Digital Commons Network^™

Cultivating The Next Generation Of Pasture Scientists In Australia, Sarita Jane Bennett

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Current students coming through agricultural faculties in Australian universities have grown up in an era of low wool and meat prices, the introduction and acceptance of no-till farming as the norm and a general decrease in mixed farming landscapes in favour of continuous cropping. Since the collapse of the wool reserve price scheme in 1991, wool prices declined and income on wool producing farms followed suit. R & D during this period has also declined from 5-4% agricultural GDP in 1986 to only 3% in 2005 and has favoured research related to cropping rather than that related to pastures and …

Realising The Potential Of Youth In The Development Of Sustainable Grasslands, J. C. Bidogeza, Ralph Von Kaufmann

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The declining interest of youth worldwide to remain in rural areas and pursue careers in agriculture and grasslands is a threat to all human welfare. Ways and means must be found to redress the decreasing interest of youths in grassland development. Ironically there is a lot of untapped potential for rewarding careers but the youths do not have the skills needed to exploit it. This cannot be corrected by providing occasional and piecemeal training opportunities. The perilous consequences of allowing the rangelands to degenerate are sufficiently serious to warrant a comprehensive approach to developing the wide range of skills needed …

Will Intergenerational Succession And Our Current Educational Systems Be Sufficient To Provide The Next Generation Of Farmers And Researchers?, Brian J. Revell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This paper reviews the implications of the age structure in farming and an aging farm population on productivity and innovation. It discusses the factors determining opportunities for new entrants, including those on family farms, and also those affecting outflow and retirement. The implications of recent international trends in agricultural graduate and post-graduate numbers are considered. Finally, issues and recent initiatives needed to address the problems of attracting new blood and expertise to the industry are outlined.

Master Grazer: Improving Grazing Management In Kentucky, S. Ray Smith, Garry D. Lacefield, Lyndsay Jones, Jeff Lehmkuhler, Donna M. Amaral-Phillips, Kelly Kramer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Master Grazer Educational Program is the result of funding provided by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board to educate producers on better utilization of grazing lands to improve livestock production and the profitability of the State. County agriculture and natural resource agents, extension specialists, industry contacts and producers work together to make this program a success. The Master Grazer Educational Program began in 2006 as evening lecture sessions taking place in local extension offices. In 2008, the program grew with the addition of a field session that showcased a farm with successful grazing practices, a farm with underdeveloped grazing practices, …

Creating An International Forage And Grasslands Curriculum, Brianna L. Randow, David B. Hannaway, Kimberly Japhet, Phil Shuler, Chunhua Yang, Zhihua Li, Peter J. Ballerstedt, Alan S. Cooper, Xianguo Wang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands cover nearly 2/3 of the land masses of the world and make up 1/4 of the earth's surface. Although various regions of the world have different names for their grasslands, common management principles govern maintaining and improving these lands for the food production and environmental services they provide. There is much talk today about “finding the balance between environmental protection and economic development” but there is little evidence of knowledge about grassland ecosystems being translated into effectively implemented policies designed to restore degraded grasslands. In contrast, there are many examples of the tragic consequences of economic development rather than …

The North Wyke Farm Platform: A New Uk National Capability For Research Into Sustainability Of Agricultural Temperate Grassland Management, Phil J. Murray, Bruce A. Griffith, Robert J. Orr, Martin S. A. Blackwell, Jane M. B. Hawkins, S. Peukert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The North Wyke Farm Platform is a new UK National Capability that will enable studies that can be closely monitored and controlled under different land-use options at the farm-scale. As a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded National Capability, the Farm Platform provides centralised scientific facilities including core data (field and water chemistry, water flow rates, greenhouse gas emissions from soils, livestock and agronomic data, and farm management records). Access to the Farm Platform for experimental work or to data will be available to other research users and collaborators. This shared approach will enhance the depth and breadth of information …

Farmers Teaching Farmers: What Motivates Volunteer Farm Trainers?, Evelyne Kiptot, Steven Franzel

