Rotated grazing in Brachiaria brizantha cv. marandu to improve milk production

In dairy properties, in order for there to be an increase in profit, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of production factors, especially nutrition, which impacts the fixed cost. Increasingly, a balance is sought between the supply of feed and pasture. The rotational grazing method has been adopted by several producers, as it has good productivity in a smaller area. However, the pastures used in this type of grazing, despite their excellent quality, have higher nutritional requirements. The objective of this work was to carry out an economic analysis of the cost of milk production, through the implantation of rotational grazing, and exchange of native pasture for Brachiaria brizantha cv. marandu, on a family farm. This work was prepared in the city of Foz do Iguaçu. An area of ​​6300m2 was used, divided into 28 paddocks of 225m2 using an electric fence. The total cost of production was R$6,047.40, with a positive margin of R$5.143.61 per year. According to the results obtained in the economic analyses, it is concluded that the implantation of rotational grazing and the exchange of native pasture for Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu is a viable management, since the income generated by the sale of milk was sufficient to cover the total costs of production.

Evaluating the Trend in Managing Human-Wildlife Conflicts in and around Akagera National Park, Rwanda

Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) makes wildlife conservation more difficult and threatens the endangered species and human livelihood in adjacent protected areas. While the cases of existing conflicts are often evaluated, their trend vis-à-vis the mitigation measures such as an electric fence has been frequently overlooked. This study aimed at evaluating the trend of human-wildlife conflicts in and around Akagera National Park (ANP) by comparing the situations before and after its electric fencing. This study used both secondary and primary data. Secondary data used exiting literature while primary data has been obtained by using field observation, household questionnaire survey, and Key Informant Interview with park managers and local leaders.The findings revealed that both illegal activities from local population and damages from wild animals have significantly reduced if we compare the situations before and after the establishment of an electric fence around ANP in 2013. In fact, between 2011 and 2020, illegal activities in the park have reduced to 70 %, 80 %, 85 %, and 80 % for captured cows, caught poachers, found traps, and killed animals respectively. However, this electric fence has not yet eradicated all forms of human-wildlife conflicts to the extent of zero case. In this regard, a set of sustainable community-based conservation strategies such as revenue sharing scheme, insurance scheme, compensation measures, etc., is highly encouraged.

Design and development of prototype electric fence energizer

A research project was carried out to design and develop an electric fence energizer that is energy efficient, robust, and effective. An experimental-based applied research project was being developed and carried out under the aegis of Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Development, College of Science and Technology (CST), Phuenthsoling, Bhutan. Two models were designed and developed for laboratory and field tests; one based upon Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) high impedance-based energizer and another with a low impedance-based energizer. Extensive simulations and laboratory testings were carried out for both models. The field tests were also carried out at CST, Genekha, and Begana in Thimphu, Bhutan. From the analysis, it was observed that both the models would work as designed if the fence is ideal (Infinite Impedance between fence and ground). The ideal fence is not possible in reality, there will be some faults, therefore the impulse output voltage of the ZVS based energizer falls to as low as 2.2 kV with which the electric fence becomes ineffective which was observed in the field tests conducted at Genekha and Begana, Thimphu, Bhutan. Therefore, a second model was designed based on the low impedance drive system, which would not require an ideal fence. The field tests conducted at CST showed that the impulse output voltage was 7 to 8kV for 1.5 seconds against a design rating of 14 kV even when the fence was faulty. For both, the models designed the maximum energy output is 2.5 joules. Further detailed laboratory and field tests are required to validate and ascertain the robustness of the designed model.

Usi comunitari e conservazione della natura nell’area protetta di Ndoinet (foresta Mau, Kenya): elementi di conflitto

The article illustrates two elements of conflict found in the Ndoinet Forest area (Mau complex, Kenya): the first concerns the contrasting vision of the local communities and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) of degraded forest areas. The second concerns the conservation practices promoted by the forest service, specifically reforestation initiatives and the proposal to erect an electric fence. After illustrating the most common uses of the forest by the local population, I reflect on the conflicting elements that are created between these and the conservation measures by referring to “classic” and new themes of political ecology.

The elephant at the fence: almsman, panhandler, friend or foe?

Feeding of wild Asian elephants at the Udawalawe National Park perimeter electric fence by the general public is longstanding. We monitored the elephants and feeding activities, and conducted questionnaire surveys of stakeholders. Over 50 individual adult male elephants engaged in the activity. The exclusive male presence was consistent with a high-risk high-gain male strategy. The elephants were mostly offered fruits and vegetables. Over a thousand people a day watched and fed the elephants. Most people bought food for elephants from roadside stalls and vendors had significantly more sales if elephants were present. The feeding of elephants brought significant economic benefit to communities bordering the park. We found the impacts of feeding on the elephants and environment to be largely neutral. Impacts on people and conservation were mainly positive. Actions taken by authorities to stop the feeding have targeted the elephants and resulted in the decrease of feeding but not its elimination. Managing the activity instead would help increase economic benefits and ensure safe interaction between people and elephants. Such management, by directly benefitting local communities, could make them partners in the conservation process and form the basis of an effective outreach program.

entre cercas, brincadeiras e feitiços: os conflitos e as apropriações do território por crianças e jovens quilombolas

brazil has gone through a long process of colonization that still leaves violent marks in the ways of relating to quilombola communities, producing the devaluation of their cultures and knowledge. Through colonization, the lives of quilombola children and young people have become invisible in the face of scientific knowledge that uses European authors as a reference and the urban middle classes as a model. In this text, we present the results of an interventional research carried out between 2017 and 2019, with about 30 children and young people living in a quilombola community in Cafuringa, in Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ. We seek to understand how the experiences of childhood and youth are constituted from the relationships that children and young people establish with the territory, their uses and appropriations, and the modes of subjectification in the face of conflicts experienced in the community. Children take ownership of the territory through collective games held outdoors, in which they explore community spaces, and interact with the land, animals, plants and trees. For these children, these spaces can be "bewitched", "haunted", "sacred", and while fascinating, also generate fear. These ways of relating to the territory are in conflict with the agricultural produce and horse breeding farms, which consider the land as a business, and animals and plants as goods. The children's estrangement in encountering of the electric fence placed by the farm, which symbolizes the private use of the land, social inequalities, and the racial discrimination experienced in their daily lives, leads us to question the project of the overall “civilizing” project built into modernity

Dairy herd production aspects of family farms in Western Amazon, Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the production parameters of herds in 100 dairy family farms in the mesoregion of the Acre Valley, in Western Amazon, Brazil. To this end, the farms were divided into two levels of milk production. Data were collected from March to June 2016, using a 248-question semi-structured form and on-site observations. The information was recorded in SPSS® spreadsheets. Dairy farmers were divided into two clusters known as "high production cluster" (1,755.65 L ha-1 yr-1) and "low production cluster" (492.75 L ha-1 yr-1), using the K-means non-hierarchical method. Descriptive statistics was used and, with the aid of the multivariate cluster analysis, cattle ranchers were divided into the two clusters (high and low production). The results showed that the high-production cluster had larger total milk production (L milk cow-1 day-1) and family income within smaller areas and using less workforce. The farmers in this group also used more ear tags for cattle identification and more technologies such as electric fence and artificial insemination at a fixed time. We concluded that family farms should improve their management and receive technical assistance to strengthen their weaknesses in dairy-cow health and reproduction systems. Moreover, milk yield in these dairy farms should be improved to increase profitability of farmers.