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Magazine on Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture A

Contribution of small animalsContribution of small animals

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LEISA India is published quarterly by AMEFoundation in collaboration with ILEIA

Address : AME FoundationNo. 204, 100 Feet Ring Road,3rd Phase, Banashankari 2nd Block, 3rd Stage,Bangalore - 560 085, IndiaTel: +91-080- 2669 9512,

+91-080- 2669 9522Fax: +91-080- 2669 9410E-mail: amebang@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in

EDITORIAL TEAM

LEISA India

Managing Editor : K.V.S. Prasad

Associate Editor : T.M. Radha

ADMINISTRATIONM. Shobha Maiya

SUBSCRIPTIONSContact: M. Shobha Maiya

DESIGN AND LAYOUTS Jayaraj, Chennai

PRINTINGNagaraj & Co. Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

COVER PHOTOPhoto: S Jayaraj for AME Foundation

LEISA Magazine is produced in 5 editions

LEISA Magazine - Global editionLEISA Revista - Spanish editionSALAM Indonesia - Bahasan editionAGRIDAPE - French editionLEISA India

The editors have taken every care to ensurethat the contents of this magazine are asaccurate as possible. The authors haveultimate responsibility, however, for thecontent of individual articles.

The editors encourage readers to photocopyand circulate magazine articles.

September 2005 Volume 7 no. 3 Wishing you a very happy new year 2006. Hope you like the calendarprovided inside.

We are highly thankful to you for suggesting possible new readers, as wellas for sharing your experiences. As LEISA is about alternatives andalternative ways of farming, we request those sharing their experiences tohighlight who is practicing them and what have been the lessons learnt.Often, it is difficult to get practitioner’s experiences. It requires efforts toshare or in some cases, somebody else interested, helps them to share. Weare happy that more readers are getting enthused to share their experiencesand helping others learn from them.

Occasionally, we come to know from the authors that they receivedenquiries and appreciation from the readers. We are glad that this platformis intensifying interaction among practitioners. Readers as well as authorsmay also keep us informed regarding your interactions whenever possible.This strengthens our resolve that the platform is in fact intensifying suchexchanges.

We would be grateful if you continue to give your feedback on the articlesthat have been useful for you in some way or the other.

The Editors

Dear Readers

Board of Trustees

Dr. R. Dwarakinath, Chairman

Mr. Aloysius Prakash Fernandez, Member

Dr. Vithal Rajan, Member

Dr. Vasanthi Srinivasan, Member

Mr. S.L. Srinivas, Treasurer

ILEIA is the Centre for Research and Information on Low-External-Input and SustainableAgriculture. It seeks to exchange information on LEISA by publishing a quarterlynewsletter, bibliographies, and books. ILEIADOC, the data base of ILEIA’s documentationcentre, is available on diskette and on ILEIA’s Homepage: www.ileia.orgBack issues of the ILEIA Newsletter are also available on ILEIA’s website.

AME Foundation promotes sustainable livelihoods through combiningindigenous knowledge and innovative technologies for Low-External-Inputnatural resource management. Towards this objective, AME Foundation workswith small and marginal farmers in the Deccan Plateau region by generatingfarming alternatives, enriching the knowledge base, training, linkingdevelopment agencies and sharing experience.

AMEF is working closely with interested groups of farmers in clusters of villages,to enable them to generate and adopt alternative farming practices. Theselocations with enhanced visibility are utilised as learning situations forpractitioners and promoters of eco-farming systems, which includes NGOs andNGO networks. www.amefound.org

Dr. M. Mahadevappa, Member

Dr. N.C.B. Nath, Member

Dr. K. Shivashankar, Member

Dr. S. Jayaraj, Member

LEISA is about Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture. It is about the

technical and social options open to farmers who seek to improve productivity

and income in an ecologically sound way. LEISA is about the optimal use of local

resources and natural processes and, if necessary, the safe and efficient use of

external inputs. It is about the empowerment of male and female farmers and the

communities who seek to build their future on the bases of their own knowledge,

skills, values, culture and institutions. LEISA is also about participatory

methodologies to strengthen the capacity of farmers and other actors, to improve

agriculture and adapt it to changing needs and conditions. LEISA seeks to combine

indigenous and scientific knowledge and to influence policy formulation to create

a conducive environment for its further development. LEISA is a concept, an

approach and a political message.

INDIALEIS

Crop-goat integrationin upland farmingsystemsNguyen Van Hao

Integrating agricultural systems that buildon complementarities of each otherbecomes important not only in increasingtotal productivity but also the ecologicaland economic sustainability. This articledescribes the development and impact ofintegrating goat production into existingfarming systems in upland areas of SouthEastern Vietnam. The authors conclude thatcrop-small ruminant integration can be animportant agricultural activity for small landholders.

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CONTENTSVol. 7 no.3, September 2005

Including Selections from International Edition

4 Editorial

5 Themes for LEISA India

6 The advantages of small animals in farmingsystemsReg Preston

8 Diversifying small farms in CambodiaLuke Simmons, Luy Pisey Rith and TaingSoksithon

11 Crop-goat integrationNguyen Van Hao and Than Xuan Dong

12 Rearing practices of small animals inHimalayasAnup Katoch and Pardeep Kumar

13 Sustaining livelihoods through small animalsN. Sudhamani

14 Chicken-bamboo farming in Southern ChinaLu Jianbo, Zhao Xingzheng and Wang Daoze

16 Improving egg managementCzech Conroy, Nick Sparks, Dinesh Shindey andL.R Singh

17 Organizing production of village chickens forthe marketMichael Zoebisch and Theerachai Haitook

19 Improving livelihoods throughvermicompostingJoshua Daniel, Sucharita Dhar and Jyoti Desai

21 An integrated livestock-fish farming systemJuniati

22 Fish-based mixed farmingA.S. Ninawe

23 Pig rearing - a means to food securityA. Haldar, A. Rol, M. Chettri and S. Gurung

24 Research and training in livestock basedsustainable farming systemsBrain Ogle

25 A local plant for de-worming goatsCzech Conroy and Y. A. Thakur

26 Small livestock in the cityRoberto Sánchez, Nelson Aguilar and FernandoFunes Monzote

27 The Narayana Reddy Column:Small animals for sustainable farming

28 Sources

30 Networking

31 New books

32 Farmer’s diary

33 Good care of goats pays off!Leariwala Jeremiah

34 Spreading ecofriendly disease management insheep – MYRADA KVK’s effortsP. Alagesan, M. Alamelu and S. Suresh

36 Migratory duck farming in IndiaG. S. Unnikrishnan Nair

Diversifying small farms inCambodiaLuke Simmons, Luy Pisey Rith and Taing Soksithon

Decades of civil war haveled to the destruction of thetraditional, diverse farmingsystems in Cambodia. Theyhave been replaced by ricecultivation and as a resultmany people suffer fromfood shortages and poverty.PADEK, a local NGO, isassisting farmers to increasetheir food security bydiversifying their rice farms through the integration of other cropsand livestock. The authors describe the process of change on threefarms in different parts of Cambodia. Diversification has enabledfarmers to provide for the needs of their families and earn a goodliving. At the same time, their dependency on external inputs hasbeen reduced.

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Organizing production of villagechickens for the market

Michael Zoebisch andTheerachai Haitook

In parts of North-EasternThailand, farmers have becomeincreasingly dependent on mono-cropping of maize. Maize is acash crop and increasing amountsof fertilizer and pesticides arerequired to compensate for theongoing reduction in soil fertility.This has left the farmers heavilyindebted and without possibilitiesto make investments to improvetheir farms. To raise someincome, farmers have organized

themselves in a small network to supply batches of nativechickens to the market. The network has managed to coordinateand streamline the production of local chickens within the village,so that a regular supply of chickens is available to the traders.

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Chicken bamboo farming inSouthern ChinaLu Jianbo, Zhao Xingzheng and Wang Daoze

The article describes a recentlydeveloped agroforestry system withan animal component, situated in ahilly region of Southern China.Explains how the systems can becomplementary, by illustrating theexperiences of chicken bamboosystem in terms of better feedmanagement and soil fertilitymanagement. Highlights the socialand economic benefits of the system.

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Editorial

The keeping of livestock is a part of most farmingsystems, from pastoral systems in which people relysolely on their animals, to extensive livestock keeping

as a complement to the cropping activities, to situations wherelivestock keeping is an integrated component in intensifiedagriculture. The importance of livestock keeping lies primarilyin its ability to convert biomass that is not directly useful forhumans (grass, leaves, twigs, agricultural waste-products) intoanimal products. Not only do livestock provide highlynutritious milk, eggs and meat, but also feathers, fibre (wool)and hides. In addition, they provide nutrient rich manure whichcan be used in the growing of crops. Larger livestock are oftenused for transport purposes and provide draught power. Themanure can also be an important source of energy for the farm.As the animals may live for many years, they often serve assecurity for difficult times, like a savings account, to be usedin times of crisis. In this way, the animals themselves as wellas the way in which they are kept and utilized is closely relatedto the particular environment in which the livestock keepingtakes place. Man and animals have developed together overtime and in most traditional societies, this relationship isreflected as an essential part of the culture.

In the conventional agriculture of today, however, the majorfocus has been on simplifying the production process and onmaximizing the yield of the final product, be it grain, meat ormilk. In this process, an increasing amount of external inputshave been used to achieve the production goals and researchhas been focused on developing animal breeds, which respondwell to increased amounts of nutrient rich feed. As a result ofthis, grain production and livestock production have becomeincreasingly specialized and separated from each other. Thegrain is grown with inorganic fertilizer and the livestock arefed on this grain. In this way, livestock production has lost itsrole as a complement and support to agriculture and hasbecome a competitor for grain which could otherwise beconsumed by humans.

Livestock in small scale farming

For most small scale farmers, for whom it is important to makeoptimal use of available resources, livestock still has anessential role to play. In this issue of the LEISA Magazine, wetake a closer look at how livestock can be integrated intodiverse farming systems and in particular at the importance ofsmaller livestock for poorer households. Factors that smallerlivestock such as sheep, goats, rabbits, ducks, chickens andmany others have in common, are that they are relativelyundemanding in their feeding requirements and easy to houseand manage. They provide the same products and services aslarger livestock, such as cattle, but are less risky, are easier toreplace as they are not so costly and reproduce faster. Byoptimising the management of the animals as well as theintegration of the animals into the farming system, the totalproduction of the farm can increase considerably. The raisingof small animals also offers opportunities for a regular cashincome throughout the year. Moreover, small animals are oftencared for by women and children.

In many cases, existing systems can be improved by integratingthe different components in a better way. Jianbo (p 14)describes how researchers in China are promoting theintegration of chickens into an existing agroforestry systembased on bamboo. Keeping chickens and growing bamboo areboth common, but separate systems in the area. By introducing

chickens into the bamboo forests, more efficient use of theland is achieved, nutrient cycling is enhanced and additionalincome generated. Daniel (p 19) provides an example of thedevelopment of vermicomposting in India, which has led toincreasing demand for vermicompost to improve the soil, andalso to income generation for landless women. In Vietnam, theintroduction of goats and fodder crops into upland farmingsystems has improved the total farm production and given asubstantial increase in income (Van Hao, p 11).

It is also possible to combine different livestock species insuch a way that they complement and support each other.Juniati (p 21) describes how an Indonesian farmer adapted theexisting rice-fish farming system by integrating chickens withthe fish component on the farm, thereby obtaining a higher andmore constant income from the fish as well as the chickens.Another example of integration of different livestock species,in this case rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens in an urbansetting, is given by Sanchez (p 26).

Integration of various systems enables better recycling andthereby fuller utilisation of available resources. This isreflected in Ninawe’s article (p 22) wherein the variousbenefits of integrating agriculture, agro-forestry, piggery,poultry and fish are brought out.

Small livestock are also an important source of cash income.Reddy (p 27) explains how native chicken have proved to bethe best source of income for rural poor without muchinvestment.

Many traditional production systems are under increasingpressure, or have changed or disappeared due to social,economic or political changes. Unnikrishnan (p 36) describeshow social changes and changes in agricultural practices havemade traditional duck farming in India increasingly difficult,and how farmers have made successful adaptations to the duckkeeping system and still manage to maintain it. Small livestockare a major component in this diversification and the presenceof (small) animals and an optimal use of the manure producedon the farm are two essential criteria in striving towardssustainability.

Taking care of small animals

The productivity of livestock depends on a number of differentfactors including the breed, how well the animal is adapted toits environment, general care, the quality of feed supplied,housing, protection from predators and the quality of healthcare provided. To increase the productivity of small livestockin a sustainable way, all these factors need to be optimized.

Indigenous breeds

One key consideration is the selection of breed. Exotic or“improved” breeds have been widely promoted because oftheir high production potential, often replacing local breeds.However, the exotic breeds are often not well adapted to theirnew living conditions. This makes it difficult to keep theanimals healthy and leads to low productivity. Local breeds, onthe other hand, are well adapted to the environment and to thefarmers’ management practices. They tolerate heat or coldwell, can cope with low quality feed and have lowmaintenance requirements. Animals adapted to aridenvironments have lower water requirements. Indigenousbreeds are often resistant to or can tolerate diseases that can bedeadly to exotic animals. To realize the genetic potential ofindigenous breeds, better quality feed and selective breeding isnecessary, but unfortunately research and extension has so farshown little interest. Haldar (p 23) explains how cross

The contribution of small animals

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breeding of indigenous pigs with an exotic breed helped inimproving the local breed thereby its production and income.Directly related to the neglect of indigenous breeds is theproblem of inbreeding. Inbreeding increases the incidence ofgenetic diseases and lowers productivity.

Feed

The supply of nutritious and well balanced feed is anotherimportant aspect in the management of livestock, as improvedfeeding gives healthier and more productive animals. Realizingthis, Emuria, a Kenyan farmer, was able to build a healthystock of goats by buying cheap, undernourished animals andproviding them with good fodder and the necessary care(Jeremiah, p 33).

The availability of sufficient amounts of high-quality localfeed is important for small-scale farmers, who usually do nothave the resources to buy animal feeds. By making efficientuse of the farm, fodder crops can be grown without occupyingland necessary for the production of food crops (Preston, p 6).In addition, extensive indigenous knowledge often exists aboutwhich local plants can be used to feed small animals,especially during periods of drought and fodder shortage(Anup Katoch, p 12)

Animal health

The use of locally adapted breeds and the supply of good feedsare important for obtaining a stock of healthy animals, whichis the first step in avoiding disease. In addition to good fodder,animal sheds should be suitable and kept clean, high animaldensities should be avoided and general hygiene is essentialwhen caring for livestock. Nevertheless, general managementpractices alone cannot prevent losses caused by a number ofdiseases and specific measures to control these diseases maybe required. Historically, people have managed to controlanimal diseases to some extent by using traditional cures andmedicines. This ethno-veterinary medicine is still importantand merits attention. Conroy (p 25) describes how ethno-veterinary knowledge was used to develop a treatment againstgastrointestinal parasites in goats, thereby offering a localalternative to an expensive commercial de-worming drug.Similarly, aloevera, as an effective dewormer gained

acceptance by Karnataka farmers, as an eco-friendly alternative(Alagesan p 34). Novel technologies, for example vaccines,also play an important role in preventing disease. Newcastledisease, a viral disease in chicken, can cause very high levelsof mortality, but recently, a new vaccine has been developed.The vaccine is available in small doses and does not requirerefrigeration, qualities which make it possible for smallholdersto make use of it. The vaccine will reduce mortalityconsiderably. Apart from diseases, predators also pose a realthreat to small livestock. In most cases, farmers have foundways to cope with this problem, but, it requires attention.

A people-centred approach

Technological issues are important in small livestockmanagement, but cannot be separated from the social andenvironmental context in which the animal is being raised. Byworking closely together with the local population and jointlyanalyzing a situation, major bottlenecks can be identified andcommon action can be taken to overcome them. This is part ofan empowerment process whereby farmers obtain importantinformation and organize themselves to carry out necessarychange. The establishment of farmer organizations,cooperative networks or self-help groups may be necessary inorder to gain better access to outside services such as credit,animals, information and markets, or to improve communitycollaboration to successfully implement joint undertakings.This is reflected in Valasaguttapalli, where farmers stoppedmigrating and made a livelihood by organising themselves intogroups and availing the benefits (Sudhamani p 13).

Small livestock make valuable contributions to farmingsystems and to people’s livelihoods. They are of special valueto poorer households and should therefore be part of nationaland international poverty reduction strategies. This awarenessshould be translated into policies that support the developmentof integrated farming including small livestock productionsystems suitable to cultural and social realities. A people-centred approach will help ensure that the most critical issues,technological, social or economic, are addressed and thatchanges will lead to lasting improvements for farmers as wellas for society as a whole.

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Themes for LEISA India

Volume 8, No. 1 March 2006

Documentation for change

Agriculture or natural resource management projects often aim toimprove the productivity of and/or regenerate natural resources.Farmers try to improve their farming practices or the profitability of thefarm as a whole. But how do you know what the results and impactsof your undertakings are? And when your project activities show goodresults, or are not so successful, how do others get to know about it?In all these cases a thorough documentation of what you have beendoing as well as of the outcomes will make it possible to monitor andevaluate your activities and further improve them. On the basis of thisdocumentation, it is also possible to inform others of your experiencesand findings.

Documentation can take many forms; from short field observationsrecords of inputs and outputs, to multidisciplinary scientific findings ata more detailed level. However, the aim is the same: To try tounderstand what has been going on so that we can improve ourpractices and get better results. As most of the development ofecological agriculture takes place outside the mainstream institutions,it becomes even more important that those directly involved in theselearning experiences also document them, not only to learn from their

own activities, but also so that the knowledge generated can beshared and in this way contribute to building knowledge andinformation on LEISA. But how do you go about it? In this issue wewould like to highlight examples of processes and methodologieswhich have helped people to document and analyze their ownexperiences.

Deadline for contributions is 28th February, 2006

Volume 8, No. 2 June 2006

Agriculture in transition

Many of the different agricultural systems practised today have onething in common – they are under severe stress and are increasinglyfailing to meet the needs of the producers. In this issue of the LEISAmagazine we would like to examine how farmers manage thetransition process towards more sustainable farming systems and howthey can be supported by fellow farmers, outside organisations, orexternal incentives. We would also welcome examples of howinstitutions have adapted to be able to support these processes better.

Deadline for contributions is 31st March, 2006

You are invited to contribute to these issues with articles (about 800, 1600or 2400 words + 2-3 illustrations or photographs),

suggest possible authors, and send us information about publications,training courses, meetings and websites.

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Farming systems can be roughly divided into on the onehand large scale, highly mechanized and energyintensive systems managed as corporate agri-businesses

and on the other hand small-scale farms, which employ familylabour and use limited external inputs. In the small systems, acloser integration of the different components, recycling andoptimized use of local resources can enhance productivity. Thisapproach aims to imitate the functioning of natural ecosystems,which are sustainable, primarily because the inputs areprovided by nature. In the small integrated farm the livestockcomponent has a central role to play. In addition to providingmeat and other animal produce the animals are important forthe recycling of residues and wastes, converting these fromsources of pollution into valuable inputs such as organicfertilizer or biogas. The selection of appropriate livestockspecies is therefore an important consideration in thedevelopment of an integrated farming system. This articleargues that smaller species of animals are more appropriatethan larger ones.

