Farming Systems Research Applied in a Project on Feeding of Crop Residues in India

Schiere, J.B.; Singh, Kiran; Boer, A.J. De

doi:10.1017/s0014479700361063

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Such research typically neglected farmers' perceptions or their agro-ecosystems and, not unsurprisingly, led to disappointing results in terms of transfer and uptake of feeding technologies. System analysis provides methodologies and concepts that bridge the gap between formal commodity research and field application (Schiere et al 2000). A final strength of the present study was its ability to bridge disciplinary divides.…”

Section: Research and Development Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Traditionally, much research on straw feeding was done by focusing on laboratory measurements of feed quality and using additives (Pearce et al 1988;Schiere et al 2000). Such research typically neglected farmers' perceptions or their agro-ecosystems and, not unsurprisingly, led to disappointing results in terms of transfer and uptake of feeding technologies.…”

Section: Research and Development Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crop–livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

Erenstein

Thorpe²

2009

Environ Dev Sustain

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Although conceptually simple and often idealized, disentangling crop-livestock interactions typically proves more complex in practice. Part of the complexity arises from their changing nature along agricultural intensification gradients. Such interactions increase in scope when extensive systems intensify, but decline in importance as already intermediate systems intensify further. This changing nature of crop-livestock interactions in relation to the system's developmental stage implies that these exchanges can both contribute but also undermine system sustainability. We examine crop-livestock interactions in the Indo-Gangetic Plains as an empirical case, drawing from village surveys to explore and illustrate these relations and implications along the agro-ecological gradient of this vast and important eco-region. Such an understanding is increasingly needed as adapting crop residue management practices is recognized as the key to address sustainability concerns in the prevailing rice-wheat systems and as a stepping stone towards conservation agriculture. The agricultural R&D community needs to incorporate this understanding more proactively into its R&D agenda if it is to succeed in sustaining productivity gains, improving rural livelihoods equitably, and securing environmental sustainability.

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Section: Research and Development Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Research and Development Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop–livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

Erenstein

Thorpe²

2009

Environ Dev Sustain

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“…Although there have been calls for a greater emphasis on participatory and holistic system approaches in relation to feed R&D (Schiere, 2010), progress has been piecemeal. The disciplinary divides (between livestock and crop scientists; between social and bio-physical scientists) and a prevailingly reductionist perspective in the Indian national agriculture research and extension systems have proven to be considerable hurdles (Erenstein and Thorpe, 2010; Schiere et al ., 2000). In view of such compartmentalization and the general lack of participatory and holistic system perspectives, there are bound to be potential synergies and gains that are overlooked or simply discarded; with likely substantial payoffs when adequately addressed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paradox of Limited Maize Stover Use in India's Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems

Erenstein

Samaddar

Teufel³

et al. 2011

Ex. Agric.

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Cereal residues are an important feed source for ruminants in smallholder crop-livestock systems in the (sub)tropics. In many areas of India maize is a relatively new cash crop where farmers and development agents alike generally perceive maize stover to have limited utility, in contrast with the intensive feeding of other cereal residues in India and the intensive use of maize stover in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. A comparative assessment of maize stover quality (based on a brief review and a feeding trial) indeed confirms its potential as a ruminant feed according to its relative nutritive value. The paper then explores the apparent paradox through a scoping study of maize stover use (based on village surveys) in three contrasting maize-growing districts in India -including both traditional and non-traditional maize producers. The limited maize stover use appears to alleviate seasonal shortages, with tradition and technology helping explain the preferential use of other cereal residues. The paper thereby provides further impetus to India's apparent food-feed paradigm -whereby farmers' staple food preferences coincide with crop residue feed preferences. The paper argues the case for investing in maize stover R&D in India and thus reigniting earlier feed research in general. Indeed, maize stover use is a relatively neglected area by India's agricultural R&D and merits more attention so as to exploit its potential contribution and alleviate eventual tradeoffs. I N T RO D U C T I O NCrop residues are important sources of livestock feed in the (sub)tropics and often also have other productive uses such as fuel, construction material and mulch (Erenstein, 2002;McDowell, 1988;Rao and Birthal, 2008;Suttie, 2000). The relative importance of each use varies geographically and by crop, with the use of fodder tending to increase proceeding to the drier environments (Erenstein, 2003;Rao et al., 2005). Maize -or corn, Zea mays -is no exception, with maize stover being widely used across maizeproducing environments in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia (Erenstein, 1999). Despite this prevalence, our understanding of maize stover utilization in these settings is only partial. Furthermore, despite its potential as a dual purpose food-feed crop, maize improvement efforts across the (sub)tropics have generally solely focused on enhancing grain production. ‡Corresponding author. Current address: Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT, c/o ILRI,

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“…When low quality crop residues are fed to animals, the nutritive value can be improved by adding high quality legume feed (e.g. Singh et al 2003) or by urea treatment of the residues (Schiere et al 2000). By making use of fodder trees within agro-forestry systems different benefits can be obtained simultaneously.…”

Section: Minimising Water Depletion and Degradation Through Integratementioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing benefits from improved livestock water productivity in crop–livestock systems of sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis

Amede

Descheemaeker

Peden³

et al. 2009

Rangel. J.

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The threat of water scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa is real, due to the expanding agricultural needs, climate variability and inappropriate land use. Livestock keeping is the fastest growing agricultural sector, partly because of increasing and changing demands for adequate, quality and diverse food for people, driven by growing incomes and demographic transitions. Besides the economic benefits, rising livestock production could also deplete water and aggravate water scarcity at local and global scales. The insufficient understanding of livestock–water interactions also led to low livestock productivity, impeded sound decision on resources management and undermined achieving positive returns on investments in agricultural water across sub-Saharan Africa. Innovative and integrated measures are required to improve water productivity and reverse the growing trends of water scarcity. Livestock water productivity (LWP), which is defined as the ratio of livestock outputs to the amount of water depleted, could be improved through: (i) raising the efficiency of the water inputs by integrating livestock with crop, water and landscape management policies and practices. Improving feed water productivity by maximising transpiration and minimising evaporation and other losses is critical; (ii) increasing livestock outputs through improved feed management, veterinary services and introducing system-compatible breeds; and (iii) because livestock innovation is a social process, it is not possible to gain LWP improvements unless close attention is paid to policies, institutions and their associated processes. Policies targeting infrastructure development would help livestock keepers secure access to markets, veterinary services and knowledge. This paper extracts highlights from various papers presented in the special issue of The Rangeland Journal on technologies and practices that would enable improving water productivity at various scales and the premises required to reverse the negative trends of water depletion and land degradation.

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Farming Systems Research Applied in a Project on Feeding of Crop Residues in India

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Crop–livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

Crop–livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

The Paradox of Limited Maize Stover Use in India's Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems

Harnessing benefits from improved livestock water productivity in crop–livestock systems of sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis

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