Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

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Potential Benefits of New Forage Germplasm in Dual-Purpose Cattle Farms in the Dry Tropics of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua Federico Holmann CIAT-ILRI, Colombia Milk production in Central America and the Caribbean has grown during the 90´s at an annual rate of 4.6%, which evidences the marked dynamism of the sector (Umaña, 1998). However, even with this high growth, the region is a net importer of dairy products. These imports are growing at an annual rate of 13% due to the high demand. The region went from importing 20% of its needs in 1990 to almost 28% in 1996, equivalent to US$104 million/year (Umaña, 1998). It is estimated that around 85% of the milk produced in the region comes from dual-purpose farms that produce milk and beef with the same herd. This type of production system is mostly found in small and medium farms where pastures are the main feeding source because they are inexpensive and abundant. Research executed by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), carried out by the Tropileche Consortium in the subhumid areas of Costa Rica, has demonstrated that improved forages contribute to the intensification of milk production on small dairy farms by: (1) increasing milk production and stocking rate; (2) releasing areas not suitable for livestock for use as environmental reserves; and (3) reducing the demand for purchased feed inputs and thus improving the cash flow (Holmann et. al., 1999). In addition, producers outside benchmark sites have been observed to spontaneously adopt new forages, mainly in Costa Rica and Peru and to a lesser extent in Nicaragua and Honduras. Objectives This study aims to measure the impact of new forage germplasm on productivity and reduction of production costs, at different on-farm levels of adoption; identify the potential benefits; and determine the region’s seed production needs. The study covered dual-purpose farms located in hillside areas where the Tropileche Consortium operates in the dry tropics of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua. 114
Materials and Methods Data for this study were obtained from direct interviews with 78 producers located in the dry tropics of each country to understand their systems of production, their use of resources, the prices of inputs and products, and the technologies used. In Costa Rica, 21 producers were randomly interviewed in the area of Puntarenas and Esparza in the Central Pacific region. In Honduras, 20 producers were intereviewed in the areas of Olancho, Catacamas, and Juticalpa. In Nicaragua, 37 producers were interviewed in the Muy-Muy and Esquipulas watersheds (Department of Matagalpa), where livestock production is an important activity. A CIAT-developed linear programming simulation model was used to analyze information. This model, based on electronic sheets, maximizes onfarm income. Productivity and Land Use Table 1 shows the averages for livestock inventory, milk production, reproductive parameters, and land use in dual-purpose farms in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua during the time of the study. The largest mean herd size was found in Nicaragua (44 cows and 81 AU) followed by Honduras (42 cows and 78 AU); the smallest mean herd size was found in Costa Rica (23 cows and 36 AU). Milk yield, however, was highest in Costa Rica (6.8 kg/cow per day during the rainy season), followed by Honduras (6.6 kg/cow per day) and Nicaragua (4.2 kg/cow per day). Reproductive and animal management parameters are similar in the three countries, with the only difference that calf and adult mortality is highest in Nicaragua. On-farm land use differed among countries. Large parts of the farms were allocated to pastures, ranging from 77% in Honduras to 95% in Nicaragua. The highest proportion of forest was found in Costa Rica (13%) while this area was minimal in Nicaragua (3%). Small areas were allocated to agricultural crops in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (0.6 ha-1.8 ha), being much larger in Honduras (7.6 ha). The highest percentage of pasture area under low-productivity “naturalized” species (96%) was found in Nicaragua, followed by Costa Rica (84%). The pasture area in Honduras had the highest proportion of improved varieties (69%), which explains to a great extent the high stocking rate found in Honduras (1.44 AU/ha) compared with the other two countries (0.75 AU/ha for Costa Rica and 0.99 AU/ha for Nicaragua). 115
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Feeding Systems with Legumes to Int
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Holmann, Federico and Lascano, Carl
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List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
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At the CIAT-Quilichao station (Depa
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In collaboration with Nicaragua’s
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(Continued) Component Activity Outs
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Activity 2.1. On-farm evaluation of
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FINAL REPORT OF THE TROPILECHE CONS
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RESEARCH RESULTS Component 1: Optim
