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The Effects Of Seed Ingestion By Livestock, Dung Fertilization, Trampling, Grass Competition And Fire On Seedling Establishment Of Two Woody Plant Species, Julius Ttjelele, David Ward, Luthando Dziba

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The increasing rate of woody plant encroachment in grasslands or savannas remains a challenge to livestock farmers. The causes and control measures of woody plant encroachment are of common interest, especially where it negatively affects the objectives of an agricultural enterprise. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of gut passage (goats, cattle), dung (nutrients), fire, grass competition and trampling on establishment of A. nilotica (Fabaceae) and D. cinerea (Fabaceae sub family Mimosoideae) seedlings. Germination trials were subjected to: 1) seed passage through the gut of cattle and goats and unpassed/ untreated seeds (i.e. not …

Morphofunctional Diversity Of Diaspores Of Some Range Grasses Of Punjab (India), Amarjit Singh Soodan, Sushant Sharma, Ashok Kumar, Rajdavinder Kaur

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands occupy almost half of the terrestrial expanse of India ranging from coastal to alpine regions. Whyte (1958) defined ‘grassland as the land on which graminaceous species represent the dominance if not the exclusive vegetation’. Grasslands comprise the main source of fodder for the 500 million cattle population in the country besides providing habitat to several plant and animal species. But the grasslands are shrinking due to the pressure of intensive agriculture and urbanization not only in expanse but also in their biodiversity. In this context there is an urgent need to develop not only a policy towards a sustainable …

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 …

Multiple Scale Impacts Of Nomad Settlement On Social-Ecological Systems, Mingming Fan, Wenjun Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are complex interactions and feedback mechanisms between human and natural systems within the coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) (Liu et al. 2007, Li and Li 2012). Human society is the major driving force that changes ecosystem dynamics from local environments to the biosphere (Liu et al. 2007, Kirch 2005). Grasslands, especially the vulnerable arid and semi-arid grassland ecosystems upon which pastoralists live and graze livestock, can be considered as SESs; pastoral activities influence the biophysical environment and set up interactions between the components of these systems (Robinson 2009). In recent years, the ecosystem services provided by grasslands and …

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 …

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 …

Grassland Management In Wildlife Protected Areas (Pa's) In India, R. K. Pandey

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ecological status of Indian grasslands had been a subject of conflicting opinion in the past. Existing grasslands are anthropogenic in origin except, Himalayan meadows in high altitudes. Extensive clearing of the forests for human settlements, agricultural cultivation and domestication of animals in the past have been resulted into opening of pockets/grasslands amidst the forest areas. Such tame grasslands are categorized as succession or rotational grasslands. There are four categories of PAs viz., National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves. Thus, 683 PAs (102 national parks, 551 wildlife sanctuaries, 47 conservation reserves and 04 community reserves) spread over …

The Effect Of Tree Densities On The Biomass Of Leucaena Leucocephala And Chloris Gayana Using A Nelder Fan Design, Anibal Nahuel Alejandro Pachas, H. Max Shelton, Christopher J. Lambrides, Scott A. Dalzell, G. John Murtagh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Leucaena leucocephala-grass pastures are widely used for ruminant feeding in tropical and subtropical regions. In Australia, over 200,000 ha of leucaena grass pasture have been planted with more plantings expected as it is recognized as the most productive, profitable and sustainable feeding system (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007). Planting densities and planting configurations for the leucaena component vary, ranging from single or double leucaena hedgerows 3 to 12 m apart (Radrizzani et al., 2010). There is little information about how tree/grass planting configurations and resulting inter- and intraspecific competition affect above and below-ground interactions. We hypothesise that individual leucaena …

Grasslands In India: Problems And Perspectives For Sustaining Livestock And Rural Livelihood, Ajoy K. Roy, Jai P. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In India, grazing-based livestock husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy as around 50% of these animals depend on grazing. Pasturelands over an area of 12 million ha constitute the main grazing resources that are available. Temperate/alpine pastures are spread across altitudes higher than 2000 m in eastern and Western Himalayas including the Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim states. In Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh,the grazing land availability is as high as 70 %. The area of pasture lands is lower in Himachal Pradesh (36.4%), Sikkim …

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 …

Albizia Procera Based Silvipastoral System: An Ideal Alternate Land Use System For Sustainable Forage Production In Semi-Arid Region, Inder Dev, S. K. Dhyani, K. B. Sridhar, Asha Ram, D. R. Palsaniya, R. K. Tewari, Ramesh Singh, Rupali Tiwwari, Madhulika Srivastava, Mahendra Singh, A. R. Uthappa, P. Rai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

India’s economy is agro-based and about 69% of the total population depends on it for their livelihood (GoI, 2013). Livestock is the integral component of Indian agriculture since time immemorial. Its contribution to national economy through milk, meat, wool as well as farmyard manure is enormous. India has the largest number of livestock, representing over 17% of the world. Among four important species of livestock, cattle represent over 43% of the population followed by buffaloes (19%), goats (26%) and sheep (10%). The share of livestock reared is highest in marginal followed by small and semi-medium land holders implying that marginal …

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.