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This paper assesses the motivation behind the decisions of smallholder farmers to volunteer as farmer trainers despite the fact that they are not paid for their services. Volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) are trained in livestock feeds and feeding methods by extension officers. They in turn train other farmers within their community without pay but receive training and seeds for setting up demonstration plots. Data collection was through a combination of focus group discussions and individual interviews with 99 VFTs from seven East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) sites in central and Rift Valley regions of Kenya. Findings of the study showed …

Grasslands Are My Home: An Innovative Primary School Program Developed For Remote Chinese Villages, Limin Hua, Victor Squires, Chengzhang Zhao

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Environmental education is a useful tool for changing the mind-set of people and it has been developed over many years and in many countries. This paper reports the environmental education program funded by World Bank/GEF pastoral development project in northwest China. The involved writing training materials for students and teachers, teaching in classroom, practicing in filed, and interactions with parents. The purpose of the environmental education program was training a student to influence the whole family, educate a class and help manage a community. The result showed that the environmental education program had positive impact on student attitudes toward environmental …

Strengths And Weaknesses Of National Agricultural Research Systems: Attracting The Next Generation Of Grasslands Researchers, James E. Pratley, Casper W. Roxburgh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the 1960s and 1970s the world faced up to the poverty and hunger facing a significant proportion of the global population, which at the time was around 4 billion people. The efforts of Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution resulted in food production increasing as the technologies and knowledge known at the time were directed to that task. The success of the Green Revolution was such that governments and the world communities turned attention to other issues and agricultural development slid down the list of priorities. The world population is now over 7 billion and projected to be over …

Traditional Practices For Sustainable Rangeland And Natural Resources Management: A Case Study Of The Barzok Region, Iran, Ali Hamidian, Mehdi Ghorbani

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock husbandry ranks second in importance the agricultural economy of Iran and also underpins the livelihood of many nomadic and sedentary peoples (Farhadi 2001). At the same time many rural locations such as the Bazok district have wide appeal to tourists because of cultural and natural features. This means local Iranian villagers must manage the grassland resources in a sustainable way according to geographical and climatic conditions. In general, utilization systems developed by local villages endeavour to combine social, cultural, economic and technical factors in such a way as to provide an optimal output of agricultural and eco-services (Papeli and …

Livestock Policy: Progressive Globalization Currently Focused On Environmental Issue, Food Quality And Safety In The Past And New Human-Animal Relationship In The Future, Jean François Tourrand, Pierre Valarié, Mohamed Taher Srairi, Fernando Coronato, Adama Faye, Mona Abd-El-Zaker Oman, Peggy Strankmann, Hermes Morales, Luming Ding, Liz Wedderburn, Paulo D. Waquil, Laura G. Duarte

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Facing critics regarding the environmental impacts of livestock activities during the past decades, the MOUVE project and the LIFLOD network have developed a specific research to better understand the consequences of livestock policy at both the local and global scales.

In 2006, the FAO book “Livestock Long Shadow” (Steinfeld et al., 2006) drew attention on the environmental impacts of the livestock activities. Facing the incredible awareness, the FAO team tried to mitigate the critics by highlighting the positive functions of livestock (Steinfeld et al., 2010; Gerber et al., 2010; Gerber et al., 2013). Some …

Pasture Establishment And Sustainability In Arid Region Of Rajasthan, India: Prospects And Constraints, Surendra Singh Shekhawat, S. M. Kumawat, S. L. Godara

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rajasthan is the largest state of India and covers nearly 10.4 per cent (342.65 lakh ha) of total geographical area of the country. About 65 per cent of its population is dependent on agriculture. According to livestock census-2007, Rajasthan ranks at the third place (56.663 million) in the country for total livestock population after Uttar Pradesh (60.272 million) and Andhra Pradesh (60.175 million). The large livestock population of the state shows importance of fodder in the state. Western part of Rajasthan state covers the area of the state towards western side of Aravali range of hills, which divides the state …

A Research On Community-Based Livestock Of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Ze Bai, Gang Liu, Qunying Zheng, Hongxuan Zhang, Ligang Dao, Xiaoyi Wang, Xiaode Zhang, Zhi Lu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau locates in Southwestern China, covering the whole area of Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Southern part of Gansu Province, Northwestern part of Sichuan Province and Northwestern part of Yunnan Province, with an area of around 139.08 million hectares of natural grassland, accounting for 39% of the total area of natural grassland in China. It is also the largest natural ecozones in China and one of the least disturbed regions by human activities, with its air, water sources, soil, grassland, wildlife in their pristine state.