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during the rainy season, samplings
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Ncidence (%) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
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Table 3. Effect of three types of p
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References Cipagauta, M.; Velasquez
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Table 1. Effect of incorporating St
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Evaluation of Milk Production Syste
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Table 2. Quality of milk produced b
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Table 1. Effect of level and freque
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Effects of Feeding Fresh and Ensile
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Table 1. Daily intake of dry matter
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argentea (taking into account cutti
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Evaluation of Cratylia argentea as
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A 3 x 3 Latin square changeover des
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argentea is recommended over the us
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The silos were left to ferment for
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References Argel, P. J. and Lascano
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y the Grain and Seed Research Cente
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Table 2. Yields per hectare in diff
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Table 1. Treatments evaluated for m
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Table 3. Dry matter and crude prote
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Activity 1.3 Functional relationshi
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increase in milk yield when offered
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Milk Production in Dual-Purpose Cow
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associated pasture. Also, the perce
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that of cows grazing sole cropped p
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Effect of Age of Regrowth and Cutti
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Average DM yields/plant at 60 days
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Percentage 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 F
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Effect of Supplementing Fresh and E
Page 77 and 78: Table 1. Average milk production, t
Page 79 and 80: Lucas, H. L. 1983. Design and analy
Page 81 and 82: U = overall mean Tj = effect of the
Page 83 and 84: In the case of king grass, estimate
Page 85 and 86: Milk production during the season o
Page 87 and 88: Jorge Vela IIAP, Peru Use of Stylos
Page 89 and 90: Use of Stylosanthes guianensis with
Page 91 and 92: Activity 2.3. Integration of inform
Page 93 and 94: Application of the Model to Researc
Page 95 and 96: Table 3. Actual and predicted milk
Page 97 and 98: Usefulness of the CNCPS Model The T
Page 99 and 100: Annual Meeting February 1998, Costa
Page 101 and 102: Regional Consultation Meeting Octob
Page 103 and 104: Ex-Ante Analysis of New Forage Alte
Page 105 and 106: Resource prices and capital investm
Page 107 and 108: Table 3. Direct production costs, g
Page 109 and 110: Production costs decreased as produ
Page 111 and 112: Ex-ante analysis for Nicaragua. The
Page 113 and 114: Real interest (%) 60 50 40 30 20 10
Page 115 and 116: With this alternative, the milk pro
Page 117 and 118: Early Adoption of Arachis pintoi in
Page 119 and 120: Table 2. Change in area of improved
Page 121 and 122: Table 5. Profitability of Arachis p
Page 123 and 124: with a dry season between May and A
Page 125 and 126: From 21% to 73% of the farmers grew
Page 127: Research Recommendations Based on r
Page 131 and 132: Prices of Inputs/Outputs and Use of
Page 133 and 134: Table 3. Amount of feed supplements
Page 135 and 136: adoption level requires the lowest
Page 137 and 138: Table 6. Use of a simulation model
Page 139 and 140: The production cost/kg milk was low
Page 141 and 142: level of adoption can be regarded a
Page 143 and 144: income was lower or equal to 6 mont
Page 145 and 146: Table 10. Annual seed requirements
Page 147 and 148: Nicaragua. In addition, this level
Page 149 and 150: Analysis of the Milk Market of Smal
Page 151 and 152: Results and Discussion Collection o
Page 153 and 154: Table 2. Characteristics of milk an
Page 155 and 156: The third need identified in Hondur
Page 157 and 158: artisan cheese factories milk with
Page 159 and 160: Tropileche Newsletter Federico Holm
Page 161 and 162: Tropileche on Internet Anderson Med
Page 163 and 164: Production of Brochures for Extensi
Page 165 and 166: with heavy soils and frequent rains
Page 167 and 168: systems, its use by ruminants can b
Page 169 and 170: Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26110: Cu
Page 171 and 172: growing this cultivar in Costa Rica
Page 173 and 174: Technical bulletins Argel, P. J. an
Page 175 and 176: International Seminars Argel, P. J.
Page 177 and 178: LIST OF PROJECT PROPOSALS DEVELOPED
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Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

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