Comparison Of Two Systems Of Pasture Allocation On Milking Intervals And Total Daily Milk Yield Of Dairy Cows In A Pasture-Based Automatic Milking System, Nicolas A. Lyons, Kendra L. Kerrisk, Sergio C. Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In pasture-based automatic milking systems (AMS), cows usually have a lower milking frequency (MF, the number of milking events in any 24 h period) than those reported in indoor housing systems (García and Fulkerson 2005). Moreover, milking intervals (MI, the interval between consecutive milking events, measured at every milking session in hours since the previous milking event) are higher, with up to 30% of milking events occurring with intervals above 16 h in grazing systems (NA Lyons unpublished data). Milking events occurring with long intervals have a negative effect on milk yield (Schmidt 1960) and udder health (Hammer et al. …

Animal Behaviour And Pasture Depletion In A Pasture-Based Automatic Milking System, Nicolas A. Lyons, Kendra L. Kerrisk, Sergio C. Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In an automatic milking system (AMS) feed is used as an incentive to encourage voluntary and distributed cow traffic to the milking unit (Prescott et al. 1998). Therefore the timing, placement and size of feed allocations need to be managed in order to achieve targeted milking events per day.

Behavioural studies allow the construction of time budgets (Gibb et al. 1998), and aid understanding of how cows modify their behaviour under different management regimes (Johansson et al. 1999). To date there are no published reports on how different location of feed incentives affect cows’ behaviour upon arrival at …

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 …

Semi-Mechanized Harvesting Solutions For Cultivated Fodder Crops, Chandra Shekhar Sahay, P. K. Pathak, B. Narsimlu, C. R. Mehta

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In case of harvesting and threshing, the level of mechanization in India is 60-70 per cent for wheat and rice and less than five per cent for other crops (Mehta et al., 2014) that include fodder also. Herrmann et al.(2011) established that overall area capacities of machine decreased the by 4-24 per cent on taking finer chopping length of 4-6 mm compared to common chopping length of 8-10 mm in the ensiling chain of maize - establishing that finer work in ensiling commands less capacities and higher input costs. Since there is a strong correlation between effective field …

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 …

Influence Of Foliar Sprays Of Thiourea And Sulfuric Acid Against Frost Injury In Berseem, Balwinder Kumar, R. S. Sarlach

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is an important winter season fodder crop which occupies 2 million ha area in India (Kumar et al., 2013). Berseem is generally grown as pure stands or in mixture with annual grass species for feeding to the livestock. During severe winter month periods from December to February, berseem growth is slow due to low minimum air temperature or cold wave or frost occurrence which affects fodder availability to the livestock. To increase growth of berseem either in pure stand or in mixture, farmers generally use excessive urea which not only affects nodule development in …

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, …

Enhancing Productivity Of Guinea Grass Variety Jhgg-08-1 Through Agro-Techniques In Southern Dry Zone Of Karnataka, B. G. Shekara, H. C. Lohithaswa, M. R. Krishnappa, N. M. Chikkarugi, N. Manasa

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) is a major pan tropical grass used throughout the tropics for pasture, cut-and-carry, silage and hay. It is a fast growing and leafy grass, which is palatable to livestock with a good nutritional value. However, it is generally recommended to supplement it with sources of protein in order to meet nutritional requirements or improve animal performance. It grows well on a wide variety of well drained soils of good fertility and it is a good vegetative barrier. It can survive quick moving fires which does not harm the underground roots and drought because of …

Performance Of Guinea Grass Varieties In North Konkan Zone Of Maharashtra, A. V. Dahipahle, S. B. Bhagat, D. B. Shinde, U. V. Mahadkar, S. B. Gangawane

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) is native to Africa but this grass was introduced to almost all tropical countries as a source of animal forage. It grows well on a wide variety of well drained soils of good fertility and it is suitable to stop soil erosion. It can survive quick moving fires which does not harm the underground roots and drought because of the deep, dense and fibrous root system. Guinea grass is a colonizer of disturbed sites, including roadsides, and particularly untended areas. This robust grass forms clumps and may foster soil erosion in invaded areas. Guinea …

Defoliation Impact On The Above And Belowground Productivity Of Festuca Arundinaceae Schreb, Hennie A. Snyman, P. J. Malan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The main objective of pasture management is to maximize plant productivity and ensure sustainable animal performance, without inducing pasture deterioration. Many researchers indicated that plant survival and sustainable production is a function of seedbed preparation, irrigation and defoliation, with defoliation having the largest impact on plant persistence (Fulkerson and Donaghy, 2001). The net effect of defoliation (degree of intensity and frequency) can therefore either be beneficial or detrimental to survival and productivity of a pasture. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of different intensities and frequencies of defoliation on above- and belowground phytomass production of the …