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the native home for Tibetan people. Grassland animal husbandry is the …

Working With Farmers: The Key To Adoption Of Improved Fodder Technologies, Satyapriya, P. Singh, H. V. Singh, P. Sharma

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The lack of a close working relationship between agricultural research organizations, different extension organizations and with different categories of farmers is one of the most difficult institutional problems of agricultural technological implementation in India. Agricultural research and extension organizations generally fight over the same limited government resources and they try to increase the flow of resources coming to their respective institutions to solve day-today management problems, rather than ensuring that their respective organizations contribute to the broader goal of getting improved agricultural technology to all major categories of farmers. In addition, the researchers and extension workers of many research and …

Utilizing Grassland Resources For Sub-Arctic Agriculture: Sustainable Muskox Farming In Alaska, Laura Starr, Joshua Greenberg, Mingchu Zhang, Steven Seefeldt, Janice Rowell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment broadly classifies Alaska as a Polar Ecosystem, characterized as being frozen most of the year and underlain by permafrost. Despite this bleak portrayal, some of the largest herds of grazing ungulates are indigenous to Alaska - and thriving. This is both a testament to the resilience of grazing systems in general as well as a statement to the suitability of grazing systems specifically for Alaska. In a state economy dominated by nonrenewable resource extraction, agricultural production has remained largely undeveloped (Fried 2013). However, today there is increasing interest in local agricultural production with the goal …

Grasspea: A Potential Fodder And Feed Resources, Ashutosh Sarker, Pooja Sah, Vijay Kumar Yadav, M. M. Das

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a an important legume crop grown in India, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Nepal, and Pakistan for human food, animal feed and soil health improvement. In India, grasspea is grown in about 521,100 ha, mainly in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Grasspea cultivation is low-cost and easy. Inherently grasspea possesses resistance to drought, excess moisture, salinity, diseases, and insect pests. As grasspea has an ambivalent reputation due to ODAP content in its plant parts, efforts are on to develop low or ODAP-free grasspea varieties with high biomass for dual …

Animal Production In A Subtropical Region Of Mexico: Rangeland´S Productive Characteristics, Benito Albarrán-Portillo, C. M. Arriaga-Jordan, Isela G. Salas Reyes, Fernando Vicente Mainar, Adela Martinez Fernandez, Francisca Aviles Nova, Rolando Rojo Rubio

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dual-purpose cattle farms (DP) in México and in particular in the south west of the State of México are low input, based on tropical pastures under extensive management combined with fodder trees and shrubs that contributes to forage production during the dry season, where grasses are scarce. Farms land extension ranged from 30 to 300 hectares. The stoking rate is low with less than a cow per ha. There is only a perimetral fence, there is no pasture´s subdivision. Cows browse freely within the rangeland 24 h/d all year round. Cattle are predominantly Brow Swiss with small proportion of zebu …

Productive Longevity Of Fodder Galega-Grass Swards, Aleksandrs Adamovics, Olga Adamovica, Iveta Gutmane

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Red clover, alfalfa and white clover are traditional forage crops in Latvia. In Latvian agricultural practice, fodder galega (Galega orientalis Lam.) is grown for a relatively short period. Recently introduced into Latvia, it is rousing evergrowing interest due to its persistency and high yielding ability. Experiments on fodder galega show that this longlived legume survives in pure stands for 25 and more years and provides annual DM yields from 9.56 to 11.0 t ha^-1 (Adamovics and Auzins, 2006; Slepetys, 2000; Slepetys and Adomovics, 2011). Pure fodder galega stands, compared to other legumes, are not thinning out during harvest …

Fodder Yield And Quality Of Egyptian Clover (Trifolium Alexandrinum L.), Annual Ryegrass (Lolium Multiflorum Lam.), And Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.) Monocultures As Affected By Organic And Mineral Fertilization, Heba Sabry Attia Salama

