Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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 …

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 …

Application Of Pastoralists' Knowledge To Natural Resource Management In Spain, Elisa Oteros-Rozas, María Fernández-Giménez, Ricardo Ontillera-Sánchez, José A. González, Federico Fillat-Estaque

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Extensive livestock rearing has been acknowledged as an important tool for sustainable management of social-ecological systems and biodiversity conservation. In the Mediterranean Basin this relationship has been highlighted in mountainous and rural areas, where the co-evolved assemblages and dynamics of plant communities and grazing practices and patterns are mutually reinforcing. Among extensive livestock rearing systems, mobile pastoralism is a typical adaptation in semi-arid areas and mountainous regions where pasture availability is especially variable in time and space. In Spain, mobile pastoralism dates back to Neolithic and has survived until our days in different ways. An outstanding example of mobility is …

Barriers And Opportunities For The Use Of Forage Tree Legumes In Smallholder Cattle Fattening Systems In Eastern Indonesia, Debora Kana Hau, Tanda Panjaitan, Jacob Nulik, H. Dahlanuddin, Elske Van De Fliert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forage tree legumes (FTL) have existed in the Eastern Indonesian landscape since colonial traders introduced several species in the late 1800s. A specific effort was made to establish leucaena (Leucaena leucoephala) and sesbania (Sesbania grandiflora) for use as forage for cattle fattening at Amarasi in East Nusa Tenggara Province and Central Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, in the 1970s (Yuksel et al. 1999; Dahlanuddin et al. 2005). Its spread within these provinces as potential forage to intensify cattle fattening systems, however, has been slow if not stagnant. In preparation for intensified efforts to encourage …

A Guide To Evaluate And Diagnose Range Management Programs In Extensive Cattle Ranches, Ricardo Vásquez, Silverio G. Pérez

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Commonly, range managers and ranchers apply range management principles and practices without a guide, conventional protocol, or a reference frame. This happens because knowledge in education and even in extension or consultant programs is obtained over time in a diversity of ways and, in turn, transmitted or applied in a diversity of methods, according to the experience, academic degree, or organization sense of the rancher himself, or his technician. Existing range management knowledge should be organized and applied in a systematic and conventional way. Medical science provides a good example of systematic management. Patients are “inventoried”, evaluated, diagnosed and treated …

Ewe Body Condition: Does Farmer Practice Meet Research Guidelines?, Marie J. Casey, John S. Scandrett, David R. Stevens

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A group of sheep farmers in the Southland region of New Zealand were surveyed in the winter of 2011 to determine their current winter management practices and ewe performance. This followed a 3 year Sustainable Farming Fund project to investigate if there was a relationship between maintaining an even ewe body condition score (BCS) during pregnancy and the incidence of vaginal prolapse (bearings). The program included a series of workshops to help farmers improve their ewe winter management and it became apparent that the actual winter feeding practice and ewe performance was relatively unknown.

The research was done to document …

Using E-Learning To Aid Technical Uptake Of Goat-Based Technologies By Small Livestock Producers In The Philippines, Anna Marie P. Alo, Jose Rey Y. Alo, Francisco G. Gabunada Jr., Emilio M. Cruz

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The improvement of goat raising in the Philippines by achieving a stable supply of good quality breeders and highly uniform slaughter goats by 2020 is the aim of an Industry Strategic Plan. While a number of ways of promoting science-based technology have been offered to farmers, countless small to medium-scale farmers are almost impossible to reach. Online FLS or e-learning courses on goats have been developed where learners can take the courses from any place, at their own pace, and in their own convenient time. Internet cafes are available throughout the Philippines, where goat raisers are able to access the …

The Role Modelling And Farming Systems Research Can Play In Redesigning Grazing Systems For Improved Productivity And Environmental Sustainability, Angela Avery, Kate Sargeant, Michael A. Friend, Ralph Behrendt, Paul Sanford, Craig Beverly, Cameron Allen, David L. Michalk

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Achieving production and natural resource outcomes from farming systems is critical with growing demand for livestock products, increasing pressure on land and water resources and the desire of farmers to improve profit and standard of living. In many countries this brings to the fore a number of policy dilemmas and conflicts in terms of pastoral household livelihood, regional economic growth and development, as well as natural resource management. By using two case studies; (1) Temperate Grasslands in Southern Australia (EverGraze project); and (2) Western Grasslands in North West China (ACIAR project), this paper considers how farming systems can be redesigned …

Range Management Program: “Los Ángeles” Experimental Cattle Ranch In Northern México, Ricardo Vásquez, Silverio G. Pérez