In a farming system the components to be considered includethe cropping system, the animal system and the management ofthe whole farming system, as well as the recycling of animalmanure.

Cropping systems

Prior to the industrialization of agriculture and the increasingdependency on oil, farming practices were in general moresustainable, simply because fewer external inputs were available.Soil fertility was maintained though fallow, use of leguminousplants either in mixed swards or as rotational crops and livestockoften played a valuable role as a source of manure, and toprovide the power for soil cultivation and for transport.

These basic features of sustainable farming systems are stillrelevant, but can be considerably enhanced in the light of newknowledge and opportunities. The opportunity is to be found atthe heart of the energy crisis, which will result from thereduced availability of oil. This will mean that farm-producedenergy will have increasing value as one of the outputs of thefarming system, and as a replacement for previously purchasedenergy (liquefied gas or kerosene). Fibrous biomass is likely tobe one of the most important sources of alternatives to oil. Thiscreates an opportunity for more diversified cropping systemsand especially the promotion of perennial tree crops, many ofwhich fix atmospheric nitrogen, and of sugarcane, which is themost efficient of all crops for converting water and carbondioxide into biomass through photosynthesis. Pasture is not anoption as it is almost impossible to economically recover thefibrous components not eaten by the grazing animal. “Cut-and-carry” systems facilitate the separation of biomass into edible(leaves for feed) and non-edible (branches and stem forenergy) components. This in turn will put emphasis on thosecrops which are easy to harvest and need less time and effort tocut and carry the biomass to the point of utilization. When thisis taken into consideration, it is found that farmers preferGliricidia, mulberry and cassava over Leucaena, because ofthe greater time required to harvest a given weight of Leucaena

The advantages of small animals in

farming systemsReg Preston compared with the foliages of the others. As well as feed and

fuel, small farms should also produce materials that can beused to meet the construction needs of the family and theirlivestock. This points once again to the advantages of cropsthat have multi-purpose uses. Thus, from sugarcane, the dryleaves can be used as roofing material (see later section), thejuice as energy feed for pigs, the bagasse for fuel energy andfor bedding, and the tops (leaves plus growing points) forgoats and sheep.

Efficient feeding

As in the pre-oil age, livestock will be an integral componentof the new farming systems. In addition, the proposedcropping systems will provide comparative advantages for thesmaller livestock species, especially goats, sheep, rabbits andpigs. The overhanging threat of bird flu, with the potential tospread from South-East Asia to the rest of the world throughmigratory birds, puts a serious question mark over the future ofpoultry other than in a minor scavenging role, the loss ofwhich will not prejudice the economic viability of the overallfarming system.

Beyond the classical arguments for small livestock species– lower investment, facility in marketing the products,adaptation to the management skills of women and children –can be added the appropriate nature of their feeding behaviourand digestive system for utilizing the products of the crops thatwill have new significance as joint producers of feed, energyand construction materials, in integrated farming systems.

The browsing habits of goats make them especially suited toconsume the foliages of tree crops, the stems and branches ofwhich will be the feedstock for electricity generation throughgasification. By contrast, the grazing preferences of sheep will

Hanging the foliage (Gliricidia) on the walls of the shedstimulates feed intake; note the slatted floor which keeps thegoats dry and clean and facilitates collection of the manure.

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often be satisfied by the herbage available on the ground in thetree plantation. They have also proved to be especially suitablefor grazing the access paths among plots of sugarcane, as theydo not find standing cane an attractive feed source.

In lowest income families, pigs are often managed asscavenging animals; however, apart from the difficulty incontrolling them and preventing damage to crops, scavengingsystems also make inefficient use of manure. When energy isat a premium, the opportunity to convert pig manure intobiogas for cooking and effluent for fertilizer for crops and fishponds, will be equally, if not more, important as the incomefrom the sale of the animals.

This leads to the question of which breeds or strains oflivestock will be most appropriate in the integrated farmingsystem. Local “unimproved” breeds are usually viewednegatively by the animal scientist, because of their low rates ofgrowth or of milk production. However, for an animal toexpress its genetic potential for high productivity requiresfeeds of high nutritional value, and these are usually not thefeeds that can be produced when the available resources aresolar energy, soil and water, with minimum external inputs. Anequally important point in this equation is that purchased “highperformance” feeds are highly digestible, which means thatless manure is produced, than if local feeds of lowerdigestibility (and lower cost) are used. Less manure results inless biogas and less fertilizer. When the added value from themanure is taken into account, animals of lower productivitymay be more appropriate.

Rabbits are one of the small livestock species whose uniquedigestive system has not been adequately exploited byconventional research. Like other hind-gut fermenters such asthe horse and deer, rabbits have the combined advantage of themonogastric and ruminant modes of digestion. Unlike in otherlivestock species, a low content of fibre in the feed leads topoorer feed utilization efficiency. These physiologicaladvantages are not utilized in the typical systems used in theindustrialized countries where feeds for rabbits mainly consistof cereals and oilseed meals. In contrast, recent research inSouth-East Asia is showing that acceptable levels ofperformance in rabbits can be achieved with diets of 100percent foliage derived from a crop (water spinach – Ipomoeaaquatica) with a very high biomass productivity, and capacityto use organic manures efficiently. This research, which isespecially relevant in the context of small scale integratedfarming systems, is leading to increasing interest in rabbitproduction in South-East Asian countries, where the threat ofrenewed outbreaks of bird flu has stimulated the search foralternatives to poultry meat.

Disease

Small animal species are as subject to disease constraints asthe larger species. However, when the interaction of thespecies with the other components of the environment –nutrition, housing and management – is taken into accountthen goats certainly, and sheep to some extent, presentcomparative advantages in terms of susceptibility to internalparasites.

In a number of studies it has been shown that when goats aremanaged in a “cut and carry” system, in which the feeds arefoliages of trees and shrubs (as opposed to grasses) then theincidence of intestinal nematode parasites is negligible,making the regular use of chemical de-worming unnecessary.The main reasons appear to be that the infective nematodelarvae do not develop in the foliage of trees and shrubs, but

need the specific micro-environment found in grass swards. Asecondary factor may be the presence of tannin-likecompounds in the leaves of shrubs such as cassava. Whateverthe reason, goats in an intensive “cut and carry” system makinguse of tree and shrub foliages as the feed, are less prone toinfections by parasite nematodes, than when they are managedunder extensive grazing.

Housing

When land is in scarce supply, as is invariably the case in smallscale family farming systems, grazing is rarely a managementoption. Even in upland areas, where land resources are moreplentiful, farmers generally find it convenient to house theiranimals at night time, for their protection and because thisfacilitates the collection of the manure. A general advantage ofsmall livestock species is that their housing needs are simple.The production of modern construction materials, such ascement and bricks are energy-dependent and prices willeventually rise in line with the oil price. In most countries, andespecially those in tropical latitudes, all the constructionmaterials required for housing of goats, sheep and rabbits canbe grown on the farm and are recyclable. In the design ofhousing for small livestock species, the first considerationshould be the provision of an efficient means to recycle thewastes.

Recycling of manure

The manure from different animal species has differentphysical and biological characteristics which must be takeninto account when deciding on which recycling method to use.The excreta from pigs and people is offensive to handle and itis best processed through a closed biodigester. The manurefrom goats, sheep and rabbits is not offensive, but it is not asuitable substrate in a simple biodigester system (see LEISAIndia, 7.1). The pellet-like nature of the manure causes it tofloat on the surface of the liquid inside the biodigester, andscum formation becomes a problem. This kind of manure isbetter recycled through earthworms. It is convenient to housesheep, goats and rabbits on raised slatted floors. It is then asimple procedure to add some earthworms to the manure thathas fallen through the floors. Any feed residues can becombined with the manure. Irrigating the earthworm beds withthe effluent from the biodigester will speed up the process ofdecomposition and growth of the worms. The residue from thisprocess (vermicompost) can be removed at intervals and useddirectly as fertilizer.

Conclusion

In a world faced with declining oil supplies, the comparativeadvantage will shift from large scale, oil dependent, farms tosmall scale integrated farms producing most of their needs,including energy, from natural resources. In such a scenario,small livestock species, especially pigs, goats, sheep andrabbits are the most useful animals, in particular in view of thelow investment, reduced risk, adaptation to recycling systems,capacity to use local feeds and easy management by familymembers.

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Reg PrestonFinca Ecológica, TOSOLY, AA #48,Santander, ColombiaEmail: regpreston@utafoundation.org

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Introduction

Rice is the most important crop in Cambodia and thevast majority of farmers rely on it for their foodsecurity. Since the early 1980s, much effort has gone

into resurrecting Cambodia’s agricultural systems andinfrastructure following the damage caused by decades ofcivil war. Initially this work focussed on rice production, ricevarietal improvement and repairing irrigation systems.Overall, this has been successful and at the national level thecountry has achieved a small rice surplus every year since1995. However, analysis of the situation at the local levelprovides a less positive picture. Nearly half of the 24provinces in Cambodia face food deficits with many familiesnot being able to produce enough rice for their ownconsumption, leading to high levels of chronic malnutritionamong children. Added to this, there is increasing pressure forland caused by a rapidly growing population.

Diversifying small farms in CambodiaLuke Simmons, Luy Pisey Rith and Taing Soksithon

were going to be able to feed everyone, pay for education andhealthcare and improve the family assets.

In 2002, PADEK started to work in Romchek commune andbegan to train farmers on new crop and livestock productiontechniques, compost making and the benefits of ecologicalagriculture. Khoeun’s family was inspired to try some of thesetechniques and they haven’t stopped experimenting andimproving their farm since. They have reshaped their farminto a series of canals, ponds, rice fields and banks forgrowing a great diversity of fruit, vegetables and herbs andraising livestock. All of the rice produced on their 2.1hectares of rice land is needed to feed the family, so theyconcentrate their income-generating activities on their 0.35hectare homegarden by growing a locally adapted herb, callederyngo (Eryngium foetidum) and a number of other crops suchas cassava, gourds, chilli and lemongrass (Cymbopogoncitratus), which they sell in the local market. The family alsoraise cattle, pigs, ducks and fish on their farm. The cattle areused for ploughing the rice fields and their dung is used tomake compost. They are fed rice straw and allowed to grazeon the grass growing along the banks of the rice fields. Thepigs and ducks are kept in cages underneath the house and aremostly raised for consumption by the family. They are fedwith rice bran, broken rice and vegetable wastes. The familyhave been experimenting with a nutritious pig feed made fromthe chopped stems of old banana plants, mixed with salt andpalm sugar and their pigs have responded well. Two varietiesof fish, common carp (Cyprinus carpio carpio) and silverbarb (Barbonymus gonionotus) are raised together in pondslocated in the homegarden. They are fed with rice bran andalso feed on duckweed, a small aquatic herb that grows in thepond. Some animal manure is periodically added to the pondto stimulate the growth of the duckweed and other aquaticplants, for the fish to feed on.

Mr Kheit LeamKheit Leam lives with his wife Em Sarin, three sons, onedaughter and her husband and three grandchildren in PorChamroeun commune, Kampong Speu Province in the southof Cambodia. The family has been member of a self-helpgroup since 1995. The members of the group meet once amonth to deposit money into a group fund from whichmembers can take loans. Mr Leam thinks that the self-helpgroups are an excellent way of saving and borrowing moneyand helping other people in the community in times of need.They are also a good opportunity to share new farmingtechniques and to learn from each other. The family has beenable to use loans from the group and some of their ownsavings to buy a rice mill, piglets and chickens for their farm.The production of chickens and pigs is now one of their mainincome-generating activities.

Before 1995, the food security of the family was not good.They only grew rice on their farm and were heavily dependenton harvesting timber and fuelwood from the forest foradditional income. After PADEK introduced self-help groupsand new farming techniques to the area, the family beganconverting some of their rice land into vegetable gardens, fruittrees and ponds for irrigation. They began to grow new crops,such as peanuts, watermelons, cucumbers, tiger paw yams(Dioscorea sp.) and longbeans (Vigna unguiculata) and to raisechickens, pigs and cattle. They have built new pens for theirlivestock close to their house and a compost pit, which hasfacilitated feeding and the collection of manure.

Cambodian farming systems need to be diversified, so that agreater range of crops and livestock are produced and foodsecurity guaranteed. Farm components also need to beintegrated for improved production and environmentalbenefits. A local NGO called Partnership for Development inKampuchea (PADEK) is helping farmers to improve theirfood security by providing affordable credit through self helpgroups and establishing a community-based agriculturalextension network comprised of sustainable agriculture,livestock and fisheries experts who are selected and trained asservice providers for their communities. This article presentsthe experiences of three Cambodian farmers who have usedthe training and support from PADEK to diversify andimprove their farming systems. A checklist of sustainabilitycriteria applicable to Cambodian family farming systems isused as a framework for comparing the three farming systemsand highlighting areas where further improvements could bemade.

Mr Khut KhoeunKhut Khoeun lives with his wife Sam Thoun, their fourdaughters, two sons and two granddaughters in Romchekcommune, Prey Veng Province in south-east Cambodia.Twenty years ago they established their own farm. For manyyears the family grew only rice and struggled to get enoughfood to eat. Over the years the number of family membersincreased but the size of the farm stayed the same and Khoeunknew that they had to improve their farming system if they

Mr Kheit Leam talking with friends about his farmimprovement plans.

Photo

: L.

Sim

mons

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Since diversifying their farm the family now has a relativelysmall area of rice land, only 0.82 hectares, but they managethis very intensively. In 2003, they started to experiment withthe System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on their farm. Riceyields have improved to 3500 kg/ha, almost double thenational average, and they have reduced their use of chemicalfertilizers from three to one 50-kg bags of NPK, by increasingtheir use of compost. In the future the family plans to converteven more rice land into ponds for fish production.

Mr Kroch KhornKroch Khorn lives with his wife Chhan Chun and their fourchildren in Leang Dai commune, Siem Reap province, north-west Cambodia. They moved to the area in 1983 because theyneeded more farmland to support their growing family.However, life was a struggle for many years due to deficientwater supply, poor soil fertility and ongoing fighting in thearea. Things started to improve in the late 1990s when thefighting ended and in 1999, the family joined a self-helpgroup and was able to save money and take out loans from thegroup for improving their farming activities and householdassets. Most of the livestock and crops produced on thefamily’s 2.9 hectares of rice land and 0.43 hectarehomegarden are for subsistence, but as they have becomemore food secure they are starting to grow some additionalcrops for income generation.

In 2004 the family constructed a pump well in theirhomegarden. This has allowed them to start growingpesticide-free vegetables for hotels in the nearby town ofSiem Reap. In their first year they made a good profit fromthis activity. However, rice yields in 2004 were very low dueto a drought, exacerbated by the very low inputs of labour andcompost that characterize traditional practice in the area. Thefamily raise a small number of cattle, pigs, chickens andducks on their farm. Cattle are used for ploughing the ricefields and the other animals are mostly for homeconsumption, although they are occasionally sold when thefamily needs additional income.

Next season the family plan to experiment with the SRI ricegrowing system. They also plan to plough their rice stubbleinto the field instead of burning it and to apply more composton their fields in an effort to improve rice yields. They plan togrow nitrogen-fixing trees and crops such as sesbania(Sesbania rostrata) and swordbean (Canavalia gladiata)around their homegarden to be used as ingredients forcompost making. They also want to build pens for their cattle,pigs and ducks close to their compost site, allowing for easiertransfer of manure to the compost heap.

Sustainability of Cambodian farming systemsIt is generally agreed that for agriculture to be sustainable itmust be economically viable, environmentally sound andsocially acceptable. Sustainability is a moving target anddependent on the time and location in which it is considered.Therefore, a farming system that is sustainable in one locationor society may be completely inappropriate elsewhere.Likewise, a farming system that appears to be sustainable nowmay become unsustainable in the future if conditions change.A checklist of sustainability criteria for family farmingsystems in Cambodia was developed by PADEK to helpassess the effectiveness of their food security programme(Table 1). The checklist is not supposed to give a conclusiveanswer as to whether a farming system is sustainable or not,but it does give an indication of progress and shows areaswhere improvements could be made in the future.

The checklist was used to compare the three farming systemsdescribed above (Table 2). All input and output data werecalculated on a per hectare basis to allow for comparisonbetween the systems. Khut Khoeun and Kheit Leam are bothmaking a profit in excess of US$1.00 per labour-day for

Table 1. Checklist of sustainability criteriafor farming systems in Cambodia

Checklist for sustainability of rice crops

• Apply 5-10 ton/ha of good quality compost annually1

• Grow leguminous green manure crop prior to, or after therice crop

• Plough rice stubble into the field (not burn it)• Rice straw made into compost or fed to animals and manure

used in compost• The use of chemical fertilizers reduced and replaced by

organic fertilizers and nutrient cycling• Use of botanical pesticides rather than chemical pesticides• Apply the principles of the System of Rice Intensification• Save own seed for planting each year• Irrigation system of ponds and canals integrated into the farm• Return yields of greater than 2 ton/hectare2

• Return profits of greater than US$1.00 per labour-day3

Checklist for sustainability of secondary crops,vegetables and fruit trees

• Growing a diversity of trees and crops to optimize the use ofspace, light, nutrients and water

• Apply more than 5-10 ton/ha of good quality compostannually

• Apply liquid compost, Effective Micro-organism (EM) andBiological Extracts (BE) to crops

• Grow crops in rotation across different fields• Use of mulch to protect the soil and conserve water• Crop residues made into compost or fed to animals and

manure used in compost• Grow a green manure crop on the field each year• The use of chemical fertilizers reduced and replaced by

organic fertilizers and nutrient cycling• Use botanical pesticides rather than chemical pesticides• Save own seed for planting each year• Irrigation system of ponds and canals integrated into the farm• Return profits of greater than US$1.00 per labour-day

Checklist for sustainability of livestock production

• Animals kept in appropriate housing that is cleaned regularly• Animal manure used in biodigesters, fishponds or for

compost• Animals vaccinated against common diseases• Animals fed a nutritious diet of locally available fodder• Return profits of greater than US$1.00 per labour-day

Checklist for sustainability of fish production

• Raising a diversity of fish species• Fish raised in pond that is integrated with the homegarden,

rice fields or animal pens• Pond has available water for more than 6 months of the year• Use locally available feed such as duckweed, rice bran and

phytoplankton• Return profits of greater than US$1.00 per labour-day

1 Good quality compost should be made in a shaded area using a variety ofmaterials such as manure, straw, leaves and other crop residues. It must notbe left in the field in the sun or the rain for too long and should be ploughedinto the soil prior to crop planting. The amount of compost that should beused varies depending on the soil type and crop variety but this range is agood guide for high crop yields and sustained soil quality.

2 This is approximately the national average rice yield in 2003.

3 Achieving a profit of greater than US$1.00 per labour-daywould at least mean that the farming activity is returning abenefit roughly equivalent to other labouring sectors in Cambodia. In thecase of subsistence crops, the value of thecrop in the local markets should be used for the estimationof the value of the crop.