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is the most important forage legume crop in Egypt. Despite the fact that its yield and protein content are high, it is characterized by low dry matter content especially in the 1st cut, in addition to its limited energy supply, attributed to the low carbohydrate content. Therefore, there is a pressing need to introduce some promising winter annual forage grasses, like barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.), and investigate their performance under the Egyptian agricultural conditions. This would enhance the Egyptian animal production systems by providing a high-quality feed …

Diversifying Agricultural Practices To Meet Fodder Requirements In The Nw Himalayas Through Improved Land Use Systems, Anurag Raizada, Suresh Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

True grasslands formed as climatic climaxes in India are confined to the alpine regions (> 3000 m s l) in the Eastern and Western Himalayas and have been studied for their productivity (Joshi et al.,1988., Ram et al., 1989) and vegetation diversity (Raizada et al., 1998). Other grasslands as they exist are stable sub-climax formations formed as a result of forest degradation and the occurrence of secondary succession in almost all over the Himalayan region. The livelihoods of mountain dwellers is mainly dependent on traditional agriculture and livestock rearing. Animal husbandry is an inseparable component of hill …

Dairy Intensification And Grassland Access For Livestock: A Comparative Study Of India And Bangladesh, Braja Swain, Dhiraj Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dairying is the next-best alternative for rural livelihood after crop in South Asia, where more than fifty percent of population depends on it. The milk production is concentrated in the rain-fed and irrigated crop-livestock systems of India, which contributes more than 90 percent of milk production in South Asia. Despite this vast expansion of milk production in India–dairying is characterized by a predominance of small-scale dairy producers who cultivates or have no land and reliance only on indigenous breeds of cattle and buffaloes, where grazing plays an important role for feed. However, dependency on indigenous cattle and grazing changes based …

Analysis Of Livelihood Structure Of Pastoralists In Banni Grassland In Kachchh District Of Gujarat In India, B. L. Manjunatha, M. Shamasudheen, R. K. Bhatt, Devi Dayal, Pratibha Tewari

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Banni grassland in Kachchh district of Gujarat in India is situated at 69⁰24’ E longitude to 23⁰42’ N latitude axis and spread in about 3847 sq km area. Banni region is a vast salt affected plain and experiences arid climate with average rainfall of 317mm received by southwest monsoon spread between June to September with high coefficient of Variation of 65%. Banni grassland is home to migratory pastoralists, generally called maldharies, for more than 500 years. Banni area comprises of 48 hamlets/villages organized into 19 Panchayats with a population of approximately 40,000 people. Maldharies are landless …

Vegetation Dynamics In Relation To Land Use Within The High Altitude Alpine Grasslands Of Lesotho, Southern Africa, Nico Smit, G. Janse Van Rensburg

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Kingdom of Lesotho is characterized by its unique geographical feature of being dominated by rugged mountainous terrain. It is also the only true alpine region in southern Africa that supports high plant species diversity. Large areas suffer from overgrazing and erosion, as well as over exploitation of its natural resources. The livestock industry in Lesotho has long been a vital component of the economic and social structure of the country and the alpine region is considered as an important grazing resource by local Basotho herdsmen. Consequently, a study was conducted with the two objectives: to determine the phytomass, grazing …

Mountain Pasture Management By Goat Farmers: Case Of Kabylia Region, Mouhous, Kadi, Djellal, Berchiche

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In mountainous areas of Algeria, like the countries of North Africa and the Sahel, small ruminants contribute substantially to the food and economic security of mountain households (Bengoumi and Ameziane El Hassani, 2013). Changes in the farming environment affected the small ruminant production systems. These changes induced adaptations related to conducting of breeding and production orientation (Dubeuf and Boyazoglu, 2009). In Tizi Ouzou in Kabylia region, dairy goat farming operates in an environment appropriate because of its relief and vegetation (presence of vegetation, forests,). The extensive farming system is the one used in the study area. The herds are of …

