IP Publishing Ltd
JUNE 2008 ISSUE (VOL 37, NO 2)
84 Editorial
95 What do animal nutritionists expect from plant breeding?
105 Matching livestock systems with available feed resources in the Bale Highlands of Ethiopia
111 China’s new cooperation strategy with the World Food Programme: a SWOT analysis
143 Monitor
148 Calendar
Author(s): Subhasis Mandal, K.K. Datta, D.K. Hore and Suchitra Mohanty
Abstract: This article highlights the potential of organic agriculture for enhancing biodiversity in the north- eastern hill region (NEHR) of India. Maintaining databanks on the status, utilization, magnitude of threat and rate of loss of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture is essential for evolving suitable institutional arrangements. Ecologically sound sustainable agriculture needs to be evaluated in terms of biodiversity conservation and improvement of farmers’ income if it is to be established as the best option for attaining these twin objectives, particularly for this hilly region. In-depth analyses are required for ethno-botanical and socioeconomic research to understand farmers’ knowledge and expertise, selection/breeding and utilization and management of plant genetic resources. This will require the approval of the farmers involved, and their knowledge and technologies will have to be protected. Changes in the local species and varieties and those used by farmers need to be understood in detail and appropriate scientific expertise should be exploited together with traditional agricultural practices and natural resources, thereby ensuring synergy between biodiversity and organic agriculture in the NEH region.
Title: What do animal nutritionists expect from plant breeding?
Author(s): Gerhard Flachowsky
Abstract: The ‘wish list’ from animal nutritionists to plant breeders can be summarized in terms of global nutritional security and resource efficiency, along with the increasing improvement/safety of the quality of feeds of plant origin. Reductions in the content of undesirable substances are more important than increases in the content of value-determining components of the plants. The following are also noteworthy: (a) studies with the target animal species are necessary to evaluate the nutritional value and safety of the changes induced in the plants; (b) cooperation among plant breeders and animal nutritionists should be a necessary element from the early stages of breeding programmes to evaluate the changes induced; and (c) life-cycle assessments (eco-balances, documentation of inputs and outputs) should be conducted to compare and evaluate the consequences of breeding programmes.
Title: Matching livestock systems with available feed resources in the Bale Highlands of Ethiopia
Author(s): Solomon Bogale, Solomon Melaku and Alemu Yami
Abstract: The quantity and quality of feed resources in relation to the livestock population were assessed in the Bale Highlands of Ethiopia. Crop residues and stubble accounted for 74% of the feed supply. Crude protein (CP) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were higher (P <0.001) for feed from natural pasture than for crop residues. Fibre content was higher (P < 0.05) for crop residues and stubble. The feed available per household satisfied the maintenance DM requirement of the livestock. The dominant feed resources throughout the year met 131% of the maintenance metabolizable energy (ME) requirement of the livestock per household. However, CP was deficient even for maintenance, meeting only 87% of the maintenance requirement of the animals and indicating the need for supplementation.
Title: China’s new cooperation strategy with the World Food Programme: a SWOT analysis
Author(s): Shuai, Chuanmin
Abstract: This paper compares China’s position with those of the major donors to the World Food Programme (WFP). It provides, in particular, an in-depth analysis of the motives of the USA and India for their large-scale food aid to the WFP. Based on the experiences in these countries and through a SWOT analysis, a new cooperation strategy and relevant policy recommendations are proposed for the policy makers of the Chinese government.
Author(s): Anastasios Michailidis and Afroditi Papadaki-Klavdianou
Abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of agricultural extension services to the productivity and socioeconomic profile of dairy cattle farmers. In addition, the hypothesis that there were important differences among rural smallholder farming communities in relation to dairy cattle productivity and socioeconomic characteristics was tested. Using two-stage cluster sampling, 100 dairy farming households were recruited from several areas of a typical Greek region. The analysis confirmed the hypothesis that there were important differences among the selected areas, mainly in relation to the likelihood of obtaining training and to basic management practices.