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their rice farming, while the rice farming of Kroch Khorncould be improved through greater attention to soil fertilityand water management. All the farmers are making a goodprofit from growing secondary crops and vegetables. KhutKhoeun and two of his family members are employed almostfull time growing crops on their 0.35 hectare homegarden andeach make a profit of US$1.20 per labour-day. The otherfarmers make greater profits per labour-day for theirsecondary crops but they are not employed full-time on theirfarms and make a lower profit per hectare than Khoeun, whomanages his homegarden more intensively.

All farmers use reasonably large amounts of compost on theirsecondary crops, between one and ten tons per hectare,depending on the crop type. Cattle, pigs and poultry arevitally important for their manure, which is combined withrice straw and other crop wastes to make this compost.However, all farmers mentioned that they did not have asmuch compost available as they would like and also usedother methods for managing soil fertility including: greenmanures, mulching, crop rotations and liquid composts. Twoof the farmers still used some chemical fertilizers on certaincrops, but they plan to reduce this in the future by growingmore nitrogen-fixing trees and crops on their land andcollecting more biomass to make compost.

All farmers were using improved techniques of livestockproduction such as housing their animals in clean cages,feeding locally available and nutritious fodder andvaccinating their animals against common diseases such asNewcastle disease in poultry, swine fever in pigs andhaemorrhagic septicaemia in cattle. The vaccines are boughtfrom the Village Livestock Agents that PADEK has trained ineach village. Only one of the farmers, Kheit Leam, wasraising animals for sale and the majority of his farm incomewas derived from selling livestock, primarily pigs andchickens. Khut Khoeun was the only farmer raising fish onhis farm, although Kheit Leam planned to start in the nextyear, after constructing a fishpond.

Conclusion

The three farm families presented in this case study all havedifferent farming systems and income generation strategies,but they demonstrate that with hard work, careful planningand the diversification and integration of crop and livestockcomponents, it is possible to earn a good living from farmingand provide for their needs, while reducing the use of externalfarming inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides.They also illustrate the importance of working together withfriends and neighbours and sharing ideas and resources toimprove the lives of everyone in the community.

Farm diversification may lead to increased workloads for thefamily. The three families of this study did not mentionincreased labour as a constraint, but this may be a potentialbarrier for other farmers. However, many farmers in the areaare not employed for the full year on their farm and males oftengo to the city in the dry season to search for a job.Diversification activities, especially those involving vegetablesbut also fruit trees and livestock, may allow farmers to stayworking on the farm in the dry season and make an incomewithout depending on labour opportunities in the city.

�

Luke Simmons, Luy Pisey Rith and Taing Soksithon.Partnership for Development in Kampuchea (PADEK),P.O. Box 554, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.Website: www.padek.org; Email: padek@everyday.com.kh;main author’s Email: nomadiccatalyst@yahoo.com.au

Table 2. Overview of farm production for Khut Khoeun,Kheit Leam and Kroch Khorn

Farming subsystem Khut Kheit KrochKhoeun Leam Khorn

Wet season rice productionAmount of compost andmanure (kg/ha) 1500 2439 207Grow a green manure crop No Yes NoRice stubble ploughedinto the field Yes Yes NoRice straw used for fodderand compost Yes Yes YesAmount of chemicalfertilizer (kg/ha) 0 61 (NPK) 0Use chemical pesticides No No NoApply principles of SRI Some Some NoSave own seed for planting Yes Yes YesIrrigation system availablefor rice fields Yes Yes NoYield (kg/ha) 1500 3512 166Profit per labour-day (US$) 1.60 1.05 0.35Annual profit per hectare (US$) 210.30 522.55 11.55

Secondary crops and vegetablesGrowing a diversity of cropsand trees Yes Yes YesAmount of compost andmanure (kg/ha) 3000-10 000 1250-5000 3000-10 000Apply liquid compost, EM and BE Yes No NoUse crop rotations Yes Yes YesUse mulch to conserve water Yes No NoCrop residues made into compost Yes Yes YesGrow a green manure crop No No NoAmount of chemicalfertilizer (kg/ha) 0 0-100 (NPK) 0-100 (NPK)Use chemical pesticides No Some NoSave own planting material Yes Some SomeIrrigation system in homegarden Yes Yes YesProfit per labour-day (US$) 1.20 4.40 2.90

Annual profit per hectare (US$) 3048.05 309.40 484.60

Animal productionAppropriate and cleananimal shelter Yes Yes YesManure used for compost Yes Yes YesAnimals vaccinated against disease Yes Yes YesAnimals fed a nutritious dietof local fodder Yes Yes YesProfit per labour-day (US$) Unknown Unknown UnknownAnnual profit (US$) 0 754.25 0

Fish productionFishpond integrated into farm Yes Yes NoPond has water for greaterthan 6 months Yes Yes N/ARaising a diversity of fish species Yes No N/AFish raised on locallyavailable feed Yes N/A N/AProfit per labour-day (US$) Unknown N/A N/AAnnual profit per hectare (US$) 306.10 N/A N/A

References

- McKenney B., Prom T. 2002. Natural resources and rurallivelihoods in Cambodia. Cambodian Development ResourceInstitute, Phnom Penh.- Murshid K.A.S. 1998. Food security in an Asian transitionaleconomy: the Cambodian experience. Cambodian DevelopmentResource Institute, Phnom Penh.- UNDP 2004. The macroeconomics of poverty reduction inCambodia. United Nations Development Programme, Phnom Penh.

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Most Vietnamese farmers are smallholders, usuallywith between 0.5 ha to 2 ha of land per household.Atypical holding consists of a cropping area and a

homestead, with the house, trees, vegetables and livestock. Themain activity is growing food crops, and livestock productionis usually a sideline. The farming systems are often verycomplex, especially in areas where the environment isfavourable for producing many different types of crops andlivestock products. The main feed sources for the livestock arecrop residues. The manure is applied to the crops as the sole,or as a supplemental, fertilizer. The most limiting factor forlivestock production is the inadequate supply of good qualityfeed throughout the year, especially in the dry season. Leavesfrom leguminous trees can be valuable as forage supplementsin feeding systems based on crop residues, particularly as treelegumes are locally adapted, require minimal inputs forestablishment and maintenance, and are readily utilized inmixed farming systems.

This article describes the development and impact ofintegrating goat production into existing farming systems inupland areas of South-Eastern Vietnam. It shows theimportance of integrating agricultural systems that build on thecomplementarities between the crop and animal systems. Suchintegration can lead to increased total productivity as well asincreased ecological and economic sustainability. The longterm aim of the project was to disseminate appropriatetechnological solutions that would lead to more sustainablefarming systems for these particular ecological zones.

Selection of farms and farmersThe study area is located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province (about100 km from Ho Chi Minh City), in South-eastern Vietnam. Itis an undulating area, with slopes ranging from 10 to 15percent. The dominant soil types are red and red-yellowpodzols with low fertility and organic matter content and a pHof about 4.2. The annual rainfall is 1 600 mm. The wet seasonstarts in May and ends in October.

At the start of the project in 2001, thirty farmers in Xuan Sonvillage, Chau Duc District, were interviewed in order tounderstand the existing farming systems and economicactivities. It was apparent that management of livestock was amarginal activity. Only four out of the thirty farmers kept pigsand only two kept goats. Gross income per farm was very low,on average US$ 420 per year.

The projectTen farmers from this initial survey group were selected asparticipants in the project, based on their interest indiversifying their farm activities and specifically in theintroduction of a model of crop-goat integration. Goats wereconsidered to be the most appropriate livestock species as theyare browsers and prefer leaves from trees and shrubs.

In discussions with the farmers, it was decided to set aside 1ha of each farm and to divide this into different parts: 0.3 hafor vegetables, 0.5 ha for growing pepper and 0.2 ha forgrowing guinea grass. The boundaries of the 1 ha were plantedwith Erythrina variata, Gliricidia sepium and Leucaenaleucocephala. The peppers were established on live poles ofErythrina variata and Gliricidia sepium in a double row at 2 x2 m spacing (2 500 plants/ha). Six goats, five does and onebuck (local x Anglo-Nubian), were supplied to theparticipating farmers, with the agreement that a comparable

Crop-goat integrationNguyen Van Hao and Than Xuan Dong

number of offspring from the original animals would later begiven to other interested families. The goats were kept in fullconfinement in simple sheds built by the farmers. The sourcesof feed were; the branches of the Erythrina trees supporting thepeppers, which were pruned every two months; the branchesfrom the shade trees in the boundaries of the farm; and theguinea grass. The goat sheds were constructed with slattedfloors so that the manure could be collected from beneath thesheds. The manure was utilized for fertilizing the vegetables,trees and grass.

The impactGrowth and reproductive performance of the goats was of ahigh order, with slightly better results in the wet than in the dryseason. The income of the farms increased very significantly,with the proportion derived from livestock representing some65 percent of the total income (Table 1). The increase in thevalue of the crop production reflects the use of the goatmanure as fertilizer. Before the introduction of the goat/cropmodel, the average annual gross income was US$420. Fouryears after implementing the model, the average annual incomehad increased to US$1983 (Table 1). The internal rate of returnover the 4 years of the project was over 800 percent.

Table 1. Development of the cash flow over the first 4 yearsof the project (average of the 10 farms) US$

2001 2002 2003 2004

Returns

Cash incomeCrops 580 862 1 425 1 400Goat kids 450 675 900 1 012Total cash income (I) 1 030 1 537 2 325 2 412Value of non-cash incomeAdded value of livestock 656 875 1 093 1 312Manure 94 100 100 120Total non-cash income 750 975 1 193 1 432Total gross returns 1 780 2 512 3 518 3 844

CostsSupplies 304 170 180 180Goat house 125 20 20 20Loan interest 65 53 41 29Loan repayment 200 200 200 200Total cash costs (E) 694 443 441 429

Non-cash costsLabour 1 200 1 200 1 200 1 200Total non-cash costs 1 200 1 200 1 200 1 200

Total costs 1894 1643 1 641 1 629Net profit -114.00 869.00 1877.00 2215.00Net cash return (I-E) 336 1094 1884 1983

Over the four years of the project there was a major uptakefrom farmers in the region. The numbers of farmers adoptingthe system increased from 15 in 2001 to 570 in 2004, with thetotal goat population rising from 120 to 2350. The results ofthe project show that crop-small ruminant integration can bean important agricultural activity for small land holders.

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Nguyen Van HaoDepartment of Animal Nutrition, Nong Lam University, Ho ChiMinh City, Vietnam

Than Xuan DongExtension Center of Ba Ria Vung Tau Province, Vietnam

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Hilly areas of the Himalayas provide a suitable niche fora number of agro-economic activities. Lahaul valley isone of the tribal belts of Himachal Pradesh. In Lahaul

and Spiti district, this valley is situated at an elevation between2100 m to 4600 m. The sole access to this valley is the 3,978 mhigh Rohtang Pass. The valley is freakish because of the factthat it is cut off from the rest of that world for about sixmonths (October-March), due to heavy snowfall on RohtangPass. The temperature in the valley varies between belowminus 20 degree Celsius during winters and 26 degree celsiusin summers. Summers in the valley are cool and gratifying withgreen grass, alpine flowers and a variety of crops. There is nomonsoon in the valley. The valley is covered with snow duringwinters, and no crop husbandry can be practiced.

One cannot conjure up life without rearing of these smallanimals in the cold deserts of Himachal Pradesh. But rearing oflivestock under such harsh climatic conditions demands anindigenous wisdom. The tribals of Lahaul valley are custodiansof practical knowledge of rearing these animals based on theexperiences of generations and continued experimentations.They have developed their own technology suitable to theirlocation-specific environment, resulting in animalsoutnumbering human beings in such hostile environment.

Keeping in view the significance of these small animals in theHimalayas, an attempt has been made to observe their rearingpractices in nine villages namely, Udaipur, Kukumserei,Kishori, Triliokinath, Pimal, Bardeng, Hinsa, Lobar andShakoli in Udaipur tehsil of Lahaul and Spiti.

The farmers in these villages are mainly marginal havingaverage land holding of less than one acre as cultivated landand from 0.5 to one acre under grasslands. During summers,they grow mainly cash fetching crops like peas and potato.maize, barley and buckwheat are grown, for purposes ofconsumption and fodder.

The animals are taken out for grazing in the morning and arehoused during night only. Animal houses are generally closed,with little ventilation and usually built as part of humanresidence. Livestock are housed either in basement or groundfloor and human habitation is on first floor. The houses are ofkatcha structure with similar flooring. The drainagearrangement is also very poor.

During summers (April-September), sheep and goats are takenout for grazing on common lands. Villagers have a fixedsystem to graze the animals. Sheep and goats of a particularvillage are pooled together. All the families put someidentification mark on their sheep and goats. One personamong the owners is deputed for taking the flocks for grazing.Normally this duty is performed by that person for 7-30 daysdepending on the number of families involved. This is aninformal arrangement for labour sharing and the personinvolved is not paid anything. This practice not only saveslabour but also facilitates sharing of labour in the entire villageby rotation.

Rearing practices of small animalsin Himalayas

Anup Katoch and Pardeep Kumar

During in search of grazing, animals are carried to longdistances (5-6 km. daily) in search of fodder. The animals havecharacteristics of thriving on limited but highly nutritiousforage available in the pastures. During summers, theseanimals gain weight with excessive fat deposition. Nosupplementary feeding is done during summers.

In winters, pastures are covered with heavy snowfall andpractically grazing can not be practiced. Whatever is fed to theanimals is what is stored. This is being followed for centuriesand communities have a good knowledge and idea of thequantity required for the animal consumption. The animals arekept in houses and stall fed. No green fodder is available atthis time. The animals are fed with branches of Salix tree, cropresidues (barley straw, pea straw), and local pasture grassesalong with feeding of grains like barley. The excessive weightgained during summer helps the animals to maintain the bodycondition during lean winter months on little feed intake. Theexcreted pallets (partially dehydrated dung balls) are removedin the month of March (after six months) and are used asmanure in the fields. Even the human excreta is added to theexcreted pallets of animals and used as manure in the farms.Practice of sheep penning on other fields is not prevalent inthe region.

The tribals depend on indigenous knowledge in managingthese small animals. During winters, with little possibility oftaking a sick animal to veterinary dispensary, communitiesthemselves treat with local herbs. They have a clear cut idea ofthe requirements and preserve the herbs accordingly.

These animals, besides producing meat, also provide wool,milk, hide, skin etc., and are of immense economic value. Thetribals slaughter the animals for meat during winters, as noother supplementary protein rich source of diet is available.During summers, they get the wool and use it to make carpets,blankets and woolen clothes (pullovers, caps, socks, glovesand shawls etc.). These products are sold in the local market aswell as in Kulu Dusshera, an international fair in HimachalPradesh. But, the earnings from these products are meagre.Hide/skin is also used as carriers for grains. In summer, theanimals are slaughtered for special occasions only.

Thus, small animals have been a source of livelihood to thetribals of Lahaul valley. Living in a hostile environment, theymanage with little or no investments, mostly depending onindigenous methods and knowledge.

�

Anup KatochAssistant Professor (Sociology)

Pardeep KumarAssistant Scientist (Soils), College of Agriculture,CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalya,Palampur-176062 (H.P.)E-mail: anupkatoch@hotmail.com

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Valasaguttapalli is a village in the drought prone area ofMadanapalli taluk of Chittoor district in the State ofAndhra Pradesh. The village comprises of seventy

eight households. On an average, each farming household has3-4 acres of dry land. Very few have bore well facility forirrigation. The major crops grown are ragi, jowar andgroundnut with some growing red gram and castor as inter andborder crops. Farmers with irrigation facility grow rice forhousehold consumption.

The farmers have been facing a lot of hardship as the region isaffected with drought for the last eight to nine years. The waterlevels in the bore wells have gone down alarmingly. Facedwith scarcity of fodder, farmers were forced to sell their cattle.Without any alternative livelihood option and huge debts,migration to other areas and cities like Bangalore, had becomea regular phenomenon. The name of the villageValasaguttapalli (Valasa means migrate) charecterises thisphenomenon.

During the year 2000, this village was identified by Chaitanya,an NGO, identified this villagewhile working as econetworkpartner of AMEF programme. The NGO mobilised thecommunities and succeeded in forming a ten-member group.The group was also supported with a revolving fund. Thegroup took up various activities promoted by AMEF. Farmbased activities like soil moisture conservation, bundformation, biomass production etc., were taken up by thegroup members after getting convinced of the need forimproving their soils. After succeeding in improving theproduction of their lands and learning to work together as agroup, component of small animals to supplement theirlivelihood was introduced. By then, the group had already gotinto the habit of saving regularly.

Initially, two farmers of the group took loan from the group’ssavings, to purchase a couple of sheep. Sheep were preferredover goats as they could graze on the dry grass, twigs and cropresidues during peak summer months. Farmers were of theopinion that having too many goats would lead to degradationof tree base. In sheep, local breed/variety were preferred asthey are more resistant to diseases when compared to cross-bred ones.

Looking at their success, others who expressed interest inbuying sheep, were linked to nationalized banks for loans, withland as collateral security. Besides, non-group members havingland assets also availed loans from nationalized banks topurchase sheep. Landless laborers accessed the Mahila Bankrun by the NGO. Thus, around fifty six families in the villagewere able to access loans to purchase sheep and also someincluded goats for rearing.

Generally sheep, which are seven to eight months old arebought by farmers by paying Rs. 1,000/- to Rs.1,200/- persheep. Twice a year, each sheep reproduces one kid at a time.Very rarely two kids are born. Presently, each family hasaround 20 to 30 sheep.

Sustaining livelihoods through smallanimals

N. SudhamaniThe sheep are taken out for grazing. One person per family iscompletely engaged in sheep rearing. Usually, it is the women,children or aged persons who take care of the sheep. When thenumber of sheep is only two or three in a family, then they aresent along with their neighbors for grazing.

Farmers have begun to make a living by sheep rearing.Investments have been minimal while the earnings have beensubstantial. Sheep are sold when they are 6-7 years old, theprice of each ranging from Rs.800/- to Rs.1000/-. By then, thesheep would have multiplied. Also, rams are sold when theyare less than a year and half old.

Farmers are also using the sheep manure as a fertiliser.Droppings from the sheep are collected from the shed wherethey are stalled during the night. A tractor load of droppingscould be collected from 20 sheep, once in two months. Whilesome farmers use the sheep droppings on their own lands,some of them, particularly the landless, sell it to the irrigatedfarmers. It fetches a price ranging from Rs.700/- to Rs.1000/-per tractor load, depending on the demand.

Small animals did give a lease of fresh life to these inhabitants.But, the farmers who were still owning some of the cattle andbullocks did not know how to overcome the scarcity of fodder.At that point, Chaitanya, the NGO, enabled them to think ofalternatives to retain the cattle instead of selling them. Astrategy was thought of to lease out an acre of land withirrigation facility to grow fodder crop to sustain their animals.One of the group members came forward to lease out his land,which had a bore well. The economics of the arrangement wasworked out. Group members were willing to pay thelandowner for utilizing the land to grow fodder. The land wasdivided into ten parts and each farmer would take care of hisportion of land. They commonly decided to grow maize as thefodder crop. Even today, they are still holding on to the pieceof land, which provides the much needed fodder to the cattle.

