Grazing Behavior and Local Management of Cattle and Buffaloes in Rural Laos

The disappearance of water buffalo from agrarian landscapes in Western China

“…The processes that would ultimately make buffalo redundant were already underway, and greater access to hand tractors accelerated this trend from the mid‐2000s onwards. Yet, in contrast with other scholarship on buffalo abandonment, our stories do not end here (FAO, ; Liu et al, ; Nanda & Nakao, ; Riedel et al, ; Rigg, ; Shirai & Yokoyama, ). Indeed, “modern” technologies such as fences, hydropower dams, and jatropha plantations were key in convincing Handai and Akha farmers to sell their buffalo.…”

“…Yet the evidence we have gathered at the village scale suggests that rather than stabilizing, buffalo numbers in our Southwest China case study villages have fallen drastically over the past decade. These findings replicate those from other authors working in Yunnan or in adjacent countries, including Laos and Thailand, who have documented similar trends (FAO, 2000;Liu, Hu, Ma, & Li, 2006;Nanda & Nakao, 2003;Riedel, Schiborra, Huelsebusch, Huanming, & Schlecht, 2012;Rigg, 2003;Shirai & Yokoyama, 2014).…”

“…Water buffalo have long been central to rural livelihoods in Southwest China, including in ethnic minority societies, where buffalo represent a multifunctional asset like no other. Buffalo are valued for ploughing and providing manure long necessary in both lowland paddy fields and upland rice terraces (Shirai & Yokoyama, ). Buffalo also serve as financial safety nets, easily sold to cope with a major expense, such as a wedding, or to cover a sudden financial need, such as serious illness.…”

Impact of forage introduction on cattle grazing practices and crop–livestock systems: a case study in an upland village in northern Laos

“…In addition, the lack of a relationship between pasture plot number and body size could be ascribed to the intervening effects from the increased travel distance to pastures and water (Hart et al 1993). Monitoring cattle grazing behaviour via GPS might, therefore, contribute to improving grazing systems (Turner et al 2000;Shirai and Yokoyama 2014). Cattle, particularly bulls, in the study village have the potential for weight increase.…”

“…Lao farmers employ a variety of pasture management practices, cattle raising methods, and seasonal combinations to ensure sufficient feed sources (Phonvisay 2013). However, few studies have examined variation in grazing systems across wet and dry seasons in relation to cattle productivity (Pravongviengkham 1998;Horne and Stür 1999;Nakatsuji 2010;Takai and Sibounheuang 2010;Shirai and Yokoyama 2014;Phonvisay et al 2016). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between multiple grazing systems and cattle performance.…”