Author(s): Chandra Prakash Kala, Mihin Dollo, Nehal A. Farooquee and Drupad C. Choudhury
Abstract: The traditional knowledge and expertise of the Apatani group of villages in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India were evaluated in terms of the cultural and social cohesiveness associated with managing the land, water and agro-biodiversity. Unlike other tribal communities in north-east India, who mainly practise shifting cultivation, the Apatani depend mainly on perennial wet- rice cultivation. They successfully grow 16 varieties of rice in the waterlogged paddy fields by means of organic farming and appropriate use of diverse natural resources. The traditional wet-rice farming system is functional even today and is modified by the community as and when required. Apatani land- use management is conducted using well tried traditional land law systems, and land is classified into 10 major categories on the basis of traditional uses. The paper also highlights the traditional irrigation technology and techniques for maintaining soil fertility and storing grain.
Author(s): Anselm A. Enete and Anthonia I. Achike
Abstract: Urban food insecurity and poverty are fast becoming major problems in the developing world. Urban agriculture has also been variously presented as one of the options for tackling this problem. But is urban agriculture sustainable, given that only the city poor are involved? This paper presents a comparison of output and use of purchased inputs between the rural and urban farmers in Ohafia, south-east Nigeria. Although farm sizes were larger in the rural than in the urban areas, this difference was not statistically significant, apparently because many farmers in the urban areas also purchased farmland in the rural areas. The uses of all the purchased inputs except hired labour were significantly higher in the urban than in the rural areas, indicating efforts by urban farmers to retain soil nutrients in the face of continuous cropping. The use of hired labour did not differ in the two locations, mainly because the aged are involved in agriculture everywhere. Output was however significantly lower in the urban than in the rural areas, apparently because farmers in the urban areas are poor and hence undercapitalized to use adequate amounts of purchased inputs to retain soil nutrients. This observation suggests that if urban agriculture is to act as one of the options for tackling urban food insecurity, the urban poor should be sufficiently empowered financially, not only to apply purchased inputs in the right quantities, but also to adopt innovations in their farming businesses.
Author(s): D.D. Poudel and M.J. Simon
Abstract: Degradation of surface water quality through point and non-point source pollution is a major problem worldwide. Elevated biological oxygen demand (BOD5) in a waterbody results in the depletion of dissolved oxygen and subsequently adversely impacts on aquatic life. Discharge water from a dairy facility is enriched with oxygen-demanding substances such as total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) or organic carbon, and has elevated BOD5. Therefore, it is important to have a sufficiently reduced BOD5 concentration in dairy discharge water prior to discharging it to the natural streams or waterways. The authors compared BOD5 in discharge water from confined dairy and pasture-based dairy, and assessed the effectiveness of the water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) for BOD5 reduction in dairy discharge water at UL Lafayette Research Farm in Cade, Louisiana. The dairy wastewater treatment system consisted of a first anaerobic lagoon and a second facultative lagoon. From 1985 to 2005, water samples were collected at least once a month by the grab method at the outlet of the facultative lagoon. These were analysed for BOD5, total suspended solids (TSS) and pH as per the compliance requirements of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. In 2003, the second pond was divided into two halves and water hyacinths were introduced into one half of the pond. Water samples were collected for one year in seven sampling events by the grab method from the following four locations: inlet and outlet of the first pond, and each outlet of the divided second pond. Water samples were analysed in the lab for BOD5, TSS, total combustible solids (TCS), TN, nitrate/nitrite-N (NO3/NO2-N) and TP; while pH and temperature were determined in the field. Wastewater inflow data and dairy herd data were obtained from the records. The average BOD5 concentration of discharge water from pasture-based dairy was 28% lower compared with the confined dairy. Water hyacinths reduced BOD5 concentration by 30.2%, TN by 44% and TP by 19.4% compared with the pond without water hyacinths. Pasture-based dairy and the introduction of water hyacinths in the dairy wastewater treatment system show the potential for reducing BOD5 and oxygen-demanding substances, as well as minimizing surface water pollution and related environmental degradation from a dairy operation.