The grasscutter grows to > 0.5 m in length and weighs ~8 kg. It has characteristic rounded ears, a short nose, coarse bristly hair, and forefeet smaller than its hind feet. Grasscutters are herbivores and their natural diet is mainly grasses and cane, but they also eat bark, fallen fruits, nuts and many different kinds of cultivated crops. Grasscutters get …

Grass-Based Health, Peter Ballerstedt

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A true discussion of sustainability must focus on improving the condition of humanity. Too often, however, such a discussion is a "dialogue of values that defies consensual definition" (Ratner 2004), with participants implicitly accepting as true numerous foundational beliefs that are factually incorrect or unproven. Dietary policies recommending carbohydrate-based diets are one example. Falsehoods persist despite decades of contradictory re-search results and clinical findings, contaminating a variety of diverse disciplines and discussions. A rational, objective discussion of sustainability in grassland agriculture must confront the issue of public health policy, consider our physical health, the fiscal health of our communities, and …

“From School Of Crisis To Distinguished”: Using Maslow's Hierarchy In A Rural Underperforming School, Molly H. Fisher, Ben Crawford

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Faculty Publications

Despite conditions that would work against a small and rural school in an impoverish rural area of the United States, Fairway Elementary School has managed to excel in its accountability measures. Through interviews with faculty, staff, teachers, students, and parents of children at Fairway Elementary School a model was developed through the lens of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It was found that a new administrator at the school started with the physiological needs of the children and are now working within the esteem stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy. Details from each stage of the hierarchy are provided as a promising practice …

The Effects Of Associated Pod Quality On Seed Recovery And Germination Of Dichrostachys Cinerea And Acacia Tortilis Fed Ruminants, Piet Monegi, Julius Ttjelele, Khanyisile Mbatha

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Pods of different plant species form an important part of the diet of livestock during the dry season due to their high nutritional value compared to grasses. Therefore, herbivores browsing pods of certain woody plants may disperse intact seeds that can potentially germinate. The quality of associated diet such as pod chemistry (i.e. protein and tannin concentration) is one of the most important determinants of success of livestock faecal seed dispersal (Tjelele et al., 2012: Tjelele et al., 2014). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of associated pods quality (i.e. nutrients and tannins …

Research On The Most Sustainable Livestock Carrying Capacity In Grassland Management, Li Yang, Suying Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Although the concept of livestock carrying capacity is highly controversial (Gillson and Hoffman 2007; Roe 1997), it is still used as the key index for grassland management, especially in China. ‘X city’ which has enacted a Lives-tock and Forage Balance Policy (LFBP) since the beginning of this century as part of a trial to test the effectiveness of the policy. The LFBP Implementing Rule in ‘X city’ (Trial Implementation) developed in 2002 was designed with the purpose of trying to adjust the utilization of grassland based on a predetermined livestock carrying capacity (LCC). We collected information on the LCC adopted …

Seasonal Influence On Seed Yield And Quality Of Anjan Grass (Cenchrus Ciliaris L.) Genotypes, R. P. Nagar, S. S. Meena

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Cenchrus species are important perennial pasture component of Dichanthium-Cenchrus-Lasiurus grass cover of India associated with arid and semi-arid regions of tropical and sub tropical climate. It is adapted in wide range of environments due to its drought tolerance, deep roots, rapid response to summer rains, high biomass, resistance to overgrazing, palatable with crude protein 8-10% and 60-70% digestibility (Sawal et al., 2009). After well establishment these grasses give 8-10 t/ha dry fodder out of 3-4 cuts in a year and 100-250 kg/ha seed yield. There is a wide gap between demand and supply of Cenchrus grass seeds resulted about …

The Effect Of Fertilizer On Seed Production Of Melilotoides Ruthenica, Zhaolan Wang, Jiancai Du, Yanyan Zhang, Qingfeng Li, Juan Wang, Jun Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

M. ruthenica is very important legume forage, which has drought resistance, winter-hardness and high protein characteristics, and is thus adaptable wide environmental range, but low seed yield limited its widely extension and utilization. Fertilizer is the necessary nutrition for plant growth and production, Alfalfa production positively correlated with soil content of P and K (Attoe and Troug, 1950), and its seed yield can be increased 20.87%～31.37% by splashing B and Mo during the florescence (Haby and Keonaro, 1998). This study discussed the effect of fertilizer of N, P, K and microelements Mo, B, Cu, Zn on the seed production of …

