Adapting Tropical Pasture Research to the Production System: from Australian Ranching to African Pastoralism

Abstract

SUMMARYThe questions and design of pasture research in tropical Australia and the resulting technologies address problems encountered in the prevailing extensive beef-production systems. In African pastoral systems, forage resource use is more intensive and complex, and production aims are manifold. An example of applied research in central Nigeria illustrates the usefulness of certain components of Australian pasture technology but the need to adapt them, particularly with respect to pasture utilization and management, within trials deliberately designed to address the differing problems in the local pastoral system.