Having achieved success individually, the group has startedinspiring others in the development of the village. Forinstance, the group motivated other villagers in renovating thefarm pond. The group with its thrift and savings habit hasattracted a bank loan to the tune of Rupees one lakh. Thus,Valasaguttapalli has become a model village where the nameValasaguttapalli, now, no more means what it was earliermeant to be.

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N. SudhamaniDocumentalist, AME Foundation,#204, 100 Ft. Ring Road, III Phase, II Block,III Stage, Bangalore – 560 085email: amebang@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in

L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 514 L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 514

Agroforestry systems are being promoted in manydeveloping countries as they provide timber, poles forconstruction, and fuel wood, while at the same time

they have the potential to protect the soil from erosion andimprove its fertility. However, many agroforestry systems arevery much focused on the vegetative component, excluding thepotential interaction with livestock and the interests of thefarmer. This article describes a recently developed agroforestrysystem with an animal component, situated in a hilly region ofSouthern China. The system is analysed and the economic,social and ecological benefits are highlighted.

Chicken-bamboo farming inSouthern China

Lu Jianbo, Zhao Xingzheng and Wang Daoze

were bought and allowed to range freely in the field when theyreached 25 days of age in summer, 40 days in spring andautumn, and about 50 days in winter. The chickens are dividedin groups and allowed to range in turns. This is done to avoidovercrowding, which can damage the ground cover and causesoil erosion. Special care is taken not to expose chickens torapid weather fluctuations which may cause sickness. Very hotconditions during summer are also avoided by releasing thechickens in the early morning. Mr Hong feeds his chickenstwice a day, providing them with a ration of maize grains,paddy and soybean before their discharge in the morning andanother in the evening. When they are in the bamboo forest,the chickens feed on grass, weeds, insects and earthworms.

Mr Hong has not made major changes in the management ofhis bamboo plants since he introduced the chickens. He keepshis bamboo in good health and maintains a density of 1.5 - 3bamboo plants per square metre. However, as part of thechicken-bamboo agroforestry system, Mr Hong introducedspecific forage crops which are randomly planted in thebamboo forest. They include clover (Trifolium spp.), alfalfa(Medicago sativa) and a number of cruciferous plant species(belonging to the cabbage and mustard family). He alsodecided to carry out soil and water management practices byplanting along contour lines, establishing vegetation along thestream to retain the soil and building a dam to obtain a waterreservoir.

The animal and plant components in the system arecomplementary. The chickens feed on insects, weeds, grassesand forage crops. Chicken excreta are directly deposited in theforest, making the soil more fertile which benefits the plants inthe system. The bamboo and the vegetation cover supplied bythe clover, alfalfa and cruciferous plants enhance theconservation of the soil and contribute to water conservation.

Integrating forestry and livestock

Large parts of the hilly areas in Southern China are plantedwith bamboo forests. These forests help to enhance soil andwater conservation and provide economic benefits from thesale of bamboo poles and edible bamboo shoots. Many farmersin Southern China own chickens and they usually let theanimals roam in the open, for example in vegetable gardens,orchards, and grasslands. Usually farmers keep only smallnumbers of chickens. Recently the demand for chicken meatfrom free-roaming animals has increased and market priceshave risen.

This has provided the farmers with an incentive to increase thenumber of chickens and try to raise them in the forest areas.Interested farmers received assistance from scientists intechnical matters, e.g. breed selection and disease control andtogether they made a plan of action, which resulted in aninnovative system that combines chicken rearing with bamboogrowing. Together with interested farmers, scientists of theAgro-Ecology Institute of Zhejiang University and theAgricultural Bureau of Chunan county, Zhejiang Province,have set up a small number of pilot farms to study the chicken-bamboo system and develop it further.

One of the pilot farms belongs to Mr Hong Zhiwen, who wascontacted through a local agricultural extension office. Hisbamboo farm is located in a watershed in Zhejiang province,an area with a semi-humid sub-tropical climate, with anaverage annual temperature of 17 °C, mean annual rainfall of1430 mm, and an average relative humidity of 75 percent. Hisfarm, about 1.7 ha, is covered mainly with redsheath bamboo(Phyllostachys incarnate), early garden bamboo(Phyllostachys propinqua) and Mao bamboo (Phyllostachysheterocyda). In 2000, Mr Hong obtained a bank loan topurchase chickens, and at present he owns about 20 groups of300 - 500 chickens each, which are allowed to roam in turns inthe bamboo forest.

Building and managing the system

Before buying the chickens, Mr Hong built four poultry houseson his farm, each with a size of 200 m2, and situated in a quiet,well-aerated area protected from wind, rain and predators.When constructing the poultry houses, care was taken to keepthem simple and cheap. The 1.8-metre walls were built withsoil or bamboo, and the roofs covered with couch grass. Thefloors of the poultry houses were raised and made of bamboorods that facilitate easy management. Newly-hatched chicks

In the chicken-bamboo system the chickens are allowed toroam freely during part of the day.

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Analysis of the system

The design of the chicken-bamboo farming system leads to acomplementary and multi-level utilization of resources. Thesystem produces bamboo, bamboo shoots and chicken meat,while improving or maintaining the soil fertility andpreventing water and soil erosion, thus achieving significantsocial, economic and ecological benefits.

Economic benefits

The average annual income from bamboo grown withminimal management before the introduction of the chickenswas estimated to be less than 10 000 Chinese Yuan perhectare (approximately US$1 240). Table 1 shows that the netincome obtained from the chicken-bamboo farm is well abovethe income from the production of bamboo before theintroduction of the chickens. It also shows an increasing trendover three consecutive years. The output/input ratio alsoincreased during the period. The net income per chicken wascalculated to be approximately US$0.70.

Ecological benefits

Animal and plant production systems that were originallyseparate have been integrated in the chicken - bamboosystem, allowing for better nutrient recycling. The chickenexcreta enriches the soil of the bamboo plantation. Thechickens also loosen up the soil surface while searching forfood. This enhances the decomposition of organic matter andincreases the amount of available nutrients in the soil. Soilanalysis showed that the content of nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium significantly increased, even though no fertilizershave been used. The analysis also showed that the organicmatter content of the soil increased by approximately 70percent, while the number of earthworms is now more thanthree times greater than before chickens were introduced into

the system. Total earthworm mass also increased (Table 2).Soil erosion is kept in control because of the soil conservationmeasures that have been taken.

Social benefits

By introducing an animal component into the bamboo forestsystem the land is used more efficiently, allowing farmers toharvest plant and animal products from the same land. Sincethe animal and plant components are complementary they alsoproduce better as compared to systems based only on bambooor chickens. The system is more intensive and requirescontinuous and higher labour inputs during the whole year.This is a positive development because it allows for increasingemployment opportunities for growing numbers ofunemployed people in the rural areas. At present, the diets ofthose living in China’s countryside are still lacking in animalprotein, and the quality of the available meat may be lowbecause of poor treatment of the animals. Breeding chickens inthe bamboo forest increases the availability of good qualitymeat. The chickens roam freely and receive nutritious feedsupplements consisting of a variety of grains.

Conclusion

This experience shows that small animals can be successfullyintroduced into agroforestry systems and that there are manyadvantages to this. Farmers can reap substantial economicbenefits that will be a very important incentive to adopt suchsystems. The chicken-bamboo system is feasible for big andsmall-scale farmers alike.

The chicken-bamboo system is evolving and there is room forimprovements. One of the components worth studying isearthworms. Active breeding of earthworms to develop achicken-bamboo-forage-earthworm system might carryadditional ecological and economic benefits, but this practiceneeds to be studied in detail. There should be activeinvolvement of the farmers when developing suchtechnological innovations and improved production systems inorder to guarantee that they correspond to the farmers’ needs.

Continued institutional support of farmers is required toachieve wider implementation of the chicken-bamboo system.One area which requires attention is the development of anefficient marketing system for chicken meat. Market demandfor chicken meat exists, but farmers face difficulties in sellingtheir produce. The support of local governments and farmerorganizations is required to improve this situation.

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Lu Jianbo and Zhao XingzhengAgro-Ecology Institute, College of Life Science,Huajiachi Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029,People’s Republic of ChinaE-mail: jianbo.lu@zjuem.zju.edu.cn

Wang DaozeCrop Science Institute, Hangzhou Academy of AgriculturalSciences, Zhuantang Town, Hangzhou, 310024,People’s Republic of China

Table 1. Inputs and outputs of the chicken-bamboo farmduring 2000 - 2002 (US$/ha)

2000 2001 2002Basic input

- Poultry house 740 740 370- Land preparation 990 494

Bamboo input- Labour 49 74 99

Chicken input- Young chicks 990 2175 2965- Feed 4942 10873 14827- Labour 1483 1483 1483

Total input 9194 15839 19744Outputs

- Bamboo 670 1074 1236

- Chicken 10503 23106 31508Total outputs 11173 24180 32744Net outputs 1979 8341 13000Benefit/cost ratio 1.21 1.53 1.66

The cost of the forage crop inputs are negligible; costs of health careof chickens (vaccines) are included in cost of young chicks.

Table 2. Comparison of soil characteristics before and after the introduction of the chicken-bamboo systemSample Organic Total Total Total Amount of Earthwormdepth matter nitrogen phosphorus potassium earthworms mass(cm) (%) (%) (%) (%) (worms/m2) (g/m2)

1999 0-15 1.54 0.122 0.067 0.95 88.9 71.932002 0-15 2.62 0.171 0.129 1.92 279.7 187.37

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There has been relatively little research in India on“village chickens”; on local practices, constraints andaffordable technological improvements suited to small-

scale chicken keeping. A research project, managed by theScottish Agricultural College and with socio-economic inputsfrom the Natural Resources Institute and fieldwork by BAIFDevelopment Research Foundation, has been making a modestcontribution to filling the research gap.

The project, which began in late 2000, has been investigatingthe production problems facing poultry keepers in Udaipurdistrict, Rajasthan and in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu, twosemi-arid locations in rural India, and has been working withpoultry-keepers to address some of them. A baseline surveyidentified serious problems with hatchability and mortality rates.In both districts egg spoilage was the single most important lossfactor, followed by predation and disease, respectively.

In the three Udaipur project villages 25 - 30 percent of theeggs laid failed to produce chicks, while in the Trichy villagethe figure was just below 20 percent. This could be due to: theeggs not being fertilized; the embryo dying during embryodevelopment; or the egg being contaminated with bacteria. Inprinciple, eggs that are sterile, or in which the embryo has diedbefore the egg is incubated, can be consumed or sold. Butvillagers were unable to distinguish them from fertilized eggs,so they would incubate all the eggs, thereby losing theopportunity to sell or eat the infertile eggs that were not goingto hatch.

A method for improving egg utilizationCandling, the shining of a bright light through the shell, allowsthe stage of embryo development to be estimated, and therebyenables eggs that will not produce a viable embryo to beremoved early on in the incubation period (4 - 7 days), andconsumed or sold. Candling is widely used in the poultryindustry, but the concept was new to the villagers. The onlyequipment that is essential to candle eggs is a good lightsource and a darkened area in which the eggs can be assessed.The project developed and tested a cheap battery-operatedcandling technology that was made from locally availablematerials (torch and metal box). Training in identifyinginfertile and fertile eggs using this technology was provided tofour young males from poultry-keeping families in Udaipur in2002 - 2003. A small trial was set up to check whether thetrained farmers were able to distinguish between fertile andinfertile eggs and this proved to be the case.

Improving hatchability of fertile eggs in the hot seasonDuring the summer months (March - June) temperatures inUdaipur can reach more than 40 °C and poultry-keepersreported that during this period the percentage of spoiled eggsincreased. It is well known that temperatures above 27 °C canincrease embryo mortality rates, making it plausible that hightemperatures are the cause of poor hatchability. The projectteam therefore tested another simple technology based onlocally available materials that had the potential to reduce andstabilize the temperature of the eggs.

The technology involves the use of a half-moon shaped bowl, inwhich the eggs are kept cool by evaporative cooling. The bowlis filled with an earth/sand mixture that is kept moistened withwater. A piece of jute bag is placed on the sand to prevent theeggs coming into direct contact with water. The eggs are placedon the bag and a cotton cloth or woven basket is placed overthem. The bowl is placed either on a shelf or ledge or on the

Improving egg managementCzech Conroy, Nick Sparks, Dinesh Shindey and L.R. Singh

floor, inside a family building. When the hen stops laying, all theeggs are placed under her, as per existing traditional practice.

With the help of two groups of poultry keepers trials werecarried out in 2003 and 2004, comparing a treatment using thecooled egg storage technology with a control group applyingnormal storage conditions. The percentages of fertile eggs thathatched viable chicks were about 69 percent for the controlgroups in both trials, compared with at least 84 percent in thetreatment groups. The results provide clear evidence that themodified storage of eggs did improve the overall hatchabilityof the eggs.

The cooling technology underwent gradual adjustments.During the first trial clay pots were used but these had atendency to crack, so it was decided to use locally availableiron pots in the second trial. Although the latter proved to beeffective, reed baskets lined with cloth have been used morerecently. These baskets are cheaper and they have theadvantage that evaporation may also occur through the side ofthe basket, leading to greater cooling.

Increasing outreach and awarenessVillagers recognize the value of candling, and one of thetrained youths has set up a candling service for people in hisvillage and neighbouring villages. However, the project’s aimis to promote candling by each individual family, and a large-scale promotion programme is currently going on.

Candling of eggs is relevant in any poultry-keeping system inany country. The egg cooling technology is relevant incountries or locations that experience temperatures aboveabout 30 °C at certain times of the year. Both technologies mayneed to be modified in accordance with locally availablematerials and circumstances.

The project has now entered its final phase, in which the focusis on dissemination of information about these two eggtechnologies and about prevention of mortality by predators,for example, by placing thorny branches in the yard for chicksto run under for protection if they are threatened by crows.Posters on these subjects are being distributed to 300 - 400villages in four districts of south Rajasthan, and the BAIF staffresponsible for livestock development in these villages arebeing trained in the use of the technologies so that they in turncan train the villagers. Similar activities are also beingundertaken by two new NGO partners Seva Mandir andLivestock Improvement Federation (LIFE). In addition, the useof Farmer Poultry Schools (based on the Farmer Field Schoolapproach) is being piloted and evaluated in 4 villages of southRajasthan and 2 in Tamil Nadu, working with existingwomen’s self-help groups. Finally, the project is seeking toraise the awareness of senior government policy-makers andpoliticians in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu of the importance ofbackyard poultry as a livelihood activity of the rural poor, andof the potential for enhancing its contribution to livelihoods.

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Nick Sparks. Avian Science Research Centre, Animal HealthGroup, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road,Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK Email: N.Sparks@au.sac.ac.uk

Czech Conroy. Natural Resources Institute, University ofGreenwich, UK

Dinesh Shindey and L.R. SinghBAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India

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Pong Chanuan village is located in the western upperreaches of the Lam Phra Phloeng watershed, NakhonRatchasima Province, north eastern Thailand, and

borders the Khao Yai National Park. The area is generally hillywith only a few flat areas near the river courses. The villagewas founded in 1949 by three families, who came from theforest area that later became the National Park. During the1960s and 1970s large numbers of landless people from otherparts of the province settled in the village. They clear-cutpatches of government forest for upland rice, cotton, peas,beans, and vegetables for home consumption.

The development of agriculture in the area was very slow atthat time. However, due to the increasing population (mainlyfrom in-migration), more land was cleared to grow crops andlarge parts of the natural forest gradually deteriorated. Thedevelopment of a simple dirt-road network opened marketopportunities and encouraged the farmers to produce crops forsale. Upland rice for home consumption – a highly labour-demanding crop – was increasingly replaced with maize thatcould be sold to feed mills, and oil-extraction and starchfactories.

Around 1970, maize had become the overwhelminglydominant crop in the area and the farmers now depend almostexclusively on maize. Over the years, the monocropping ofmaize has led to a loss of soil fertility and the farmers have toapply more inputs to maintain high yields. This createsincreased requirements for cash to buy inputs.

The changes in land use also brought along changes in cropand land husbandry practices. More intensive cultivation oflarger areas led to a higher degree in mechanization, especiallysoil tillage. Expectations for higher crop productivity led to theintroduction of hybrid maize varieties together with chemical(commercial) fertilizers and pesticides. These developmentsagain increased the level of inputs needed to produce a crop.Thus investment costs increased beyond the capacity of mostfarmers leading to an increasing lack of savings and acontinuous need for credit.

Almost all the agricultural land belongs to the government, andwithout full land ownership the farmers cannot use their landas security in order to get loans from the agricultural orcooperative banks. As most small farmers depend on credit togrow their crops, they face significant difficulty in obtainingthe capital needed for inputs (e.g., machinery hire, seeds,fertilizers, pesticides). They therefore have to borrow fromprivate moneylenders with interest rates of around 5 percentper month (i.e., 60 percent per year). This means that mostfarmers have debts, only about 10 percent of the farmers aredebt free, and about

50 percent have debts of more than 50 000 Thai Baht (US$1 220).The smallest farmers are the most heavily indebted. In most cases,the moneylenders are also the middlemen who provide the inputson loan and who take back the produce after harvest.

The farmers, therefore, have no control over the sale of theirproduce. They have to deliver their harvest to the creditors topay back their loans “in kind”. The moneylenders also

Organizing production of village chickensfor the market

Michael Zoebisch and Theerachai Haitook

determine the price for the produce, taking advantage of thehigh interest rates as well as the low prices of the cropsimmediately after harvest. This creates a permanentdependency on the moneylenders and the farmers effectivelybecome contract workers for the creditors, leaving them hardlyany profit and virtually no room for long-term investment inthe development of their farms.

The farmers are aware that, in the long term, the fertility oftheir soils will decrease because of the lack of soil-fertilitymaintenance measures and inappropriate soil-tillage practicesthat enhance soil degradation and erosion. They are aware ofthe need for improvements but are not in a position to makeinvestments beyond what is required to produce the next crop.There is little prospect in the short term for effective changesin the general economic and institutional frameworks withinwhich the farmers operate. Their options are therefore limitedto measures that economize inputs and changes in practicesthat do not require additional investments (of either labour orcash).

This does leave an opportunity for the integration of smallanimals, such as chickens, which can provide a small extraincome without the need for external inputs. Maize and otherfarm produce and crop residues can be used as feed and theirmanure can also help to improve soil fertility.

A farmer group initiative

Five farmers in Pong Chanuan village took the initiative andset up a small network for fattening local chickens in thevillage. With assistance from the Asian Institute of Technology(AIT), the farmers had identified local chickens as an untappedniche market in the district and provincial capitals. Fattening

One of the farmers in the network shows one of her localchickens.

