Assessment of Livestock Feed Resources and Coping Strategies with Dry Season Feed Scarcity in Mixed Crop–Livestock Farming Systems around the Gilgel Gibe Catchment, Southwest Ethiopia

In the current study area, livestock are an integral part of the mixed farming system, and play very important roles as sources of draught power, nutrition, cash income, employment and poverty alleviation. However, feed shortage, especially during the dry season, is the most important constraint to optimal productivity. This study aimed to investigate livestock feed resources and feeding practices, coping strategies with seasonal scarcity, and to identify major constraints to livestock production in a mixed farming system around the Gilgel Gibe catchment, southwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from 342 households using a structured questionnaire. The results showed natural pasture, crop residues, stubble grazing, and roadside grasses were the main feed resources, in that order. None of the respondents practiced improved forage cultivation due to insufficient land and lack of knowledge on forage production and utilization. Free grazing was the most predominant feeding system. Almost all respondents experienced dry season feed scarcity. Conserving crop residues and hay, purchasing roughages, reducing herd size and renting grazing land were the major coping strategies to feed scarcity. The farmers’ perceived major constraints to livestock production were feed shortage, animal diseases, and low productivity of local breeds. Institutional, technical and technological interventions are suggested to alleviate the constraints to livestock production in mixed crop-livestock systems in the study area and outside with similar settings.

Livestock, Crop Commercialisation and Poverty Reduction Among Rural Households in the Singida Region, Tanzania

Livestock is an important component of mixed crop-livestock farming systems in the Singida Region in Tanzania, directly or indirectly contributing to household income, food security and poverty reduction among rural people in the region. This paper examined the effect of livestock on crop commercialisation and farmers’ livelihoods in the region. The complementarity between crops and livestock in the farming systems of Singida needs to be recognised, enhanced and utilised not only by farmers and livestock keepers, but also by local government authorities and development practitioners.

Estimating farmers’ internal value of crop residues in smallholder crop-livestock systems: A South Asia case study

Crop residues (CR) are an important, internally produced resource with several uses on smallholder, mixed crop-livestock farms, including livestock feed, mulch, fuel and construction material. This study sets out to develop a method to estimate the internal shadow value of CR as feed and as mulch for smallholder households. The study uses a South Asia case study as illustration using data from a set of village and household surveys in three different sites. The estimated shadow prices were higher for CR as mulch than for CR as feed at all three sites. These results reject the null hypothesis that the estimated shadow price for CR as feed is greater than the shadow price for CR as mulch. Since the null hypothesis was formed based on observing household behavior, the rejection of the null hypothesis implies that there are other reasons to explain why more households use CR as feed versus as mulch.

Can Retention of Crop Residues on the Field Be Justified on Socioeconomic Grounds? A Case Study from the Mixed Crop-Livestock Production Systems of the Moroccan Drylands

Conservation agriculture (CA) involving zero tillage, crop diversification, and residue retention is considered a panacea for several interrelated problems in agricultural production. However, in the mixed crop-livestock production systems of the drylands, crop residues have great significance as sources of animal feed, posing a major challenge in the promotion of CA. While the economic benefits and the drivers of adoption of zero tillage and rotation have been well documented, the literature on the economics of residue retention (RR), especially in the drylands, is scanty. By applying the endogenous switching regression model to a case study of 2296 wheat fields in Morocco, this paper provides evidence on the socio-economic impacts of residue retention. Between 30% and 60% and above 60% of crop residues were retained respectively on 35% and 14% of wheat fields. These levels of residue retention led to 22% and 29% more yields, 25% and 32% higher gross margins and 22% and 25% more consumption of wheat, respectively. Retention of above 60% residue reduces both downside risk and variability of yield while lower levels of residue retention have mixed effects. Residue retention is economically and biophysically beneficial even for owners of livestock as the monetary value of the additional grain yield more than offsets the cost of purchasing an equivalent amount of feed from the market—all providing good economic justification for residue retention. Our findings show that economic reasons are not barriers for adoption of residue retention, but risk factors and absence of alternative feed sources might. The policy implication of our results is that there are high incentives for Morocco and other similar countries in North Africa and West Asia to invest in the development and/or import of alternative feed sources, introducing crop insurance, and raising the awareness of the economic, biophysical and environmental benefits of residue retention among farmers.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES OF POLISH FARMS