Seed Production Of Brachiaria Ruziziensis In India--Seed Collection Methods And Feed Opportunities, Edna Antony, K. Sridar, D. T. Pal, Vinod Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Brachiaria ruziziensis is an important fodder crop suitable for high rainfall areas and soils with low nutrient supply. Though the area under B. ruziziensis cultivation in India is not properly documented, it is widely grown in Kerala (Stür et al. 1996) and in parts of Karnataka and Goa. By virtue of its shade tolerance and adaptability, B. ruziziensis have wide scope for adoption in other parts of India. In India, Brachiaria is mainly planted through root slips as availability of good quality filled seeds is very less. It is known that the proportion of filled to unfilled seeds depends …

Improving Smallholder Livelihoods: Dairy Production In Tanzania, Edward Ulicky, Jackson Magoma, Helen Usiri, Amanda Edward

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Tanzania is primarily an agro-based economy, characterized by subsistence agricultural production that employs more than 80% of the population and contributing up to 45% of the GDP (2005). This country is endowed with a cattle population of 21.3 million, composed mainly of indigenous Zebu breed and about 680,000 improved dairy animals. About 70% of the milk produced comes from the traditional sector (indigenous cattle) kept in rural areas, while the remaining 30% comes from improved cattle mainly kept by smallholder producers. In Northern Tanzania and particularly in Hai district of Kilimanjaro region, some dairy farmers organize themselves into small producer …

Quality Fodder From Fruit Trees For Sustainable Forage Production In Semi-Arid Tropics, Sudhir Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

India being at the crux of exploding livestock population in the world, needs to reorient agroforestry potential by inducing the fruit trees based hortipastoral systems to minimize the existing gap between fodder supply and demand from arable farming system. It is realized that in some part of the country probably more animals are depending on shrubs and trees than on grass and legume based pastures. At this juncture of main farm resource limitations, the community can exploit fruit trees to a considerable extent for fodder along with the supplementary benefit from fresh and/or processed fruits. Interestingly, the leaves which usually …

Effect Of Plant Spacing On Yield And Quality Of Leucaena Leucocephala Subsp., Wattanawan Srisomporn, Kharuthai Jantipbadee, Ganda Nakamanee, Sukanya Kampayae

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit commonly known as leucaena, is one of the most productive tree legumes available to tropical agriculture. Leucaena leucocephala subsp. glabrata 34/92 was introduced to Thailand from Oxford Forestry Institute in the year 1996 with another 16 lines and evaluated in Thailand. It was chosen as a potential psyllid resistance and high forage edible yield (Phaikaew et al., 2005). Seed lot 34/92 is derived from K636 through selfing (Hughes, 1993). This report is a part of ‘research and development of Leucaena leucocephala subsp. glabrata production as protein source in commercial feed project’ which contain a …

Forage Production In Peach Based Hortipastoral System In Indian Himalaya, Ram Pralash Yadav, Jaideep Kumar Bisht, T. Mondal, A. Pattanayak

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The North West Himalayan region (NWHR) exhibits a great diversity in geology, physiography, climate, socio-ecology and land use pattern and supports vast livestock population. The annual average rainfall varies from 80 mm in Ladakh to over 2000 mm in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Livestock rearing is an integral part of hill agriculture. The huge animal population (190 lakh) and poor fodder availability (30 to 40 % of the requirement) has widen the gap between demand and supply of forage crops in the region. The area under permanent pasture and grasslands in NWHR is said to be of …

Comparative Nutrient Utilization And Growth Performance Of Jalauni Lambs And Bundelkhandi Kids Grazed On Hardwickia Binata Based Silvopasture System, M. M. Das, S. N. Ram, Akram Ahmed

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Goats and sheep play a significant role in the subsistence economy in India. Goats and sheep are multipurpose animals which provide hair, wool, meat, milk and skin. The production of meat from goats and sheep play a vital role in the supply of animal protein for the people of our country. Small ruminant production in village systems in tropical countries is often characterized by poor growth rates and high mortality (Devendra and Burns, 1970). The productivity of small ruminants can be improved by improving the nutrition either through concentrate feeding or provision of additional forage (Pathasarathy et al., 1984). …

Comparison Of Enriched Silvipasture And Cenchrus Ciliaris Pasture With Natural Pasture In Ravenous Soils For Goat Production Under Rainfed Conditions, Prabhat Tripathi, Manoj Kumar Tripathi, U. B. Chaudhary, Ravindra Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Goat is a future animal and plays a crucial role in providing livelihood and supplementary income to resource poor farmers and landless labourers of rural India. Goat rearing also ensures self-employment and act as a cushion in present climate change phenomena like drought and famine. Goats are found more in ecologically fragile arid and semiarid areas. Hence, it is imperative to address goat production under present scenario of climate change and food scarcity. The diverse challenges and constraints as growing population, increasing food, feed and fodder needs, natural resources degradation, climate change demands a reorientation of our strategies for goat …