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the chickens is straightforward as the farmers can use theirown feed resources, mainly broken maize, mungbean,vegetable leftovers and small amounts of dried fish and herbs,the latter of which they collect from around their homesteads.Local traders have agreed to purchase the chickens, providedthe farmers can ensure a regular and reliable supply of birds ofa marketable-size - and this is the major bottleneck. In a typicalsmall-farm scenario, individual farmers will have difficulty inensuring continuous production of a sufficient number ofchicks at predetermined times. Therefore, the farmers in PongChanuan joined hands. They started an informal villagenetwork in order to supply each other with fertilized eggs fromtheir breeding stock. This would mean that the fattening of thechickens could be co-ordinated, but it also meant the farmersstopped consuming and selling eggs individually. The aim ofthe group is therefore to coordinate and streamline theproduction of local chickens from within the village, from thecollection of eggs for hatching to the slaughtering of the birdsfor sale in batches.

As day-old local chicks are not available from commercialbreeders, the farmers have to produce their own supply ofchicks from fertilized eggs. Hatchability of the eggs is not aproblem, but the number of eggs per hen is rather low andlocal chickens do not lay eggs continuously, but tend toproduce eggs in clutches; typically 2 to 4 clutches per yearwith a total number of between 30 - 92 eggs. This requires thatenough hens – and cocks – are kept as reproductive stock toprovide a year round supply of enough chicks. It also requiresthe introduction of simple incubators to reduce the relativelyhigh losses that normally occur with natural hatching, and toensure that sufficient numbers of chicks hatch simultaneously.

The setting up of producer networks requires careful planning.The two most important factors are the number of slaughterchickens to be sold and the capacity to produce enough day-old chicks for fattening. To secure the supply of fertilized eggsfor hatching, each participating farmer maintains her/his ownbreeding stock. The five farmers of the group each keep oneflock of breeder chickens (10 females and 1 male). Theanimals are kept in simple shaded pens with resting perchesand laying nests. The fertilized eggs are collected daily,delivered to the hatchery and stored for hatching.

Hatching is done in batches of about 50 eggs per week with asimple electrical-bulb-incubator controlled by a thermostat,with a capacity of 200 eggs. One member of the groupoperates the incubator (i.e. the hatchery) and plays a key role insupplying the day-old chicks to members of the group.Because of the irregular egg-laying habits of local chickens,the group members pool the eggs from their breeding flocks sothat there is a constant supply of enough eggs to supply chicksfor the fattening flocks. This is essential in order to achieve aregular supply of slaughter chickens to the market.

The hatchery produces and distributes the chicks to the groupmembers according to an agreed schedule. Each member has tosupply at least enough fertilized eggs to the hatchery to meet atleast his own needs for chicks. The members do not necessarilyreceive chicks hatched from their own supply of eggs.

The relatively slow growth of local chickens – compared tocommercial hybrids – means that the production scheme canbe more elastic. If need arises, the chickens can be either soldearlier or their sale can be delayed by a few days or evenweeks without major changes in weight and condition. Thisprovides some flexibility compared to commercial hybrids, forwhich a strict adherence to pre-determined productionschedules is more critical.

The network has operated since 2004. There have been a fewsetbacks, mainly related to electricity failures that affectedhatching of the eggs. The network has created stronginterdependencies between the farmers and their growingmutual trust has been the main factor that has kept the groupworking despite the setbacks.

Conclusions

This community-driven small-scale farm enterprise provides asmall, but reliable, additional income using on-farm resources,and employing ecological principles of farming. The networkis characterized by a high degree of interdependency in theform of resource and risk sharing. Only farmer groups thathave a high degree mutual trust in each other can succeed withan enterprise of this nature. A positive side effect of thisinformal cooperation was that the existence of the farmergroup proved to be a strong bargaining partner for themiddlemen, who have access to the urban markets. Theirability to provide a reliable supply of local chickens is a key instrengthening their future bargaining position with themiddlemen.

A weak point of the network is the incubator. Even with rareelectricity failures, the possible losses can be significant. Theinsulation of the incubator needs to be improved to bridgeshort periods without electricity for heating.

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Michael Zoebisch. Birkenweg 5, D-37217 Witzenhausen,Germany Email: m.zoebisch@gmx.net

Theerachai Haitook. Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4,Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, ThailandEmail: theerachai@ait.ac.th

Local chickens or hybrids?

There is a growing domestic demand for local chickens in Thailand,especially in the urban centres. Consumers are increasingly willing topay higher prices for high-quality food and local chicken meat ispreferred because of its better taste and firmer texture, which suits thetraditional dishes. However, most of the chicken meat on the market isfrom hybrid [broiler] chickens produced by large companies andcontract farmers. The price per kilo of local chicken meat is about5-15 Baht (US$ 0.12-0.37) higher than for commercially producedbroiler meat. Broiler chickens reach the marketable live weight of1.2-1.4 kg after 7-12 weeks,whereas native chickens need 16 weeks toreach the same weight. Even with the use of commercial feed,nativechickens have significantly slower weight gains than improved breeds.

However, the local chickens is not widely available on the market anddemand exceeds supply. Local chickens present a typical “niche”market that is not attractive to large agribusinesses, which prefer totarget the mass consumer market.This creates an opportunity for smallfarmers to incease their income. Improving the efficiency of localchicken production could therefore benefit large numbers of smallfarmers in the country.

Most small farmers in Thailand raise local chickens, almostexclusively for home consumption.Typically, a family keeps around10-20 birds. The animals are allowed to scavenge during the day; andare only confined at night, usually under the farmhouse or in simplesheds.The feed consists of local materials, such as broken rice, bran,fruits, kitchen leftovers, grasses, weeds and occasionally insects,earthworms, aquatic snails, crabs and small fish. Local chickens arewell adapted to the conditions of typical small farmers. Theirtolerance of the hot climate and their resistance to diseases isconsiderably higher than that of high-performance breeds. It istherefore widely accepted that the raising of indigenous chickens hasa high potential for rural areas, although the weight gains, comparedto commercial breeds, are low.

19L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

In the dry tropical regions ofIndia, livelihoodopportunities are often closely linked to

soil fertility conditions. Although farmers inspecific localities have similar socialbackgrounds and possess similar naturalresources, there are often surprisinglydrastic differences in their economic status.One of the factors determining theeconomic well being of farmers is soilfertility. The biological component of thesoil, living organisms and dead organicmatter, is the major factor limiting fertilityof dryland soils. Therefore, improving thebiological fertility is a priority of landdevelopment programmes. When activitiesdesigned for such purposes also providelivelihood opportunities, the potentialbenefits are much larger.

BAIF Development Research Foundation,based in Pune in India, is engaged inimproving the livelihoods of ruralcommunities through land-based activities.Most of the projects implemented by BAIF are sponsored bydevelopment agencies and a majority of the targetedbeneficiaries are marginal farmers. Often, their land is sodegraded that these farmers are forced to seek a livelihoodelsewhere as migratory labourers. Making them realize that theland they possess can be turned into a valuable asset andencouraging them to return to their farms are therefore primaryobjectives. BAIF’s strategy is to introduce sustainable systems,such as tree-based farming, and encourage practices, such asthe use of compost to supplement the biological fertility ofsoil. Although several methods of composting are practiced,vermicomposting has proved to be the most popular methodamong participants in BAIF projects.

Vermicomposting

Composting is the process by which biomass is broken downto humus, which has several beneficial effects on soil physicaland chemical properties. Further decomposition of humusreleases nutrients for crop uptake. A requirement forcomposting is the presence of organisms that feed on biomassand break it down to physically finer particles and chemicallyless complex substances. In nature, earthworms andmicroorganisms decompose dead biomass. This process canalso be initiated by the deliberate introduction of earthwormsinto a stack of biomass, and is then called vermicomposting.

The quality and the state of the biomass available to mostBAIF project participants in India influences their preferencefor vermicomposting compared to other methods ofcomposting. Availability of biomass is limited and much isused for other purposes: farmers use straw, leaf litter andtender stems as fodder for farm animals and hardy stems andcoarse leaves are sources of domestic fuel. The remainingbiomass, after these immediate priorities are met, is coarse

Improving livelihoods throughvermicomposting

Joshua Daniel, Sucharita Dhar and Jyoti Desai

material that does not break down easily. Earthworms are veryeffective in initiating the decomposition process in suchmaterials and paving the way for subsequent microbial action.

Another source of biomass available to farmers is cattle dung.Normally dung decomposes well by itself, producing farmyardmanure of a very high quality but, unfortunately, the dungavailable to small farmers in India does not decompose well byitself. The animals usually graze in the open, and the dung isdry before it is collected. When dung becomes this dry it lacksthe microbial populations required to decompose into farmyardmanure. However, it becomes an excellent substrate forvermicomposting when wetted.

The method

The material needed for vermicomposting, on weight basis, isthree parts of dry biomass (chopped into pieces of less than 10cm) and two parts of wet dung. The biomass and dung aremixed well and wetted to have an overall moisture content of30 - 40 percent. This can be readily estimated by farmers. Atthis moisture level, a ball made by pressing the substrateparticles together breaks up when dropped. If it does not breakup, the moisture content is too high whereas if the substrate istoo dry a ball cannot be made. The substrate is made into a bedof a suitable length that is 100 cm wide and 50 cm high, and iskept covered with a wet gunny (loose canvas or other coarsematerial). A simple shed can be constructed to provide shadefor several beds. After two weeks, 200 earthworms areintroduced for every 100 kg of substrate. The substrate isstirred and turned once a week, water is sprinkled if it is toodry and the bed remade. After about 45 days the vermicompostwill be ready for use.

Jugra Devi with her vermicompost bed.

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Livelihood opportunity

Recognizing the potential of vermicomposting in small farmconditions, BAIF introduced it to participants in itsdevelopment projects in several states of India. A componentof many of these projects is to grow fruit trees on marginalland, which requires filling the planting pits with manure andsoil. Hence there was a need for manure such as vermicompostat these project sites. Farmers would collect dung and leaflitter from their own farm or from the neighbourhood andmake the vermicompost with earthworms supplied by theproject. The surface-feeding species of earthworms such asEisenia foetida proved very effective because of their toleranceto the relatively high local temperatures. To emphasize theimportance of earthworms, they were not given free of charge:Within three months every recipient was required to “pay aninterest” of 200 worms for every 1000 worms they received.As a result, there were sufficient worms to go round in mostproject locations within a few months time.

As this activity caught on, it was observed that in most farm-holdings, vermicomposting had become the responsibility ofwomen as it required continuous involvement without hardmanual labour. The simple production process and flexibilityin terms of time needed to attend to the activity allowed thewomen to readily incorporate it in their routine of householdchores. To take advantage of the skills of women in managingthis activity and to convert the dung, leaves and other bio-wastes found littered in rural areas, vermicompost makingdeveloped into an income-generating activity. In particular, itbecame an attractive opportunity for landless people in thevillages.

Self-help groups, where 10 - 20 like-minded women worktogether with a common aim, were used to support thisdevelopment. Groups were given training and the women werequick to acquire the necessary skills and thereafter to managethe activity on their own. Each group received one kilo ofearthworms, worth about US$ 25.00. Sometimes, the womenwere initially very reluctant to touch the earthworms, but theperseverance of the trainers eventually paid off. Project staffvisited the groups regularly to conduct discussions and provideguidance. These interactions helped the women get over theiraversion to handling earthworms. The women realized thatvermicompost production was a simple activity requiring onlya few hours each day, with the entire group able to share thetasks amongst themselves. Each member now collects dungand other biomass from their farms, homesteads and commonareas, including forests.

The vermicompost produced by the groups was mostly sold tothe BAIF projects for use in the fields of beneficiariesestablishing the tree-based system. The availability of a readymarket outlet served as an incentive for the vermicompostinggroups. As a result vermicomposting has become establishedas a successful income-generation activity in almost all theareas where it was introduced. In a project location in Gujarat,for example, more than 250 self-help groups comprised oftribal women produced nearly 2 000 tons of vermicompost in ayear. The value of this is about US$8 500, a sizeable amountconsidering the economic status of the local people. Themembers of the group share the proceeds from the sale of thevermicompost.

Soil fertility

It is imperative that the vermicompost made by Self-HelpGroups is used to enrich the fertility of soils within thelocality. Ideally, the biomass taken out from a farm by each

member of a self-help group should return to the farm in theform of vermicompost. However, this is difficult to ensure asthe objective of the groups is income generation. As of now,the main buyer of the vermicompost produced by the groups isthe development projects implemented by BAIF, so it remainswithin the village and used on small farms. Once the projectactivities are completed, there is a possibility of the producegetting sold to large farmers outside the villages. This exportof biomass from the site of its origin is undesirable. It isexpected that the experience of the farmers in project villageswill result in their buying the vermicompost from these groupsfor their farms.

Vermicompost made by individual farmers is used for fruittrees as well as annual crops. Some farmers who earlier usedsmall amounts of chemical fertilizers in combination withorganic manures are now able to grow their crops withvermicompost alone and get almost the same yield. In general,farmers are introduced to a package of improved practices andapplication of vermicompost is one of them. Therefore, thequantitative improvement in the productivity solely due tovermicompost use is difficult to ascertain. But farmers oftentell about the benefits in different aspects of crop production.An example is how the paddy crop in fields wherevermicompost had been applied survived long dry spellsduring the monsoon season, due to the increase in the waterholding capacity of the soil.

Another example of successful use of vermicompost is in aproject in Gujarat, where a group of small-scale farmers wereencouraged to adopt intensive vegetable production. Eachfarmer cultivated more than 10 species of vegetables on 0.1 haof land, with irrigation. The rate of vermicompost applicationin these fields is 10 - 15 tons per hectare per year. In spite ofheavy nutrient extraction through repeated harvests, thesefarms have been able to sustain their production during thepast three years. Several of the farmers are of the view that thefertility of their land has been gradually improving because ofthe continuous addition of vermicompost.

Sustainability

The sustainability goals of this initiative are two-fold: firstly,that vermicompost making should sustain itself as an income-generation activity; secondly, that it should contribute tosustainable farming locally. With this in view, the method aswell as the functioning of the groups are regularly reviewedand improved. In the beginning of this activity, more than 70percent of the material used was dry dung and the remainderwas straw and dry litter. Some groups were using the sameproportion of wet dung. It was recommended that no morethan 40 percent dung be used, so that a larger proportion ofstraw and litter can be made into vermicompost. The aim is tomaximize the recycling of waste biomass for increasing thebiological fertility of soil.

Vermicompost making through self-help groups is a goodexample of BAIF’s strategy. By combining technicalinterventions with community mobilization, BAIF tries toenable the rural poor to come out of poverty.

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Joshua Daniel, Sucharita Dhar and Jyoti DesaiBAIF Development Research Foundation,Warje, Pune 411 058, IndiaEmail: baif@vsnl.com; www.baif.com

21L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

Batu Kumbung, a little village on Lombok Island, issituated in one of the most important fish producingareas of Indonesia. Rice, the main crop, is planted

twice a year followed by a secondary crop such as maize orsoybean. Many farmers practice traditional rice-freshwater fishfarming. In this system farmers keep fish in selected, small riceplots. The fish are fed on a daily basis with leftover rice fromthe household. Before the rice harvest the fields are left to dry,the fish are collected and consumed by the household, donatedto family members or neighbours, or sold at the local market.At the onset of the next rice growing season, the farmersusually obtain new fish seed stock for free, from well-offfarmers in the area that have their own hatcheries.

In 1980 Erman Abdul Wahab, the oldest son in the Wahabfamily, inherited 1.2 hectares of farm land that had beenmanaged under the traditional rice-freshwater fish system byhis father. Soon after starting his farming activities, he foundout that the traditional rice-fish system had a big disadvantage– the misfit between the growth cycle of rice and the fishmaturity. As the rice harvest period approaches less water isneeded, so the farmers gradually let the fields dry up andharvest the fish. Erman discovered that the fish were not ableto reach full maturity in the limited time span of a single ricecrop. As a consequence, he was forced to sell small, underagefish that have a lower value than fully developed mature fish.Another aspect that bothered Erman was that the income fromthe fish sale was totally dependent on the rice crop cycle.

Integrating livestock

Aware of the disadvantages of rice-fish farming, he started tothink about a way to sustain fish production through the yearand thereby provide continuous income for the family. At theend of 1980 he obtained a handbook on integrated livestock-fish farming systems. These systems achieve optimal utiliza-tion of waste, because the waste produced in one subsystem(livestock) is an input for a second subsystem (fish).

Not wanting to waste his time, he started digging a pond nearhis house, measuring 7 x 15 metres with a depth of 2 metres.Above the pond, standing on concrete piles, he constructed a 2x 2 metre chicken house in the traditional style, with aplatform made of bamboo and a roof of corrugated iron. Thebamboo platform was ideal because it allowed chicken manureto drop directly into the pond. The chicken house was largeenough for chickens to roost and nest. It was designed in suchway that it was well ventilated but would protect the chickensfrom the weather, predators and injury. Plastic drinkers andfeeders were placed inside the house.

After finishing the pond and the chicken house he transferredhundreds of fish from his field to the pond, including gouramy,carp and a species of tilapia called mujair, this being acommon combination of species in Indonesia. He introduced25 chickens into the pen, taking good care of them and makingsure that the house was kept clean and dry. Chicken feed hadto be bought in town, but feeding the fish incurred no cost atall, since they fed on the chicken manure that dropped intothe pond.

The results were positive and five years later he decided toincrease the size of the chicken house to its present dimensions

(7 x 2 metres) and increase the number of chicken to fourhundred. The number of fish has also increased.

Now, after 25 years of integrated livestock-fish farming,Erman is convinced that the system offers significant profits.Income from fish sales is continuous and not dependent on therice crop cycle. The fish in the pond grow much bigger thanthose from the rice fields because the chicken manure providesmore nutrients than the leftovers of rice that fish receive in thetraditional system. Bigger fish sell at a higher price: the bighealthy fish from the pond fetch up to US$ 1/kg, compared toUS$0.20/kg for immature fish from the rice fields. Ermanestimates the monthly net income from fish to be aroundUS$150, while the income from fish in the traditional systemis about US$50 per rice production cycle. The additionalincome from the chicken is also significant. Although it isnecessary to purchase feed and medicine, the chickens offer avery attractive monthly net income of US$120. The total netincome from integrated livestock-fish farming is almost twicethe average monthly salary of a government officer (US$150).The family not only enjoys a proper standard of living, but alsohave easy access to good, protein-rich food, such as fish, meatand eggs.

Challenges and opportunities

Erman and his family have shown that integrated livestock-fishfarming is a viable and profitable business, and their experi-ence has become an inspiration for his neighbours andgovernmental staff. Even so, adoption of the system has beenlow. The major problem to the successful adoption of thisintegrated farming system appears to be the high cost involvedin pond construction. Other reasons for low levels of adoptionare related to developments outside the farm sphere. Rapidpopulation growth is leading to urbanization of rural areas, andgrowing industrial development and tourism encourage peopleto become active in off-farm income-generating activities.These socio-economic changes pose a real challenge tosustainable rural development, but may also create newopportunities as food production also needs to increase. Thegovernment is becoming more aware of this and is now re-promoting small-scale livestock-fish farming that may servethe future needs of the rural population as well as other sectorsof society.