The main objective of the study is to identify and evaluate development opportunities among agricultural holdings in Poland according to agricultural types and economic size classes. Thestudy refers to the period between 2015 and 2019 and concerns data regarding farms run by natural persons conducting agricultural accounting within the Polish FADN. The aim of the studywas achieved by assessing the level of income from a family farm as well as accumulation and reproduction in the agricultural holdings under consideration. The research shows that there wasa differentiation in the development potential of farms run by natural persons depending on the agricultural type and economic size class. The highest average accumulation in relation to familyfarm income, as well as the highest reproduction rate, was observed in farms producing poultry.Farms with field crops, horticulture, dairy cows and pigs also had more accumulation than depreciation and these farms provided an extended reproduction of fixed assets. On the otherhand, in holdings with mixed crop and animal production, with permanent crops and specialised in grassland animal husbandry, there was a narrower reproduction of fixed assets.The analysis of agricultural holdings run by natural persons showed that the accumulation rate and the reproduction rate increased along with the economic size of agricultural holdings.Farms with an economic size of up to EUR 25 thousand SO in the studied period recorded a negative accumulation rate and reproduction rate. In the group of farms with an economic sizeof EUR 25 to 50 thousand, the reproduction rate was 1. On the other hand, in the economic size classes above EUR 50 thousand SO there was an extended reproduction.

Understanding Farmers’ Trait Preferences for Dual-Purpose Crops to Improve Mixed Crop–Livestock Systems in Zimbabwe

Competition over land between food and fodder production, along with recurrent droughts and increasing population, has put mixed crop–livestock farming systems in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa under pressure. Dual-purpose crops hold huge potential to ease this pressure and simultaneously improve food and fodder availability in these systems. We investigated farmers’ preferences for dual-purpose maize, sorghum, and groundnut traits, and analyzed linkages of stated trait preferences with production of dual-purpose crops and adoption of improved varieties involving 645 households from two districts in Zimbabwe. The three target crops cover more than 75% of households’ cropping lands. Highly preferred stated traits of dual-purpose crops include yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance. Highly appreciated feed attributes encompass stover yield and digestibility. The adoption of improved varieties is high for maize but low for sorghum and groundnut. Trait preferences are correlated with the production of dual-purpose crops and the adoption of improved varieties of the crops. However, the strengths of these correlations differ for maize, sorghum, and groundnuts. We discuss these linkages and suggest why crop improvement programs should reconcile trade-offs between grain and feed attributes to support mixed crop–livestock systems in Zimbabwe successfully.

The Contribution of Mobile Pastoral Herds to Soil Fertility Maintenance in Sedentary Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems at Farm and Territory Scales—Part of Mutually Reinforcing Social and Ecological Relationships Supporting Sustainability

Agricultural development through settlement schemes on desert lands has always raised acute debates, especially over environmental issues due to cultivation based on intensive additions of water and fertilizers. However, nutrient cycling approaches at the farm level are generally based on apparent N flows, i.e., purchased inputs and sold products, without considering nutrient flows driven by mobile herds crossing the arable lands of sedentary farmers. Through a territory level approach, the present study aimed to assess the contribution of mobile pastoral herds located in the newly reclaimed land on the western desert edge of the Nile Delta on the supply of the manure for local sedentary farms. Based on a survey of 175 farmers, we calculated the partial farm nitrogen balances. Supplemental interviews were conducted with the pastoral community to assess the additional manure coming from grazing practices in the research area. The results show that the sedentary mixed crop-livestock systems based on the planting of Trifolium alexandrinum and a manure supply make a useful contribution toward converting poor, marginal soil into fertile soil. Moreover, grazing of crop residue by pastoral herds on the reclaimed land contributes to social sustainability by maintaining social links between the first occupants, the Bedouins, and the new settlers. Grazing accounts for 9% to 34% of farm-level N input and 25% to 64% of farm-level N output depending on the village and the cropping system. This contribution calls for different rural policies that consider the complementarity between pastoral herders and sedentary farmers that supports both systems' social and environmental sustainability.