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The arid and semi-arid grasslands of both the ejidos (farming communities) and extensive (private) cattle ranches in northern México face serious degradation problems. This is visibly evident in the extent of soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and invasion of undesirable species (Ceballo et al. 2009). Severe impact of drought and over-grazing are important causes for the declining productivity now common place throughout these north Mexican grasslands. Two important contributing factors to this grassland degradation are: (1) the lack of continuous and well integrated education programs on the range and ranch management; and (2) a scarcity of government and private …

Development Of A Forage Evaluation System For Perennial Ryegrass Cultivar And Endophyte Combinations In New Zealand Dairy Systems, Jeremy R. Bryant, David F. Chapman, Elizabeth Leonard, William H. Mcmillan, Graham A. Kerr, Glenn Judson, Tim Cookson, Grant R. Edwards

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An economic index for perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) cultivars is a relatively new concept, although recently introduced in Ireland (McEvoy et al. 2011). By contrast, in dairy cattle breeding, the concept of an economic index rating animals and economic values underlying that index is well entrenched (Philipson et al. 1994; Veerkamp, 1998). Historically, forage evaluation data for individual cultivars were either displayed using absolute numbers for seasonal dry matter production within a season or across all seasons with a notation to indicate statistical differences, or percentage values where a reference cultivar is 100. The adoption of …

Demonstration Farms To Improve Grassland And Household Incomes In Western China, Jing Wang, Mengli Zhao, David R. Kemp, Gemma Turnbull

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Western China is the less developed area of China, of which about 3.31×10⁹ ha is grassland. The livelihoods 40 million people, the majority ethnic minorities, are supported by this grassland. To achieve balanced growth while reducing economic disparities is one of the major challenges that China faces to maintain both its current GDP growth rate and social stability. The development of demonstration farms is an efficient way to alleviate or ideally to solve this challenge. Recent studies conducted on the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia have shown, that under current conditions, stocking rates can be reduced to get both …

Dutch Dairies Reward Grazing, Anjo Elgersma

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Changing societal drivers and consumer demands require systems that provide desired human foods produced through sustainable production systems. The aim was to show effects of grazing system on milk fatty acid (FA) composition in Dutch farming practice and to analyse current developments in grassland utilization and dairy payments. Milk conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentration was a function of hours cows spent at pasture, both at a regional and at a farm scale. Despite beneficial effects of fresh herbage in the dairy production chain on unsaturated FA in milk, the trend in The Netherlands is that cows are more indoors and …

Fodder Seed Bank–An Initiative For Green Fodder Production During Lean Period By Kvk, Jehanabad Under Nicra Project, Shobha Rani, R. K. Sohane, Dinesh Mahto, Basant Kumar Sharma

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Fodder production is an often-overlooked aspect of livestock rearing. The scarcity of fodder during lean period poses great problem before the livestock owners. The case with availability of green fodder is even more serious. Green fodder is essential for feeding of the dairy animals as poor nutrition is the biggest constraint in animal production, especially in dairy cattle production. This problem arises mainly due to the fact that ruminants are basically fed with fibrous forages and low quality roughages such as straws, especially during the lean seasons. The fodder seed availability is a major constraint apart from the interest of …

Sustainability Of Grassland Resources In Afghanistan: A Review, Yashpal Singh Saharawat, Hyatullah Esmati, Abdul Rahman Manan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Afghanistan is land locked country with arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. Out of 65 million ha of its land area, grassland and pastures cover 30 million ha. The grassland is reducing significantly from last six decades mainly due to poor governance in the last three decades of war and conflict, non-existence of scientific capacity and capability, land encroachment, increasing population, urbanization, poor policies and support from the Government, consistent increase in the population of cattle (291%), goats (160%) and (donkeys 290%) during the last two decades (World Bank, 2011).