Distribution, Diversity And Utilization Of Haloxylon Salicornicum: A Rangeland Shrub Of Arid Regions, V. S. Rathore, J. P. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock systems occupy ~ 30 % of the planet’s ice – free terrestrial area, contributes about 40 % to the agricultural GDP and directly supports the livelihoods of 600 million poor smallholder farmers in the developing world. Livestock play multiple roles (societal, economic and environmental) in the livelihoods of people in communities, especially the poor. Therefore the sustainable livestock production is an imperative to nutritional and livelihood security globally. Haloxylon salicornicum is an important rangeland shrub species of arid regions. The species possesses range of morphological, physiological and ecological adaptation to survive under water limiting, nutrient poor environmental conditions of …

Sustainable Production Of Guava Based Hortipasture System With Different In-Situ Soil And Moisture Conservation In Semi-Arid Region Of India, Sunil Kumar, A. K. Shukla, Harsh Vardhan Singh, A. Ahmed, A. K. Rai, R. Shrinivasan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In India, about 60 % of net sown area is rainfed, contributing 40 % of the total food production; it supports 40% of human and 60% of livestock population. Under such situation, incorporation of fruit trees along with animal husbandry in common farming system is advisable to improve income and nutritional security of the farmers. Horti- pasture system is the most ideal strategy to provide food, nutrition and income security to the people living in rainfed areas. System is socially accepted, ecologically feasible and economically viable for this region (Singh, 1996; Sharma, 2004; Kumar and Chaubey, 2008).

Guava (Psidium …

Forages Improve Livelihoods Of Smallholder Farmers With Beef Cattle In South Central Coastal Vietnam, Ba Xuan Nguyen, Peter A. Lane, David Parsons, Huu Van Nguyen, Phi Khanh Ho Le, Jeff P. Corfield, Tri Tuan Duong

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In South Central Coastal Vietnam, on-farm research and farmer experience demonstrated the benefits of growing improved forages as a means of improving the year round quantity and quality of feed available for beef cattle. In Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan provinces, five new forage species (Panicum maximum, cv. TD58, Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II, Pennisetum purpureum cv.VA06, Paspalum atratum cv. Terenos and Stylosanthes guianensis cv. CIAT 184) were evaluated for yield and crude protein concentration. There was not a consistent yield difference between locations for the forage grasses, but in Binh Dinh province P. maximum TD58 …

In Situ Digestibility Of Gliricidia Sepium Combined With Brachiaria Decumbens In A Silvopastoral System, Suellen B. De Miranda Costa, Alexandre C. L. De Mello, José C. B. Dubeux Jr., Mércia V. F. Dos Santos, Mario De Andrade Lira, Janerson J. Coêlho, João T. C. Oliveira

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Silvopastoral system (SPS) are characterized by a combination of trees, pasture and herbivores animals, in the same physical area, in order to obtain diversified products. A promising legume tree that has been studied and used in SPS in tropical areas is gliricidia [Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Steud]. Advantages of gliricidia use in SPS include N inputs via biological fixation, improvement of soil properties, nutrient cycling and also a source of feed to grazing animals (Cubillos-Hinojosa et al., 2011). Gliricidia has high crude protein concentration in its leaves, which complements the usual N-poor diet of ruminants grazing warm-season grasses. The …

Role Of Shrubs In Rangeland Based Livestock Production System In Western Rajasthan, India, J. P. Singh, V. S. Rathore, B. K. Mathur

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangeland covers ~ 51% of the terrestrial surface of the Earth, and supports half of the world‟s livestock. More than 80 % of forage consumed by domestic livestock is supplied by rangelands in Africa and Asia. Hot arid regions of India cover an area of 31.7 million hectares and out of which Rajasthan state constitutes ~ 61.8 % of the entire area. The crop production in this area is low, unstable and risky. Livestock sustains arid farming systems by virtue of their potential to reduce risk, alleviate poverty, important providers of nutrients and traction for growing crops in smallholder systems …

Utilisation Of Conserved Forage To Improve Livestock Production On Smallholder Farms In Asia And Africa, Marsetyo, Muhammad Shoaib Tufail, Samuel Mbuku, Mupenzi Mutimura, Xusheng Guo, John Piltz

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ruminant livestock are essential to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in many developing countries. Livestock production on these farms is characterised by low milk production, low live weight gain and poor reproductive performance because of poor nutrition. Access to high quality forage has been identified as key to improving livestock health and productivity. Conservation of surplus forage as hay or silage provides the opportunity to ensure livestock have access to high quality forage year-round. This paper reports on forage conservation in select countries in Asia and Africa.

