Forages improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers with beef cattle in South Central Coastal Vietnam

Abstract

In South Central Coastal Vietnam, on-farm research and farmer experience demonstrated the benefits of growing improved forages as a means of improving the year-round quantity and quality of feed available for smallholder beef cattle production. In Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan provinces, 5 new forage species (Panicum maximum cv. TD58, Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II, Pennisetum purpureum cv. VA06, Paspalum atratum cv. Terenos and Stylosanthes guianensis cv. CIAT 184) were evaluated for yield and crude protein concentration. There was no consistent yield difference between locations for the forage grasses, but in Binh Dinh province P. maximum TD58 produced the highest yield. The grasses were comparable in crude protein concentration. Stylo CIAT 184 produced much less forage than the grasses but had a much higher crude protein concentration. All species have potential use, depending on the circumstances and site factors such as fertility, drainage and availability of irrigation. This work was expanded to a total of 45 farmers to gain feedback on farmer experience in growing different forages. The percentage of farmers who "liked" the introduced forages was Mulato II, 92%; TD58, 85%; VA06, 82%; Paspalum, 46%; and Stylo, 36%. By far the most important early socio-economic impact of developing perennial forage plots close to households was an average 50% reduction in the amount of labor and time that farmers spend supplying cut-and-carry forage to their animals. In addition, the growing of forages can meaningfully reduce the grazing pressure on common grazing lands, thereby lowering the potential for environmental degradation. ResumenEn la región Costa Central del Sur de Vietnam, la investigación en fincas y la experiencia de los productores han demostrado los beneficios de forrajes mejorados para una mayor producción, durante todo el año, de alimento de mejor calidad en fincas de pequeños productores de ganado de carne. En las provincias Binh Dinh, Phu Yen y Ninh Thuan fueron evaluados por producción y concentración de proteína cruda (PC) los cultivares: Panicum maximum cv. TD58, Brachiaria híbrido cv. Mulato II, Pennisetum purpureum cv.VA06, Paspalum atratum cv. Terenos y Stylosanthes guianensis cv. CIAT 184. No se encontraron diferencias consistentes en la producción de las gramíneas entre localidades; no obstante en la provincia Binh Dinh, P. maximum TD58 presentó la más alta producción de forraje. Las gramíneas presentaron concentraciones similares de PC. Stylo CIAT 184 produjo mucho menos forraje que las gramíneas pero su concentración de PC fue mucho más alta. Todas las especies tienen un buen potencial de uso, dependiendo de las condiciones de fertilidad del suelo, el drenaje y las facilidades de riego en cada sitio. El trabajo se extendió a 45 productores con el objeto de obtener retroalimentación respecto a las experiencias en el uso de estos forrajes a nivel de finca. Los porcentajes de aceptación (en paréntesis) de las especies introducidas fueron: Mulato II (92%), TD58 (85%), VA06 (82%), Pasp...

Forage options to sustainably intensify smallholder farming systems on tropical sandy soils. A review

“…The cultivation of new forage areas on farms has the potential to create competition for land use where holdings are small. Although only 500 to 1000 m 2 of improved perennial grass is required per head of cattle for farmers to begin accruing productivity and labor benefits (Stür et al 2007;Ba et al 2013), the majority of poor farmers prioritize rice production for cultural and food security reasons (Millar and Photakoun 2008;Tiemann et al 2014b) and may be reluctant to change practice. Therefore, farmers must perceive the value of forage to outweigh the cost as defined by the cultural framework within which they operate, if they are to divert their privately owned resources from it (Ojiem et al 2006).…”

“…Of the main stressors identified as being most limiting to production in ecosystems with sand-textured soils in southern Laos and Cambodia, drought is the most challenging to overcome. Dry season irrigation has been an essential input for livelihood transformations arising from forage adaption in southeast Asia (Ba et al 2013;Stür et al 2013), including Cambodia (Ashley et al 2018b). In these systems, forages are typically grown close to the homestead (Ba et al 2013;Young et al 2014), where collected rainwater is traditionally available from ponds and used for the irrigation of vegetable gardens.…”

“…Dry season irrigation has been an essential input for livelihood transformations arising from forage adaption in southeast Asia (Ba et al 2013;Stür et al 2013), including Cambodia (Ashley et al 2018b). In these systems, forages are typically grown close to the homestead (Ba et al 2013;Young et al 2014), where collected rainwater is traditionally available from ponds and used for the irrigation of vegetable gardens. For farmers who can irrigate forages, the risks of adoption are much lower and the benefits to animal production during the dry season are likely to be much greater.…”

“…This process involves researchers and extension workers introducing farmers to forage growing and assisting them to establish forages on a small scale, but large enough to accrue some labor and animal performance benefits. Previous research indicates that 800 to 1000 m 2 of improved grass per animal is sufficient (Stür et al 2007), although high-performing areas of 500 m 2 have been reported to provide sufficient benefit for farmers to invest in the expansion of their forage areas in Vietnam (Ba et al 2013).…”

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“…A case study from Kenya shows that the adoption of improved planted forages in dairy systems leads to additional roles of women in feed and dairy production and thus more control over the derived incomes from the production system, but also to higher labor burdens, which might affect technology adoption (Lukuyu et al, 2021). Ba et al (2013) report an average of 50% reduction in amount of labor and time spent by smallholder farmers in supplying forages to their animals in south Central Vietnam. The adoption of Urochloa hybrids and other improved forages in Ugandan pig production systems has led to time savings among male and female farmers (reduced time for collecting feed) and thus made it possible for the producers to engage in other economic activities (e.g., farming, small-scale enterprises).…”