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JuniatiSALAM editor,Jl. Letda Kajeng No.22 Denpasar, Bali-Indonesia 80232Email: yuni@veco-indonesia.org

An integrated livestock-fish farming systemJuniati

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Adoption of composite fish culture technology with lessland holdings has been a serious constraint, whichcompelled many farmers to go for fish based mixed

farming in several states of India. Integration of fish farmingwith agriculture, animal husbandry and horticulture has beenpracticed in India as an alternative for better utilization ofwater and organic waste recycling. The organic wastes fromthe animal husbandry are used for pond water fertilization andnatural fish food production, whereas water from ponds isused for managing animal husbandry operations. Theintegration of other farming systems with agriculture thoughcertainly not solve all the problems faced by rural farmers,farming in an integrated manner provides short and mediumterm relief to poor and small landholders. Illustrated below is acase of a farmer from Punjab, who has successfully integratedfish farming with other farm enterprises.

Sardar Darshan Singh with his joint family inherited 7 acres ofagricultural land at his native village, Bhagwanpura inLudhiana district of Punjab. The holding was too small tosupport a large family. He shifted to village Hiyatpura andacquired 9 acres of barren land along river Sutlej in 1969. Theflood prone area called ‘Bet’ in Punjabi used to be inhibited bywild boars, jackals, deers and snakes etc., besides a host ofother animals/birds. By virtue of his hard labour and untiringefforts, he converted this fallow land into a highly productivefarm. Sardar Darshan Singh adopted a technology of carpculture integrating various operations of dairy, poultry, piggery,around fishponds, demonstrated by Indian Council ofAgriculture Research (ICAR) at Ludhiana, Centre of CIFAInstitute.

To reduce the cost of production, other components likeagriculture and agro-forestry were also integrated. Organicwastes were recycled. For example, excreta, wastes from thepoultry and press mud (sugar factory waste) were mixed withthe feed for the pigs. The excreta of pigs inturn was used infish farming, wherein it was either directly consumed by thefish (common carp) or acted as an organic fertilizer resulting ingood growth of natural food organisms for the fish. The use ofpress mud in the feed for pigs and fish drastically reduced thecost of feed. The cost of production in this system worked outto half a dollar per kg of fish.

There have been a lot of benefits apart from the revenue fromfish sale. With the use of pressmud, Sardar Singh has brought aradical change in the management of water and stocks. Thishas been possible by designing a semi flow-through system,which allows stocking of fish at much higher densities. In thissystem, bore well water is made to pass through the cultureponds. From bottom of the last/ penultimate pond, water isused through gravitational flow to irrigate wheat/ paddy andother crops. This helps in maintaining higher dissolved oxygenlevels and removal of left over feed/ fish excreta. Also, theenriched pond water supplies the plant nutrients when irrigatedto crops, thus reducing expenditures towards crop manuring bymore than 30%. Additionally, pond dikes are being used forgrowing seasonal vegetables, fodder and poplars, which resultsin an additional income of around 200 US$/ acre/ annum.

Thus, by adopting integrated approach in aqua-farming, thereis optimum utilisation of waste and space.

Since, growth of fish is adversely affected in Punjab duringwinter (mid Nov.-mid March), it is a common practice to drain,dry and renovate ponds during winter. As such, most pondsremain unutilized for more than 3-4 months. Sardar Singh hasdeveloped a sequential system of growing Toria (Brassicaolevacea) and Mustard (B. campestrias) - short duration oilseed crop on the dried pond bed during winter. The crop isirrigated using sprinklers but no fertilizers/manures are appliedsince cumulative deposition of fish excreta and leftover feedmakes soil, very rich in nutrients. This generates an additionalincome of about 350 US$ per hectare besides amelioration ofpond bottom. Besides being a successful farmer, Sardar Singhis also an innovator. He has designed a straw reaper and a fishfeed dispenser for uniform distribution of feed withoutwastage. His scientific and innovative farming, has beenrecognized by various institutions and organizations andPunjab University.

To conclude, the availing of synergistic benefits of trueintegration will require recycling of nutrients and otherresources within and from enterprise to enterprise. Thepackages of practices for fish-cum-dairy, fish-cum-pig, fish-cum-duck, fish-cum-poultry and fish-cum-agriculture farmingsystems have been successfully developed and verifiedextensively for economic viability and feasibility at thefarmer’s level. Recognizing aquaculture as a commercialentrepreneurship, the system can be adopted by carrying outsuitable modifications and/ or developing location specifictechnologies suitable in different agro-climatic regions, wherewater resources, healthy stocks of animals and agriculturalland are available. The sustainable integrated fish based mixedfarming, being remunerative, can, therefore provide livelihoodas well as generate employment.

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A. S. NinaweDirector, Department of Biotechnology,6-8’h floor, Block-2, CGO Camplex,New Delhi-110003

References:

1. Singh, C. 5., 2002, Fisheries based integrated farming system.Fishing chimes, Vol. 22(1), April 2002 issue, pp 146.

2. Singh Hardial, 2002, A highly integrated fish farming system inPunjab: A case study. (Abstract No.4, pp 48) Proceedings ofSecond Indian Fisheries Science Congress held at Bhopalduring 23-25 October 2002 organized by Indian Society ofFisheries Professionals, Mumbai, India

Fish-based mixed farmingA.S. Ninawe

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The mountain region of Darjeeling district ischaracterized by weak marketing infra structure, highlevels of emigration (particularly of males),

predominance of female-headed households, money ordereconomics, poor linkage between the formal and informalsector, and low levels of social and political articulation. Theexisting rain fed agriculture is struggling. The only irrigationsource is (seasonal and perennial) Jhora (natural falls). Thissource is used for both drinking and irrigation purposes. Thepredominance of small and marginal farmers (82%) makes thelivelihood options diverse, risk prone and complex.

The article attempts to give a reflection of a small interventioninitiated by Kalimpong KVK (run by State AgricultureUniversity B.C.K.V. and funded by I.C.A.R.) in one of itsadopted villages.

The village Tanek is located at an altitude of 3500 ft., 5 km.away from Kalimpong town. There are altogether 54households in the village belonging to different categories. Thevillage is covered dominantly by tribal families (60%), while16% families belong to schedule caste and rest 24% belong toother castes.

The role of pig rearing in subsistence economy is enormouswhile the official programs in Darjeeling hills are mostlydominated by cattle and to some extent poultry. Pig rearing forsome reason or the other gets less attention when compared tocattle and poultry. Some of the families are prejudiced inrearing pigs for ethnical or religious reasons. On an average,more than seventy percent of the farm families rear pigs eitherfor sale or for consumption on festive occasions.

Pig rearing in the hills

The size of the pig portfolio in most of the families is smalland commensurate with the capacity to arrange feed and otherresources. The pig always contributes 30 days of food security.The issue is to increase income from pig rearing. The limitingfactor is that number of pigs cannot be increased, as it wouldmean diversion of other resources to arrange for feed. Thismay imbalance the allocation of resources slotted for differententerprises.

Farmers prefer to keep only one adult female pig, which ismaintained for few years and bred time to time by naturalservice with the use of locally available boar of privatefarmers. The resultant piglets are reared for 2-3 months andsubsequently weaned and sold. Another practice is to buypiglets at 2-3 months of age and rear it for 9-12 months.Farmers slaughter the pig after it attains the body weight ofaround 50-60 kg. and sells the meat, preferably within thevillage or nearby villages, during October to December. Thecycle continues as money earned from selling piglets comeshandy in times of crisis.

A common feature of pig husbandry in hills is that pigs arereared in stall fed conditions and not allowed to scavenge, asthe hilly terrain is not conducive for scavenging. Simple, lowheight, thatched roofed stalls or small enclosures are providedfor housing the pigs. These constructions are mostly made ofbamboo or / and wood.

The pigs are fed on concentrate mixture consisting of maizecobs, brans, oil cake and salt. In most instances, shoots andtubers of plants such as maize, sweet potato, tapioca etc. are

Pig rearing - a means to food securityA. Haldar, A. Rol, M. Chettri and S. Gurung

Latshering Leptcha, hails from a tribal family and lives invillage Tanek. He owns 0.70 acre of land, one milch cow alongwith a calf, one pig and a small unit of backyard poultry inaddition to homestead land to support a six member family. Thetraditional terrace cultivation is mainly rain fed during kharifseason, while irrigation can be arranged to offset some of thedry spells through locally designed bamboo pipes from nearbyseasonal jhora.

Paddy is the main staple grain crop followed by maize whileproduction of gladiolus gives some respite in terms of hardcash. Five pear plants also add some revenue in the life-supporting system of the family. Mr. Leptcha producesvegetables like potato, tomato, squash, carrot etc. in hishomestead for domestic consumption. The rice production giveshim only two months of family food security. For the rest 10months he has to combine every thing between animals togladiolus, pears to banana, and no. of vegetables to be vendedin different seasons in the market.

The recycling of resources between animal husbandry and cropproduction has been a predominant practice. The animalcomponents combine milk, meat and eggs, which support familynutrition. He draws some money from sale of milk also. Theseactivities provide steady and substantial income in familysupporting system.

The pig has always been a traditional livelihood option forLatshiring Leptcha. He underwent the KVK training on pigcross breeding and conducted cross breeding in his existinglocal pig stock with LWY breed. Consequently, one sow gavebirth to 9 piglets. The crossbred pigs grew faster than the pigletsborn through local methods. The crossbred pigs attained 9-10kg body weight at two months of age, as compared to the pigletsborn through local method gaining only 5-6 kg. of body weightduring the same time. However, Latshering did not incur anyextra expenditure on feeding the cross-bred piglets. They werefed on the available feed from the farm and also adapted well tothe local conditions.

Latshering sold seven cross-bred piglets and earned aboutRs. 44000/- which was more than twice his previous yearincome from selling piglets. He retained a pair of male andfemale crossbred piglets to be used in subsequent breeding.

What mesmerized Latshering was the additional income he gotout of practically no additional investment. No additional riskwas involved in terms of post birth care and management. Hiswife narrated the experience in just one line, ‘we have nowachieved another 30 days of food security’

L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 524

The MEKARN programme is a regional networkfocusing on training and research on sustainablelivestock-based agricultural systems in South East Asia.

The network includes 13 university departments and researchinstitutes in the four countries of the Lower Mekong Basin(Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand). The programmefocuses on promoting livestock as an essential part of sustain-able farming systems. The MEKARN programme develops theresearch and training capacity of the cooperating institutionsthrough postgraduate training, short-courses and throughcarrying out on-station research, backed up by on-farm studies.It also tries to strengthen cooperation in research and training.

The MEKARN programme works to strengthen the coopera-tion in research and training, increase the availability ofinformation and promote livestock as an essential part ofsustainable farming systems in the Lower Mekong basin.Regional workshops are held annually and the proceedings arepublished on the website, in paper form and on CD-ROMDiscs. Training material based on research findings is pro-

cut, cooked and fed to the pigs. Squash fruits and its leaves arefed, as it is abundantly available from every farm household.Local weeds, shrubs, grasses, and even banana leaves, bananapseudostem are fed to pigs. Another feed ingredient is theDungru waste. Dungru is liquor brewed from the millet kodoand consumed in most households. The left over waste isavailable to be fed to the pigs. All kinds of vegetable wastesand kitchen wastes constitute the bulk ingredient. It seemstherefore that every feed item is derived from locally availableresources. Thus, the optimum number of pigs that the farmermaintains is limited to feed availability. This is sometimesforgotten. Whenever farmers are given some improved breedsin large number, they take it, as it comes with subsidies. Soonthese disappear, as they are eaten up. These are unwelcomeguests affecting feed allocation, susceptible to diseases.Therefore, doled out benefits not fitting into the local situation,do not sustain.

Existing practice

The pig stock normally used for community breeding are local,non-descript in character. The piglets born out of this existingbreeding practice with traditional non-descript breed are oflesser weight when compared to the piglets born out of crossbreeding with Large White Yorkshire (LWY) breed.

Having studied the positive factors such as bettersustainability, disease resistance, low risk and high incomepotential, Kalimpong KVK identified cross breeding as anintervention to improve farmers income.

The intervention

The KVK animal scientist selected 12 farmers from differentvillages, namely Bambosty, Tashiding, Upper Tanek, Nassey,and Dalapchand, for offering training.

The training module was repeated and training was conductedtwice with a 15-day interval. The focus was on getting farmersaccustomed to the idea and make them familiar about propermanagement of pigs and piglets. Initially, there was a bit of

hesitation among the farmers to try it out. The farmers didn’twant to be isolated from their traditional practices, as well as,not keen on trying something new. The apprehension was thatthe piglets could die because of any unforeseen disease, andoffsprings born out of cross breeding would not grow as goodas traditionally bred piglets.

Study tours were organised to a government farm where thetrainees saw LWY pigs and the piglets born out of crossbreeding. A few farmers accepted the idea and showed interesttowards crossbreeding in pigs and rearing of crossbred piglets.Those who adopted got better returns without any extrainvestment. A case of one such farmer, Mr. Latshering Leptcha,who adopted cross breeding of pigs is presented in Box 1. Thecase illustrates how his life changed after adopting thispractice.

Epilogue

It was a small and humble intervention intended to make adifference in the lives of Tanek’s farmers. The intervention wassuccessful as we planned with farmers, accepted their reality asours and firmly believed that their knowledge was not less thanours.

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A. HaldarBidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Red and Laterite Zone,Raghunathpur- 723133, Purulia, West Bengal, IndiaE-mail: avijit@rediffmail.com

A. RolIn-Charge, KVK, BCKV, Gayeshpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India

M. ChettriReader in Agronomy, AICPIP, BCKV, Kalyani- 734235,West Bengal, India

S. GurungKVK, UBKV, Kalimpong- 734301, West Bengal, India

duced for scientist and agriculturalists in the region and studytours and exchanges are encouraged and supported.

It offers Master of Science Programme and PhD programme.The MSc programme centers around the knowledge andtechnologies needed to further develop sustainable agriculturein the region. The training is very hands-on and holistic,oriented towards the problems facing resource-poor farmers,and emphasizes ecological awareness. The PhD research iscarried out in the student’s home country, and normallyfocuses on actual farmer problems.

More information on the programme and the project activitiescan be obtained from the website (http://www.mekarn.org).

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Brian OgleDepartment of Animal Nutrition and Management,Swedish University of Agricultural sciences,Box 7024, 750 07 Uppsala, SwedenEmail : Brian.ogle@huv.slu.se

Research and training in livestock basedsustainable farming systems

Brian Ogle

L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 524

25L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

Goat keepers in Dharwad district, Karnataka, India, aremainly marginal farmers and landless people, andmany have only recently taken up goat-keeping. When

researchers from BAIF Development Research Foundation(India) and the Natural Resources Institute (UK) visited thearea to identify constraints in goat production, the goat keepersidentified high kid mortality during the rainy season as theirmain problem. The researchers suspected that the kid mortalitywas linked to the worm burden of the does at that time of theyear. The goat keepers did not practice de-worming and mostwere not aware of the presence of gastro-intestinal parasites intheir animals. The project conducted trials in three villages in2000 and 2001 to address this. It worked closely with goatkeepers in these villages, who made their animals available foruse in the trials, which were conducted in situ. However,winning the trust of the goat keepers was a challenge, becausethey were concerned that giving anthelmintic drugs to does inlate pregnancy might result in them aborting. BAIF stafftherefore selected Fenbendazole, a drug that was considered tobe the least likely to cause abortion. A second treatment in thetrials was the use of trichomes (hairs growing on pods) fromMucuna pruriens, a leguminous creeper present in the area.Researchers knew that members of a caste of peoplespecializing in buffalo keeping, who lived about 70 km away,used it to de-worm their buffaloes. The researchers broughtone of the buffalo keepers to one of the goat keepers’ villagesto discuss the technology with them, and to show them how touse a knife to remove the trichomes from the pods withoutgetting very itchy fingers.

A participatory approach was used throughout. Treatments anddoses were determined jointly with the goat keepers. The goatkeepers contributed half of the cost of the Fenbendazole, andthe project the other half. Twenty-one farmers participated inthe trial in 2000, which included two groups: 34 doesreceiving Fenbendazole 15 - 30 days before kidding, and 34does without any treatment. The 2001 trial included threegroups: 26 does receiving Fenbendazole, 26 does receiving theMucuna treatment and 26 control animals. A total of 18farmers participated. In the first trial kid mortality wasrecorded over the first two months after birth, and in thesecond trial this was extended to four months. During Trial 2,goat droppings from 20 pregnant does were collected(immediately prior to treatment and seven days after) andanalysed to determine the parasitic burden.

ResultsIn the first trial kid mortality was lower in the de-wormedgroup (about 8%) than in the control group (about 24%), butthe difference was not statistically significant. In Trial 2, therewas no significant difference in mortality between the kids ofthe control and dosed groups at up to 30 days, but the mortalityof kids 30 - 120 days after birth was significantly higher in thecontrol group than amongst the treated does (see Table 1).

Reduced mortality was not the only benefit produced by de-worming. The growth rates in Trial 2 were significantly fasterfor kids in the two treatment groups than for those in the

A local plant for de-worming goatsCzech Conroy and Y. A. Thakur

Table 1. Mortality of kids from birth to four months of age, Trial 2

No. of kids born No. of kids died Mortality rate (%)

1-30 days 31-120 days TotalControl 35 3 11 14 40.0T1 (Mucuna) 31 3 2 5 16.1T2 (Fenbendazole) 30 2 4 6 20.0

control group. There is also evidence that does in the treatmentgroups conceived again sooner than those in the control group(i.e. they had a shorter kidding interval).

The numbers of parasite eggs in the goat droppings weresignificantly lower on the 7th day after de-worming in both ofthe treatment groups, whereas the egg numbers in the goatdroppings of the control group increased significantly.

ConclusionsThe data strongly suggests that the Mucuna pruriens-basedtreatment is as effective against gastro-intestinal parasites(helminths) in pregnant does as the commercial anthelminticmedicine Fenbendazole. Goat keepers have a preference forthis treatment, because it does not need to be purchased and iswidely available in the project area. All the goat keepers whoparticipated in the trials are now using the Mucuna treatment,and some other goat keepers in the project villages haveadopted this technology as well. Where Mucuna is notavailable some people who had previously not de-wormedtheir goats have started using Fenbendazole. This indicates thefarmers’ preparedness to carry out de-worming and, if need be,to pay for a de-worming treatment.

Since the technology is also used by buffalo keepers, it appearsto be effective in de-worming large ruminants too. Thetechnology could be useful in other parts of India and otherparts of the world where M. pruriens grows wild, includingMexico, the Caribbean and Nigeria. In addition, M. pruriens ispromoted as a cover crop and/or fodder crop in manycountries. However, a different (non-itchy) variety is used, andresearch is needed to establish if this variety also possessesanthelmintic properties.

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Czech Conroy. Natural Resources Institute, University ofGreenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent,ME4 4TB, England

Y. A. Thakur. BAIF Institute for Rural Development (Karnataka),Vijayanagar Compound, Patel Nagar, Hospet-01, Karnataka, India

References- Anonymous 2002. Deworming for improving the productivityin goats. Technical Bulletin 2/2002, 7 pp. Natural ResourcesInstitute and BAIF Development Research Foundation.

