Annual Report 2006/07 - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

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ZIL research projectsLivestocksystemsresearchFodder resourcesZIL research project, Phase VProject leaderEmmanuel FrossardContact personsAstrid ObersonSabine DouxchampsCollaboratorsIdupulapati Rao, Axel Schmidt,Rein van der Hoek, CIAT, Colombia /Martin Mena, INTA, Nicaragua /Andrea Mayer, Michael Kreuzer,ETH ZurichDurationJanuary 2007 – December 2009Benefits of cover crop legumesin smallholder crop-livestock systems ofthe hillsides of Central AmericaDue to population growth in poor rural areas of theNicaraguan hillsides, land use has been intensified in a waythat adversely affects soil fertility. Crop and livestock productivityhas therefore declined, leading to the decrease of incomeand to food insecurity. Cropping is limited to two shortand successive rainy seasons, and livestock suffers from forageshortages during the following five-month dry season.We will evaluate the effects of introducing Canavalia brasiliensis(canavalia), a highly drought-adapted cover legume, eitheras green manure for improving crop productivity or as foragefor improving animal productivity, into the traditional maizebean-livestockproduction system. We hypothesise that itmakes a significant N input in the soil-plant system throughsymbiotic N 2 fixation, decreases water losses and provides agood quality animal feed during the dry season.In May 2007, trials were set up on eleven smallholder farmsin the district of Condega. Green manure trials aim to comparemaize yields and the N budget of the maize-bean rotationwith the maize-canavalia rotation, where canavalia ispartially removed or not during the dry season to serve asanimal feed. Yield and quality of milk from cows grazing thetraditional maize stover versus a maize-canavalia mixturewill be compared in livestock trials. N dynamics in thesoil/plant system will be studied in depth in an on-stationfield experiment, using direct and indirect 15 N-labelling techniques.Forage quality of canavalia will be assessed in feedingtrials with sheep.The project is carried out in collaboration between twogroups of the ETH Zurich (Plant Nutrition and AnimalNutrition), the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture(CIAT) and the Nicaraguan Institute of AgriculturalTechnology (INTA).The socio-economic aspects of this work are addressed by aparallel project funded by the Systemwide LivestockProgramme of the CGIAR, and conducted by CIAT (F. Holmannet al.), INTA (M. Mena) and the University of Zurich (C. Binder).Left: Livestock in smallholder farms of Condega (Department of Esteli, Nicaragua)Right: Canavalia brasiliensis in the field trial of San Dionisio (Department of Matagalpa, Nicaragua)32
ZIL research project, Phase IVProject leaderMichael Kreuzer /Christoph Morger, IntercooperationContact personKarin BartlCollaboratorsJorge Gamarra, Carlos Gómez, Univ. La Molina,Peru / Federico Holmann, Carlos Lascano,CIAT, Colombia / Axel Schmidt, CIAT, Nicaragua /Hans-Dieter Hess, ALP / Urs Scheidegger,SHL / Andrea Mayer, Christophe Lacroix,Hans-Rudolf Wettstein, ETH ZurichDurationJuly 2004 – March 2008ZIL research projectsLivestocksystemsresearchFeeding strategiesImproved feeding systems for smallholder dairy cattlewith emphasis on dry season feedingand its effect on milk production and qualityIn the mountainous regions of Peru and Nicaragua, milk productionis an important source of income for smallholders.The effects of feed quality, cattle genotype and altitudinalposition of the production site on yield and composition ofmilk has been analysed in a feeding experiment carried outat 3 600 m asl in Peru. Six local Criollo cows and six BrownSwiss cows were fed three diets with contrasting quality. Thealtitude effect was determined by analysing the datatogether with the results of an identical animal trial carriedout last year at 200 m asl. Diet and genotype bothsignificantly affected milk production (P
Page 1 and 2: Swiss Centre for International Agri
Page 3 and 4: Table of contentsZIL members. . . .
Page 5 and 6: EditorialThe present Annual Report
Page 7 and 8: An introduction to ZILThe ZIL proje
Page 9 and 10: An introduction to ZILThe Progress
Page 11 and 12: An introduction to ZILOn September
Page 13 and 14: An introduction to ZILIn 2007, the
Page 15: An introduction to ZILThe ZIL Execu
Page 18 and 19: Impact StudyThe development impact
Page 20 and 21: Impact Study18market opportunities
Page 22 and 23: Impact Study20ral (N), human (H), f
Page 24 and 25: ERA-ARDThe European Research Area i
Page 26 and 27: ZIL research projectsOverviewLivest
Page 28 and 29: ZIL research projectsIntegratedPest
Page 30 and 31: ZIL research projectsEcosystemservi
Page 32 and 33: ZIL research projectsLivestocksyste
Page 44 and 45: Research Fellow Partnership Program
Page 64 and 65: Seed MoneySeed Money Projects 2003-
Page 66 and 67: Other international projects of ZIL
Page 68 and 69: Teaching activities related to deve
Page 70 and 71: Development-related thesesSupervisi
Page 72 and 73: Development-related thesesSuperviso
Page 74 and 75: PublicationsPublications72Refereed
Page 76 and 77: PublicationsMathayya, S., Thankacha
Page 78 and 79: PublicationsVariaZIL funded project
Page 80 and 81: PublicationsRFPP projectsAbang, M.,
Page 82 and 83: PublicationsStupak, M., Alder, A.,
Page 84 and 85:
PublicationsStickstoffumsatz und di
Page 86 and 87:
PublicationsOther international pro
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Publicationssubandinen Waldweide-Sy
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ZIL members, collaborators and part
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ZIL members, collaborators and part
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AccountsAccounts 2006*Balance, Dece
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Swiss Centre for International Agri
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