Grazing Behaviour Of Dairy Cows When Grazing Forage Rape In A Pasture-Based Automatic Milking System, Ajantha Horadagoda, Cameron E. F. Clark, Kendra L. Kerrisk, Mohammed R. Islam, Ravneet Kaur, Sergio C. Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forage rape (Brassica napus L.) is a high producing, high nutritive value forage that has been successfully introduced as a grazable forage in conventional, intensified pasture-based dairy systems to fill autumn-winter feed gaps (Garcia et al. 2008). However, incorporation of forage rape as a grazing forage option for automatic milking systems (AMS), in which cows enter and exit grazing areas voluntarily, has not been investigated yet. We conducted an observational study to investigate the suitability of using forage rape in AMS and gain understanding of cow’s foraging behaviour when grazing this forage. The outcomes of this piece of …

Herbage Yield, Quality And Nutrients Composition Of Bajra Napier (Bn) Hybrid Grass Varieties Under Central Gujarat Condition, Digvijay Singh, A. K. Garg

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Among various perennial grasses, BN hybrid grass (Pennisetum glaucum x Pennisetum purpureum) is most popular in irrigated areas of India including Gujarat state due to several factors like wide spread agro-climatic adaptability, high yield potential, nutritional quality, low cost of cultivation, insect-pest-disease resistances, tolerance to grazing/damages by wild animals, vegetative propagation and high response towards manure, fertilizer and irrigations. In Central Gujarat region, farmers are mainly cultivating CO 3 and APBN 1 varieties, which have been supplied to them by agriculture institutes. These two popular varieties were considered as local checks (LC) in trial. Three very old varieties …

Effect Of Sugar Promoters On Biomass Yield And Sugar Content Of Napier Bajra Hybrids, Rajiv K. Agrawal, G. Prabhu, K. K. Singh, Sultan Singh, M. M. Das, Satendra Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In India deficiency of green fodder is estimated to the tune of 35.7% and this difference is likely to increase in coming period due to possible decrease in acreage under fodder crops as the cultivated land is being utilized for urbanization and other industrial uses. In tropical countries like India, crop residues from cultivated crops and grasses (mainly monsoon grasses) constitute the basal diet of livestock. But the nutritive value of these grasses is low (protein and digestibility) than the fodder crops and even in green stage is able only to meet the maintenance requirement of animals. A conservative estimate …

Influence Of Cutting Interval On Yield And Quality Of Purple Guinea Grass (Panicum Maximum Td58) Under Irrigation, Witthaya Sumamal, Pornchai Lowilai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Most of dairy farmers in the northeast of Thailand are smallholders. They have limited pasture area led to lack of good quality roughage throughout the year, especially during the dry season. Farmers usually fed their cattle with agricultural by products, which have low quality and supplemented with commercial concentrate feed. It leads to high milk production cost and more problems of cattle performance. It is necessary to develop and improve the feed quality and quantity, especially pasture, the cheapest and major source of cattle feed. Due to the limited pasture area, intensive pasture system is recommended. They need a suitable …

Effect Of Cutting Intervals On Yield And Nutritive Value Of Stylosanthes Seabrana, Nandini Nimbkar, Sharad Choudhari, Ketaki Kanbargi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In India natural pastures do not meet the nutritional needs of grazing ruminants, and supplementary feeding of crop residues and concentrates is necessary for profitable animal production (Phaikaew et al., 2004). Stylo has a long history of research and development in India and has been used in many production systems including as a fodder crop, in ley farming and intercropping in agroforestry and silvipasture and for wasteland development and soil conservation (Ramesh et al., 1997).

Recent developments in the commercial utilization of stylo as a fodder crop have mostly been in the peninsular Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, …

Agronomic And Nutritional Characteristics Of Selected Brachiaria Hybrids And Varieties Harvested At Three Stages Of Growth, Mupenzi Mutimura, Cyprian Ebong, Idupulapati M. Rao, Ignatius V. Nsahlai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Shortage of quality feed is a persistent livestock productivity constraint and it is accentuated by climate variability and increased unpredictability of precipitation in many areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. Improved Brachiaria genotypes are some of the interventions that can improve feed security and contribute to the global climate change mitigation efforts.