Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

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).
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