Adaptation To Changing Institutional, Market And Bio-Physical Environments: The Case Of China’S Grasslands, Colin G. Brown, Scott A. Waldron, John W. Longworth

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the modern world, small pastoral herder households living on grasslands in countries such as China face major challenges in adapting to changes in their institutional, market and bio-physical environments. In China, these changes have been profound over the last 30 years. Herders, their communities and others dependent on the grasslands have responded to these developments but not always as might be expected. In this paper, the sources of the macro-forces in China that have created the pressure for change at the grass roots are outlined and the micro-adjustments made by herders and others in response to these pressures are …

Pasture Reform And Its Implementation In Kyrgyzstan, А. Egemberdiev, K. Ismailov, M. Bayaliev

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Presently the determination of mechanisms for effective management and sustainable use of pasture resources rely heavily on agricultural policy development. This is not only the case in the Kyrgyz Republic but also in other countries because grasslands are a significant resource covering about half of the earth’s surface. The success of developing and implementing policy goals on grassland use often has direct impact on vital national issues as: the welfare of the people; food safety; preservation of the ecological integrity of natural ecosystems, as well as greenhouse gas sequestration in each country where pasture use is critical in the economic …

Understanding Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention For Adopting Improved Grassland Using The Theory Of Reasoned Action, In The Highlands Of Central Mexico, Carlos Galdino Martínez-García, Carloss Manuel Arriaga-Jordan, Adolfo Armando Rayas-Amor, Peter Dorward, Tahir Rehman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Low adoption of improved grassland among small-scale dairy farmers has been attributed to different factors such as farmers and household characteristics, farm characteristics, institutional characteristics and capital constraints (Martínez-García et al., 2012). Several researchers illustrate the importance of farmers’ attitude, beliefs and social pressure from the salient referents in the adoption of innovations (Rehman et al., 2007; Rossi Borges et al., 2014). Regarding Mexico, there is a lack of information about understanding of attitudes, beliefs and social pressure underpinning farmers’ intentions to adopt agricultural innovations. In contrast to many adoption studies, it focuses on an innovation that …

Using On-Farm Demonstrations To Evaluate Newly Developed Cool-Season Forages In The Southeastern Usa, Tim Wilson, Mark Warren, Ann R. Blount, Cheryl L. Mackowiak, Jose C. B. Dubeux, James Devalerio, Barton Wilder, Derek Barber, Sydney Hayter

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Multiple demonstration sites throughout Florida were designed to evaluate and provide hands-on producer and county faculty access to newly developed cool-season winter forage crops that can be grown in the southeastern United States. Research funding for these projects was provided by the Dairy Research and Education Project, supported through the Georgia/Florida Dairy Industry check-off dollars. Early adopter producers interested in evaluating forages were identified for this cooperation. Long-term goals are to have the early adopter producer aid in the trialing and dissemination of information about improved varieties.

Cool-season forages for use on southeastern US livestock operations benefit the producer in …

An Overview Of Current Status And Future Prospects Of Grassland Resource In Sri Lanka, Disna Ratnasekera

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Sri Lanka, nearly 12,000 km² of the total land area is under grass (Pemadasa, 1990). Use of grassland for livestock through traditional way goes back a number of centuries. Almost 20% of the countryside of the earth is covered by grassdominated flora, which includes numerous communities (Pemadasa, 1990).The cohesiveness of traditional societies and social groups in livestock rearing led to complete approaches that resulted in appropriate, environmentally sound sustainable technologies in sustainable grassland management. However, due to growing population and mismanagement, Sri Lankan grasslands are deteriorating. Moreover grasslands play key role in livestock production and environment stability. There …

Performance Of Acacia Senegal L.: Untapped Wealth Of Gum Arabic In Rangelands And Grasslands In Arid And Semi-Arid Region Of India, Rajendra Prasad, Vishva Deepak Tripathi, S. K. Dhyani, A. K. Handa, Badre Alam, Ajit, Ramesh Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Acacia senegal (Linn) Wild a member of Mimosaceae is a small tree of 3-6m in height with umbrella-shaped crown. It is a typical tree of Sahel in Africa from Senegal to red sea and essentially limited to the area between 11⁰ and 16⁰ North, with a wide range of rainfall 100 to 800mm. It spread widely in tropical Africa from Mozambique, Zambia to Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria, and in South Asia in India and Pakistan. In India it is a typical tree of arid regions with a low rainfall of 100-250mm. It is drought resistant …

Valuation Of Forage Production Function Of Rangeland Ecosystems In North Of Iran–East Alborz Mountains, Shafagh Rastgar, Seyed Mojtaba Mojaverian

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangeland ecosystem has 11-17 goods and services that most of them are public and non‐market in nature; meaning they are non‐rival and non‐exclusive and are typically not sold in a traditional; such as climate regulation, soil conservation, biodiversity, etc. (Croitoru, 2007; Wu et al., 2010). Forage is the main product of rangelands. According to the heterogeneity of range forages in terms of economic and lacking organized market for transaction, despite of imagine of ecological economists, it's a public good. So, determining its economic value as one of the main important nonmonetary functions of rangelands ecosystems can help managers to …

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 …

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 …