- Conroy C., Thakur Y. A. 2002. Increasing the productivity ofindigenous goat production systems through participatoryresearch in ethno-veterinary medicine: a case study from India.In: Proceedings of international conference on Responding to theIncreasing Global Demand for Animal Products, 12-15 November,2002, Merida, Mexico. pp. 67-68.

- Conroy C., Thakur Y., Vadher, M. 2002. The efficacy ofparticipatory development of technologies: experiences withresource-poor goat keepers in India. Livestock Research forRural Development. 14 (3).

- Peacock C. 1996. Improving goat production in the tropics: amanual for development workers. Oxfam, Oxford, England.

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Nelson Aguilar, a citizen of Cuba’s capital Havana, knownlocally as “the rabbit breeder”, is one of many people whohave managed to set up a small-scale animal production

unit in an urban setting, making use of locally available resources.Defying the belief that people in cities are only consumers, NelsonAguilar wanted to demonstrate that it is feasible to produce foodin urban areas. At the end of 2002, Nelson’s old dream of keepingrabbits on the roof of his house became a reality. Supported by theGerman NGO Bread for the World he attended a series of trainingcourses on the principles of permaculture, organized by theAntonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity(FANJ) and the Cuban Association for Animal Production(ACPA). He learnt about diversified and integrated systems andrecycling organic residues and waste, and this helped him start hisproduction system. The experience obtained from daily practice,his dedication and persistence have enabled him to develop thesystem further.

Farming on a roof

Nelson developed his production system on the roof of his house,an area of 136 m2. The system consists of an animal and a plantcomponent. Rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens constitute theanimal component. Rabbits are the most economically importantcomponent. More than one hundred rabbits, including two bucks,23 does and their offspring are kept in cages that cover a totalsurface area of 68 m2. Underneath the rabbit cages there isanother confined area, with 40 guinea pigs, and in a nearby 2 m2area Nelson keeps 15 chickens of a local breed. The plantcomponent occupies the other part of the roof. Nelson producesmainly condiments such as red pepper, basil, garlic, small onionand oregano, but he also grows medicinal plants like aloe, lindentree or noni (Morinda citrifolia) and some ornamental plants tomake the place attractive and provide shade to the animals. In thewinter season cabbage, tomato and other vegetables are grown.

Cages, drinking containers, nesting boxes, and tools weredesigned and constructed by Nelson using locally availablematerials. This saved him the expenses, and it enabled him tomake specific adaptations to the classic designs so that they wouldsuit his situation and ideas.

Feeds and nutrient flows

The design of the system allows all residues that are produced tobe recycled within the system. In this way, the limited feedresources are used as efficiently as possible. The diet of the rabbitsconsists of fresh grass cut from gardens and green areas in the cityas well as fresh vegetable wastes. This part of the rabbits’ diet canbe difficult to obtain in certain zones of the city. The fresh feed iscomplemented with dry feed prepared at home, using a self-madechopping device, a gas or electricity-operated dryer and a“hammer mill”. This equipment improves the quality of the feedand the efficiency with which it is used. It is simple to handle andguarantees appropriate storage in the hot and humid conditions ofCuba. The homemade feed is made from organic residues from thekitchen, a nearby canteen, vegetable markets and food stores. Theingredients are first ground separately, then mixed by hand anddried. In this way a reserve stock of animal feed can be built upduring periods when organic residues are abundantly available.These reserves can be stored for up to six months without losingtheir quality. Laboratory analyses indicate that this feed contains11 - 16 percent protein and 12 - 15 percent fibre.

The leftovers from rabbits’ feed are consumed in their totality bythe guinea pigs. The rabbit and guinea pig manure is collected and

Small livestock in the cityRoberto Sánchez, Nelson Aguilar and Fernando Funes Monzote

part of it is dried. This then makes up 70 - 80 percent of thechickens’ diet (with the homemade dried feed accounting for theremainder). The remaining manure is used as a fertilizer for theplants cultivated on the roof, and any excess manure is given toother vegetable growers in the neighbourhood.

Benefits and challenges

The system offers interesting economic benefits to the Aguilarfamily. The sale of rabbits constitutes the main source of income.The chickens produce 4 - 7 eggs each day, sufficient to coverfamily needs and to sell or give to neighbours. Guinea pigs areoccasionally sold as pets or for breeding, and on occasion somehomemade feed is also sold. The net income generated through thesystem is 1.4 times the average per capita salary in the city. At thesame time, the system provides the household with eggs, meat,condiments and medicines, which constitutes a significantmonetary saving.

Of equal importance are the social benefits of the system. Nelsonhas strengthened his relations with his neighbours and thesurrounding community, who support his production system byproviding him with a range of inputs. The people who providethese inputs also benefit, because they get rid of organic residuesthat would normally require time and effort to dispose of. Peoplein the neighbourhood also obtain easier access to healthy productsthat can be bought cheaply or bartered. Local vegetable growersalso benefit by receiving free manure. The local environment isimproved as waste products are being reused and recycled,avoiding nutrient losses and the contamination of thesurroundings.

One of the problems Nelson faces is the fluctuation in theavailability and quality of the raw material for feeding the animals.Food shortages will inhibit the growth rates of the animals. Nelsondeals with this problem by building up a stock of dried homemadefeeds. High temperatures during summer can also cause problems,having a negative effect on reproduction. Nelson is trying to keepthe temperature low by letting creepers grow along trellises tosupply shade. Diseases are usually not a problem as long asbreeders observe stringent hygiene practices.

Conclusion

Nelson’s experience shows that urban areas can provide spaces forlivestock production. It is estimated that presently there are morethan one thousand rabbit breeders in Havana and many otherpeople are keeping chickens. Nelson’s experience is specialbecause he is one of the very few who managed to integrateseveral animal species into one system, providing benefits to hisfamily and community. The promotion of small projects thatstimulate these initiatives, offer training and allow for theconversion of small animal production units aimed at self-sufficiency into profitable activities should be a priority in theboth urban and rural planning.

�

Roberto Sánchez. Agronomist. Programa de Desarrollo UrbanoSustentable, Fundación Antonio Núñez Jiménez de la Naturaleza yel Hombre (FANJ), Ciudad de La Habana, CubaEmail: roberto.sanchez@fanj.cult.cu

Nelson Aguilar. Breeder of the Asociación Cubana de ProducciónAnimal (ACPA), Ayuntamiento # 205 entre Calzada del Cerro yManila, Municipio Cerro, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba

Fernando Funes Monzote, Agronomist. Apartado 4029, C.P.10400, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba Email: mgahona@enet.cu

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industry. They throw away their dead birds without properlydisposing them. The stray dogs feeding on them regularly, startkilling sheep, goats and chicken, when they do not find enoughdead birds from the commercial poultries. This has to beprevented to save farmers from loosing their animals owing toattack by stray dogs.

It is also important to maintain the indigenous breeds, as theyadapt well to the local conditions. For example, in the case ofcattle, local breeds have smaller hooves and therefore the areathey stamp is also very little. They always, place their hind legin the foot print of the front leg while walking, thus reducingthe area of stamping. According to Indian custom, cows are notused for cultivation whereas bullocks are used for landpreparation. There is a hidden benefit in using bullocks ratherthan cows for ploughing. The cows pass out urine in a fewseconds, where as the bullocks require longer time to pass thesame amount of urine. Owing to the slow release of urine andwith a greater frequency of 6-7 times, every square foot of landploughed by bullocks gets fertilised with the urine.

The health care of the animals is very important and thetraditional cures and medicines are better than the modernallopathic medicine system, which is very expensive and notavailable easily in the rural areas. Marketing bottlenecksshould be overcome by empowerment of farmer’s knowledgeabout marketing.

�

L. Narayana ReddySrinivasapura, Via Maralenanahalli,Doddaballapura Taluk,Hanabe – 561 203, Karnataka, IndiaPh : 080 7651360

Livestock is very important in agricultural economy.Generally, most farmers raise cows or buffaloes formilk production. Even small and marginal farmers and

landless agriculture labourers have cows or buffaloes. Poorpeople have been availing subsidised loans from banks underthe government schemes, to purchase cows or buffaloes,without proper knowledge of their needs like, water, fodder,housing and medication and most of the times cannot repaytheir debts. These big animals need more fodder, more waterand more space. They need around 30 kgs of fodder everyday(20 kg green + 10 kg hay) which is not available easily. Mostof the agricultural labourers, owing to lack of space, tie theselivestock at big farmer’s houses. Thus, cannot collect dung andurine, which would have been 15% of the income. Again, lotof water is required for washing cows and buffaloes, regularly.These agricultural labourers who struggle to get a square meal,are forced to sacrifice their meals for collecting fodder. It isironic that they have to sell the milk at Rs. 8 /- or Rs. 9/- perlitre while bottled drinking water is sold at Rs. 12/- or moreper litre.

Small animals like sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs, native chickenetc., therefore, are always better. They are cheaper to buy,compared to cow or buffalo, require less space, water andfodder. They can easily graze even on tiny grasses and manyvarieties of leaves and weeds. Many farm wastes can be fed tothem. They do not need costly external inputs like wheat branand oilcake required for cows and buffaloes. These smallanimals could be taken care even by aged persons and youngchildren. Usually agriculture labourers, who work on othersfields, take 2 to 3 sheep or goats, tie them up at the edge of thefarms and take them back with them in the evening. They earnRs. 5,000/- or more in a year, without any expensive inputs onthese small animals. Small animals are always more suitablethan cows or buffaloes, as they are cheap and less risky.

Native chicken have proved to be the best source of income forrural poor without much investment. They are very muchhelpful on the farms in controlling weeds and insects. Around20 to 25 native chicken can regularly provide eggs and meatfor the family throughout the year. Similarly, goats can providemilk and income regularly at a very low cost, besides manure.

Animals convert biomass into food and manure in a very shortperiod. In many cases, farmers cannot afford to own a pair ofbullocks. Instead they can maintain a pair of donkeys forcultivation and transport. Not only they are cheaper but alsoeasy to maintain. In olden days, people used to consideranimals as economic security, like bank saving accounts, attimes of crisis.

During the past 50 years, specialization of crop cultivation andindustrial type of milk and meat production has resulted indestructing the complimentary and supportive farmingpractices. If farmers can carefully integrate vermi-compostingfrom the leftover fodder and dung of these small animals, thefarm income can improve considerably. A new problem isincreasing due to the negligence of the commercial poultry

The Narayana Reddy Column

This CD Rom contains allarticles published in theILEIA Newsletter, theLEISA magazine andLEISA India during theperiod 1984-2003.If you are interested inhaving a copy,please contactAME Foundation bysending an e-mail to“shobha”<amebang@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in>

Rs. 25/-

Small animals forsustainable farming

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Gracias a los animales: análisis de la crianza familiar enLatinoamerica, con estudios de caso en los valles y el altiplanode Bolivia by Hooft K. van ’t (ed.). 2004. 482 pp.ISBN 99905 75 48 7. US$12.00 (plus postage); in Europe andNorth America: US$25.00 (plus postage). Within the Andeanregion this book is available in the major bookshops. It can also beordered by contacting Agroecología Universidad Cochabamba(AGRUCO), Av. Petrolera km 4 1/2 (Facultad de Agronomía),Casilla 3392, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Email: agruco@agruco.org

This beautifully illustrated book presents the most importantaspects of family-level livestock keeping in Latin America. The

aim of the book is to present a holisticanalysis of family-level livestock rearing inthe Bolivian valleys and the Altiplano,based on the experiences of rural familiesas well as projects that work with them. Itexplains the rationale behind the rearing oflivestock by families, aiming to break awayfrom the common perception that low inputsmall scale livestock production is`backward’, which needs to be transformedinto a more specialized, market-oriented

system for development to occur. The book starts with adescription of the differences between the western and Andeanvisions of life and technology. It then presents an analysis of thedifferent systems used in family-level livestock keeping, varyingfrom diversified to more-specialised livestock keeping. The majorpart is dedicated to case studies of family livestock keeping of 11commonly used animal species: milk cattle, pigs, fowl, sheep,goats, llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs, angora rabbits, bees, and fish(carp). The final chapter presents a description of the mostimportant diseases that can be transmitted from animals tohumans. This publication can be used by students and teachers inagricultural schools, professionals in local NGOs, members oflocal organizations of livestock producers, rural teachers andcommunity animal healthcare workers. The case-studymethodology used is also applicable in other areas with differentagroecosystems. It can be ordered from the Information andDocumentation Centre of Bolivia CEDIB (Email:cedib@cedib.org)

Animal production/Production animale/Produçâo animal:Agromisa 1934-2004 2004. CD-ROM. ISBN 90 77073 97 3.D11.80. Agromisa, P.O. Box 41, 6700 AA Wageningen, theNetherlands. Email: agromisa@agromisa.org ; www.agromisa.orgCTA, P.O. Box 380, 6700 AJ Wageningen, the Netherlands.Email: cta@cta.nl ; www.cta.int

This CD-ROM contains 12 Agrodoks on animal production inEnglish, French and Portuguese. It has been prepared byAgromisa, with support from CTA, to mark the occasion ofAgromisa’s 70th anniversary in 2004. Agrodoks are a series oflow-priced, practical, manuals on small-scale and sustainableagriculture in the tropics. A number of them are about keepingsmall animal in the tropics. The CD-ROM provides the manualson pig keeping (number 1) poultry production (#2 and 34), fishfarming (#15 and 21) backyard rabbit farming (#20), duck keeping(#33), beekeeping (#32) and goats (#7). Each manual is alsoindividually available as printed booklet.

The printed manuals are available fromAgromisa or CTA in the same way asthe CD-ROM. Those registered withCTA’s Publications Distribution Servicemay obtain Agrodok publications usingtheir credit points and a CTAPublications Order Form. Applicationswill be considered from organizations

and individuals active in agriculture and rural development andestablished in ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries.

Beekeeping and sustainable livelihoods by Bradbear N. 2004. 62pp. ISBN 92 5 105074 0. US$16.00. FAO Diversification booklet1. FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. Email:Publications-Sales@fao.org ; www.fao.org

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) Diversification booklets aim to raise awareness of, andprovide information about, opportunities at the farm and localcommunity level to increase small-scale farmer income.This first booklet in the series underlines the importance of bees inagriculture, both as pollinators and as an income-generatingactivity for small scale farmers. The booklet was reviewed inLEISA Magazine issue 20.4.

Poultry for profit and pleasure by Alders R. 2004. 39 pp. ISBN92 5 105075 9. US$14.00. FAO Diversification booklet 3. FAO,Rome, Italy. (details see above)

This booklet, part of the same series explores the potential benefitsassociated with poultry keeping, as well as appropriateness andviability in differing circumstances. It isaimed at informing project designers, donors,development agencies and developmentworkers about the many ways in whichpoultry can help rural people to improve theirlivelihoods. Poultry production can contributeto sustainable food security in manydeveloping countries by providing income topoor farmers, especially women. It makesgood use of local resources, requires fewinputs and makes important economic, religious, social andcultural contributions to household livelihoods. The booklet doesnot provide technical guidelines but the last chapter does providedetails of complementary sources of information and technicalsupport. Recommended.

Grasscutter domestication: teach yourself farming by AkinbileS.M. 2004. 22 pp. ISBN 978 3572628. Erodise publicationproductions, P.O. Box 231, Ikere, Osun state, Nigeria. Email:erodise@yahoo.com

Grasscutter (Thyonomys swinderianus) also referred to as cane rat,is found in the forests and savannas of West Africa. It is a non-burrowing large size rodent with good tasting meat. It used to bean important source of “bush meat” in Western Africa but thespecies has nowadays become rare. Domestication of the cane rathas proven successful and the demand for its meat ensures a readymarket. This small manual provides the starting farmer withpractical information on how to rear this species successfully. Thisuseful booklet is easy to read, very clear and complete.

Snail rearing: teach yourself farming by Akinbile S.M. 2003. 16pp. ISBN 978 0474471. Erodise publication productions,P.O. Box 231, Ikere, Osun state, NigeriaEmail: erodise@yahoo.com

The same author, Stephen Akinbile, has also written a useful smallmanual on snail farming. Snails are among the easiest of animalsto rear, since they are not harmful and do not need much space orexpensive inputs. Anyone who is looking for a venture to augmenthis/her salary and with a little available space and patience canengage in snail farming. The bulk of snails that are consumed inNigeria are gathered from nature and sold in the local market. Thisbooklet is intended to prevent the African giant land snail fromextinction by teaching people the practical methods of rearingsnails.

SOURCES

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Farm animal genetic resources: safeguarding national assetsfor food security and trade by Köhler Rollefson I. 2004. 54 pp. +CD-ROM. Downloadable free of charge. GTZ, FAO and CTA.Available from DAD-IS, http://dad.fao.org/en/refer/library/reports/farmAnimalGeneticResources.pdf Email DAD-IS@fao.org orGTZ, Postfach 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany.

Three quarters of the farm animals in the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC) belong to smallholders andconsist mostly of indigenous breeds. Policy makers in the regionstrive for strategies to increase the productivity of the livestocksector and to improve and conserve the genetic basis. This book isbased on a series of four workshops aimed at national coordinatorsof the management of farm animal genetic resources of the SADC,but also with participation from NGOs, the private sector andother relevant stakeholders. It synthesizes and contextualizes thecontents and conclusions of the four workshops and though aimedat the SADC region its findings are relevant worldwide.This publication is meant for further awareness raising and isavailable on paper as well as electronically. It is accompanied by aCD-ROM, containing the full outputs of the workshops.

Restocking pastoralists: a manual of best practice and decisionsupport tools by Heffernan C., Nielsen L., Misturelli F. 2004. 110

pp. ISBN 1 85339 589 7. US$23.95. ITDGPublishing, Bourton Hall, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ,UK. Email: orders@itpubs.org.uk

Pastoralist populations are among the world’smost vulnerable citizens. Drought, civil war,population growth, land encroachment and thegrowing commercialization of economies havecontributed to the widespread impoverishmentof many pastoralist societies. Recently thedevelopment community has responded to the

growing destitution of pastoralists by implementing restockingprojects. Restocking is seen as a means of supporting food andlivelihood security in both the short and long term. Neverthelessthe long-term benefits of restocking projects have beendisappointing. This manual responds to previous failures byoffering a new client-driven approach based on best practice andsupported by a wide range of practical tools. The book draws onthe experience of over 85 restocking projects from Africa, Asiaand Latin America. It is designed for practitioners in NGOs, reliefand development agencies and national agricultural researchsystems and provides a complete guide to successful restocking.

Primary animal health care in the 21st century: shaping therules, policies and institutions: Proceedings of an internationalconference held in Mombasa, Kenya, 15-18 October 2002 bySones K.R., Catley A. (eds). 2003. 68 pp. African Union/Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, P.O. Box 30786, 00100Nairobi, Kenya. Email: jotham.musiime@oau-ibar.org ;www.cape-ibar.org

There are increasing opportunities to develop more sustainable,basic veterinary services in rural areas, yet there is also a need toensure that these new services also help countries to be able to selllivestock and livestock products in the global market. Thisconference focused on both these objectives, reviewing policies tosupport the provision of primary animal health care and legislationrelevant to workers in the field, identifying lessons learned andmaking recommendations for further action to meet policy andlegislative needs. Participants from across the whole world,especially from African countries, represented a wide spectrum ofanimal health specialists including government officials, NGOsand private-sector companies.