Rejuvenation Of Wild Ber (Zizyphus Species) Through Budding At Farmer’S Field, Ravi Pratap Singh, Satendra Kumar, Rajiv K. Agrawal, Sunil Kumar, M. M. Das, J. B. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ber is mainly cultivated for its fresh fruits, which are rich in vitamins C, A and B complex. Due to its nutritional qualities it is called poor man’s apple (Gajbhiya et al., 2003). A large number of wild ber shrubs (Zizyphus mauritiana, Z. rotundifolia and Z. nummularia) were seen growing on the neglected lands, uncultivated lands, roadsides and farm boundaries in Kadesara Kala Village in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh (India). Production potential of this species is very low because of poor upkeep and inferior genetic makeup. But they have extensive root system which can withstand …

Does Producing Forages Improve Livelihoods In Dry Areas? The Case Of Afghanistan (On-Going Research), Roberto Tellaria, Serkan Ates, Srinivas Tavva, Hyatullah Esmati

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Agriculture is the main livelihood and a major contributor to the Afghan economy. Livestock production contributes with almost 50% of agricultural GDP in Afghanistan where out of 75% Afghans who live in rural areas, 85% keep some livestock (AusAID and ACIAR, 2011). In particular, small ruminants (sheep and goats) provide small holder rural Afghan families with livelihoods, food and capital. However, insufficient feed is a key constraint that limits productivity, income growth and sustainability in the crop-livestock farming (GIRoA, 2009). The purpose of this research was to assess and identify which forage production technologies offers high productivity and resilience to …

Participatory Evaluation Of Herbage Composition, Biomass Yield, And Management Practices Of Natural Grazing Lands In Sidama Highlands Of Southern Ethiopia, Yoseph Mekasha, Birhanu Biazen, Azage Tegegne, Tesfaye Shewage

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Natural grazing land is the dominant source of feed for ruminant livestock in Ethiopia (Alemayehu, 2003; Zewdie and Yoseph, 2014). However, the production capacity and quality of natural grazing lands has been deteriorating over time and could not support optimum livestock production. Overgrazing the natural grazing lands due to poor grazing land management is among the major contributing factors (Alemayehu, 2003). Although previous studies focused on the evaluation of native grass lands it was either limited to arid and semi-arid agro-ecology or undertaken under different settings (Ayana, 2010; Diriba et al., 2012). Moreover, it did not involve the community …

Impact Of Development Projects On Grazing Resources Of Odisha, Binayak Dash, Bijoy Kumar Sahoo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Odisha, a state of modern India lies in the sub-tropical belt in eastern part of the country. It is the 10th largest state of India in terms of geographical area (15.57 million hectares). Out of the total geographical area, 37.33% constitute forest land and 39.69% cultivated land. These 6.180 million hectares of cultivated land is the source of food of almost 41.9 million human beings (Census, 2011) and 20.72 million livestock (Livestock Census 2012) of the state. Thus there is scarcity of land in the state. Majority of the farmers in the state are marginal and small (86.16%) owning less …

Improvement Of Grazing Lands For Better Livestock Production--A Case Study From Chitradurga District In India, K. Girdhar, A. V. Elangovan, H. S. Shivaramu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Chitradurga is a highly drought prone district in the central dry zone of Karnataka, India, with a normal rainfall of 530 mm per annum. Over 85 per cent of cultivable area is rainfed and the livestock plays a vital role in rural income generation in this district. Improper management and overgrazing have resulted in most of the grazing resources declining to a poor, degraded condition. Regeneration of pasture land was vital in the villages due to three reasons - a) people's livelihood dependency on livestock was considerable b) small ruminants played a vital role for landless farmers and c) lack …

Effect Of Fodder Demonstrations In Rainfed Multi-Location Conditions Of Uttar Pradesh And Uttarakhand, Atar Singh, U. S. Gautam, S. K. Dubey, A. K. Srivastav, M. P. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Presently green fodder availability is 64.66 M tons and dry fodder (64.23 M tons.) in Uttar Pradesh, India., the green fodder deficit is 28.3% and dry fodder surplus by 14.1% respectively. Whereas, in Uttrakhand. Green fodder availability is 4.07 M tons and dry fodder 2.83 M tons, green fodder deficit is 48.1% and dry fodder 42.1%. There are many limitations affecting the forage production such as small holding of farmers and preferential need of food grains crops, limited availability of quality seed of improved varieties of fodder crops, low priority for investment in fodder production by the farmers. There is …