This report summarises the presentations, discussions andrecommendations of the conference. One conclusion to emerge is

that community animal health workers (CAHW) are provinguseful, but their management and integration into existing systemsmust be improved. Strengthening the delivery of veterinaryservices requires building more effective links between vets,paravets, CAHWs, farmers and farmers’ organizations. Thissummary report is complemented with a CD-ROM containing thefull papers of the presentations.

Pig feed improvement through enhanced use of sweet potatoroots and vines in northern and central Vietnam: a practicalguide for farmers and extensionists to raise pigs efficientlywith local feedstuffs by Peters, D. 2005. 74 pp. Free of charge,delivery costs only. International Potato Center CIP, Hanoi,Vietnam. Email: ntinhop@netnam.vnCIP-UPWARD, c/o IRRI DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila,Philippines. Email: cip-manila@cgiar.org ; www.cip-upward.org

Scientists from UPWARD, the International Potato CenterVietnam (CIP) and Vietnamese collaborators from variousinstitutions and disciplines have been working together to improvethe sweet potato-based pig feeding system in northern and centralVietnam. The avenues for improving this system consist of threeapproaches: selection of varieties most suited for pig feed; sweetpotato root and vine processing to improve nutritional value, andimproved pig feeding and management to enhance growthefficiency.

This book provides a summary of the four programs that havebeen conducted since 1997 in different agro-ecological regions ofVietnam where sweet potato is an important source of pig feed.The book will be of interest to sweet potato-pig farmers andagricultural extension workers who have responsibilities in ruralhousehold crop and pig production.A Vietnamese-language version is also available.

Participatory livestock research: a guide by Conroy C. 2005.304 pp. ISBN 1 85339 577 3. US$26.96. ITDG Publishing,Bourton Hall, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire,CV23 9QZ, UK. Email: orders@itpubs.org.uk

This book is about participatory research,which covers two broad areas. The first isparticipatory situation analysis (PSA), inwhich researchers and local peoplecollaborate in developing a soundunderstanding of the local situation inanimal husbandry. This kind of researchmay then be followed by participatorytechnology development (PTD), which isthe second type of research covered in thisbook. This book is divided into three mainparts. Part I describes the generalphilosophy and approach of PSA, and a range of tools, withexamples of their application to animal production and health. PartII describes when and how to conduct PTD. Part III contains tencase studies of PTD with livestock-keepers that describe how thisapproach has been used to address a wide range of issues withdifferent types of livestock in several developing countries. Theauthor has worked in various countries in Asia and Africa anddraws on experiences with collaborative goat and poultry researchin India and in the case study projects in Part III.

It is essential reading for those involved in livestock research andwill also be of interest for extension workers and practitioners inagricultural service agencies.

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Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Facility (PPLPF)www.fao.org/ag/againfo/projects/en/pplpi/home.htmlFAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome 00100, Italy.E-mail: joachim.otte@fao.orgInitiative to facilitate and support the formulation and implementa-tion of policies and institutional changes that have a positiveimpact on the livelihoods of a large number of the world’s poor.

Livestock, Environment And Development (LEAD)http://lead.virtualcentre.orgEmail: mauricio.rosales@fao.orgLEAD is a multi-institutional initiative of FAO formed to promoteecologically sustainable livestock production systems. It promotesresearch on livestock environment interactions.

International Network for Family Poultry Development(INFPD)www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/infpd/home.htmlEmail: emmanuelle.guernebleich@fao.orgINFPD is mainly an Information Exchange Network.INFPD Newsletter www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/infpd/newsletters.html

The HEIFER International Networkwww.heifer.orgHEIFER International, 1015 Louisiana Street, Little Rock,Arkansas, 72202 USA.HEIFER’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger andpoverty and to care for the earth. Its strategy is based on theprinciple: “pass on the gift.” As people share their animals’offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, andskills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance iscreated that reaches around the globe.HEIFER, The Exchange: Appropriate livestock technology for adeveloping world. Subscriptions are free.Email: exchange@heifer.orgThe Heifer International Exchange newsletter is the quarterlypublication of Heifer International devoted to small scale animalproduction in developing areas.

League for Pastoral Peoples andEndogenous Livestock Developmentwww.pastoralpeoples.orgEmail: info@pastoralpeople.orgThis is an advocacy and support group for pastoralists who dependon common property resources.

LIFE Local Livestock for Empowerment of Rural Peoplewww.lifeinitiative.netEmail: evelyn@mamud.comLIFE is a group of organizations and individuals who promotecommunity-based conservation and the development of indig-enous livestock breeds and species.

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF) Europahttp://www.vsfe.orgAnimal health networkEthnovetwebwww.ethnovetweb.comEvelyn Mathias, Weizenfeld 4, 51467 Bergisch Gladbach,Germany;Email: evelyn@mamud.comThis website is about ethnoveterinary medicine, or how peoplearound the world keep their animals healthy and productive, andhow development can build on this information.

Traditional animal health carehttp://bcics.uvic.ca/bcethnovet/Cheryl Lans, Email: trini@uvic.caOnline global database of ethnoveterinary research.

ANTHRAwww.anthra.orgA-21 Sainikpuri, Secunderabad – 500094, Andhra Pradesh, IndiaEmail: information@anthra.orgAnthra is a non-profit organization of women veterinary scientistsworking primarily on issues of livestock development, in thewider context of sustainable natural resource use.The members work in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, India.

Vetworkwww.vetwork.org.ukStephen Blakeway, 35D Beach lane, Musselburgh, EH21 6JX,UK.Email: stephen@vetwork.org.ukVetwork is a British NGO that promotes participatory livestockdevelopment. Their site presents information, an electronicmagazine and contact addresses relating to community-basedanimal healthcare.

Bees for Developmentwww.beesfordevelopment.orgTroy, Monmouth, NP25 4AB, UK. Email:info@beesfordevelopment.orgBees for Development helps people worldwide to create sustain-able livelihoods with bees.Bees for Development Journal ISSN 1477-6588. US$ 28.–.Published quarterly by Bees for Development, UK Bees forDevelopment publishes this quarterly journal for readers in morethan 130 countries. It provides information and support tobeekeepers in developing countries worldwide. This journalcovers every aspect of bees, beekeeping and apicultural science,including conferences, workshops, new books and articles onpractical beekeeping. It provides a wealth of information forexisting and aspiring bee enthusiasts.

Fish for Allwww.fishforall.orgThe World Fish Center, P.O. Box 500, GPO, 10670 Penang,Malaysia.

NAGA: The WorldFish Center quarterlyhttp://www.worldfishcenter.org/naga/naga27-3n4.htmThe Naga is a quarterly magazine published by WorldFish Centeras part of its efforts to promote research and disseminateresearch results as widely as possible, and to create a strongnetwork of institutions and scientists who can work together andexchange ideas.

Livestock Research for Rural Developmentwww.cipav.org.co/lrrdThe international on-line journal on sustainable livestock-basedagricultural research. Published by CIPAV, Cali, Colombia. Theinformation is searchable and downloadable.

University of Tropical Agriculture Foundationwww.utafoundation.orgContact: Preston T, Email: regpreston@utafoundation.orgUTA, Colombia, provides an alternative approach to the classicallecture-room based curriculum, by basing the course on the strongfoundation afforded by learning practical skillsin a real ‘on-farm’ situation, further building on this by developingresearch projects where the results have to be applied.

NETWORKING

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31L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

NEW BOOKS

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Participatory research and development for sustainableagriculture and natural resource management: a source bookVolume 1. Understanding participatory research anddevelopment; Vol 2. Enabling participatory research anddevelopment; and Vol 3. Doing participatory research anddevelopment + CD-ROM by Gonsalves J., Becker T., Braun A.,Campilan D. [et al.] (eds) 2005. ISBN 9716140320.CIP-UPWARD and IDRC, IRRI DAPO 7777,Metro-Manilla, Philippines.Email: cip-manila@cgiar.org

Participatory Research and Development(PR&D) can be described as “doing researchand development work with people” insteadof “doing research and development work forpeople”. Participatory approaches placefarmers and their livelihoods at the centre ofthe innovation process. This sourcebook aimsto inspire and guide aspiring and newpractitioners of PR&D to learn, reflect andconstantly refine the way in which they work. The target users arefield-based researchers in developing countries involved inactivities dealing with the interrelated issues of natural resourcemanagement, agriculture and rural livelihoods. They may have

technical or social science backgrounds but share a commoninterest in drawing on the PR&D knowledge base.

The sourcebook is intended to enhance access to systematizedinformation on field-tested PR&D concepts and practices amongfield practitioners and their organizations. It provides a generalreference and comprehensive overview, showcasing the richdiversity of perspectives on PR&D. The printed version consistsof three volumes in a box. The first volume on UnderstandingPR&D is devoted to overview papers, key concepts, and emergingapproaches and frameworks. The second volume on EnablingPR&D includes papers on capacity development; strengtheninginstitutions and organizations, networking and partnerships;policy, governance and scaling up. The final volume on DoingPR&D focuses on technology development, facilitation of localinstitutions, and organization of communities and stakeholdergroups.

The printed version is accompanied by a CD-ROM whichprovides all the papers in digital form (pdf files). The papers arealso downloadable from website www.cip-upward.org. Thepublishers and authors encourage readers to quote, reproduce,disseminate and translate the papers from this sourcebook.

Full reference to the author(s) and the sourcebook is requested.

BOOK REVIEW

The Pesticide Detox, Towards a More SustainableAgriculture by Jules Pretty, 2005, Earthscan, 294 pp.(www.earthscan.co.uk)

Reviewed by Ir. Paul ter Weel,former First Secretary,Rural Development and Environment,Royal Netherlands Embassy, New Delhi.Address: Jl. Mangunsarkoro 20A,Mentang-10310, Jakarta, Indonesia.paulterweel@gmail.com

This is a book about hope. About hope that40 years after Rachel Carson’s outcryabout the use of pesticides in agriculture achange is happening at many places in the world and at manylevels in the world. But it is also a book about the shamefulslowness of multinational corporations, of governments, ofinternational agencies to finally stop poisoning our earth.Agriculture is the biggest non-point polluter in the world. In thepast 50 years the use of pesticides in agriculture has increaseddramatically and now amounts to some 2.5 billion kg. per year.The annual global market of these poisons has reached US$ 25billion per year. A bonanza for the corporations and theirshareholders. A disaster for the planet, its soils, its surface andgroundwater, its ecosystems and bio-diversity, the health ofanimals and the health of people.

Jules Pretty and not less than thirty co-authors however seehope. They give a systematic overview of what has been doneover the past decades, from Agenda 21 to farmer field schoolswhere farmers analyse the ecosystems of their rice or vegetablefields. They also come up with the immediate agenda for the nearfuture of faster phasing out of pesticides hazardous to humanhealth and the environment and more widespread phasing-in ofalternative approaches to make agriculture more sustainable andhealthy.

The book gives a brief, but comprehensive overview of thehistory, use, overuse and misuse of pesticides, and provides anoverview of the national and international codes andclassifications on pesticides. In short ‘the basics’ everybodyshould know about pesticides. It informs us what pesticidepoisons do to the human body and confirms that pesticides do

harm human health. This is especially acute in developingcountries where most rural people are under- or misinformed,under equipped and pesticide poisoning is the order of the day,either by skin and breathing exposure during spraying, bydrinking poisoned groundwater or straightforward by usingpesticides for suicide as being practised alarmingly over the lastten years by thousands of destitute and indebted small farmers inAfrica and Asia.

The book also discloses the enormous environmental and humanhealth costs we pay for the use of pesticides, and informs usabout the six agrochemical corporations who control the worldmarket and continue to develop, promote and sell manyhazardous pesticides. It provides us with an overview of agro-biologicals and alternatives to synthetic pesticides and concludesthat many agro-biologicals represent safe and effectivealternatives to chemical pesticides, althoug most agriculturebureaucracies tend not to favour them. Fortunately howevermany farmers, often with some help of NGOs, do now find outthemselves!

After reviewing various extension and participatory approachesin IPM in different parts of the world one of the chapters gives aclear comparison between message based and learning centred(farmer field school) training approaches. A call is made forrenewed investment in further developing learning centred IPMapproaches. This finds a deeper echo in Niels Roling’s chaptersharing his life long experience on interaction between farmersand academics, especially reflecting on the inability ofreductionist science to be of use for farming communities who ina holistic sense are supposed to preserve and hand over livingknowledge and ecosystems to future generations.

At the heart of the book are four chapters on the ecological basisfor low-toxity Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in rice andvegetables by the FAO team Gallagher, Ooi and Kenmore whohave introduced IPM and Farmer Field Schools since 15 yearsago first in Asia and later through the Global IPM Facility inother parts of the world. Other chapters show examples oforganic agriculture (zero pesticide use), social andenvironmental empowerment of farming communities in variousparts of the world.

The book is a real must-read for all those working to makeagriculture in South and North less poisonous and moresustainable.

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Farmer’s diary

I am a software professional turned into an organicfarmer. I own 4.5 acres of land near Dahanu,Maharashtra. I do not have much knowledge of Organic

Farming and am still a novice in this field. In the last one year,I have gathered some information on this subject by readingand visiting farmers practising this method of agriculture. I tryto experiment with different methods of agriculture at myfarm, not that they are all a success. I grew rice, ground nuts,vegetables last year and this monsoon am trying out rice usingthe SRI method of cultivation though I modified it to suit myneeds. I also have a few fruit trees on the farm. I am not intocommercial farming but grow everything for our own needs.

The quest for Kasbai

It all started in the hot summer month of April 2005. With themonsoon round the corner, we started to look for a goodvariety of traditional rice to plant at our farm. Most of thefarmers in and around the village of Peth had switched over tohybrids and there were no local traditional varieties beinggrown anymore.

The younger generation of farmers thought I was crazy askingfor the ‘desi’ variety as they called it. My regular visits to thevillages around also did not yield any results and we werealmost giving up hope of finding good traditional seeds beforethe monsoon.

I decided to give it one last try and started speaking to some ofthe elders in the village, that is when I could make any sense ofwhat they were saying. Most of them were too old to work andare drunk all day. In fact, they get pension from thegovernment, which according to them, is meant solely for theiralcohol consumption. A wonderful use for the pension scheme!Anyway, a series of meaningful conversations and theymentioned the name of Kasbai.

Kasbai is a traditional long grained rice variety which has adistinct aroma akin to Basmati though much milder. It’s along duration crop and most of the older peopleremembered growing it years ago. But they all shook theirheads when I asked about seeds and they told me that itmay have “disappeared.”

The tales of Kasbai and its great taste made us moredetermined to get this seemingly lost rice from somewhere. Ivaguely thought the government may know something about it.A visit to the agricultural officer was enlightening. He had noteven heard of this rice variety. His response was that thevillagers were taking me for a ride and there was no rice bythis name. He rattled off the names of a number of latesthybrids and even offered to give me some of them free of costfor a trial. Cursing myself for wasting time with him I movedon to the next destination.

This time it was the Adivasi Mahamandal which buys the ricefrom the villagers on behalf of the government. A search intheir files revealed that Kasbai did not figure in them. A goodindication why people did not grow it anymore. The marketitself did not recognise the rice, so if you grew it you wouldnot be able to sell it. However, the officer incharge here had

The quest for Kasbai

Venkateswaran Iyer

more knowledge of rice and did remember Kasbai being soldto him a few years back.

A couple of cups of tea and some gentle prodding revealed thatthe rice was grown four or five years ago in a nearby villagecalled Dhanivari. Excellent news for us and it was destinationDhanivari, which turned out to be a sprawling village withhamlets scattered all around. We rushed back to theMahamandal and requested him for a name or a lead in thevillage. Looking into his records we narrowed our search to afarmer called Devu Handa. He was the largest seller of rice tothe Mahamandal last year and seemed like a guy who couldhelp us out.

Back to Dhanivari, we started looking for Devu Handa andfound a greying old man wearing a cap who proudly said hewas the one we were looking for. An ex-sarpanch of thevillage, he has acres of land, a huge house and a large family.Sitting outside his house on a charpoy, after exchanging theusual pleasantries we came to the topic of Kasbai. The meremention of Kasbai and Devu Handa drifted into the past. Hiseyes turned dreamy and with a tremble in his voice he told ushow the entire village at one time grew only Kasbai. He said,“There was a time when people passing our village duringlunch time would be forced to stop and ask for a meal. Suchwas the alluring aroma of Kasbai.” The entire area would havethis heady aroma hanging in the air as all the houses cookedthe same rice. Today, he said, he had to force himself to eatinsipid and tasteless rice.

We asked him the reason for this shift and without a moment’shesitation he said it was all due to irrigation. He said that yearsago there was no canal system in the village and they dependedon the monsoon. With the advent of irrigation, farmers weretempted to grow a second crop and Kasbai being a longduration rice, was replaced by the shorter duration hybrids sothat the harvest was earlier and the farmers could take up asecond crop.

We prodded him further and asked why did he shift over, if hewas so unhappy with hybrids. He smiled and replied that theirfields did not have fences and once the harvest was over thecattle were released into the fields. “If only my field hasKasbai it will be a treat for the cattle,” he explained.

“Sometimes, we have to fall in line with the community,” helamented. Hybrids needed more water, fertilizers andpesticides. Besides they are so delicate that even a slightincrease in the wind they get lodged. He said that yields weregood initially but have been dropping regularly. He told us thateven when there were flash floods in the sixties, Kasbai stoodits ground. He fondly remembers how the rice was stillstanding when they all returned to the village after the floodshad receded. “Such was the strength of the rice. But look whatwe have done,” he said expressively.

As he goes on reminiscing about the rice, we gently guidedhim back to the reason of our visit, the Kasbai seeds… He saidthat the only people who still grew it were the Adivasis in ahamlet at the foothills in the next village. We bid farewell toDevu Handa as he lovingly blessed us and told us thatMahalaxmi, the local goddess will give us the seeds of Kasbai.

Armed with his blessings we reached Asarvari and started oursearch for the adivasi hamlets. We were not very fluent withthe local dialect of Marathi and requested the Sarpanch of the

33L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

Leariwala Jeremiah

Emuria Ekai and his family had no option. Life in Kolua village had become unbearable after they had to sell their last goat and theywere forced to migrate to town in search of a job. In 2000 they arrived in Archer’s Post town in Samburu District, Kenya. Findingemployment wasn’t easy but Emuria managed to obtain a small income by digging pit latrines, fetching water and collecting firewood.After some time he was lucky enough to be employed at a butchery and his earnings were sufficient to buy food for the family and savea bit of money.

Emuria soon discovered that goats could be purchased cheaply in the animal market. The drought of 2001 caused many goats to becomethin and weak, lowering their market value. Old goats were also brought to the market and were sold for as little as 200 Kshs (aboutUS$3). Emuria and his wife scraped together sufficient money to buy two weak goats. He was convinced that the goats could recovertheir health if they were given proper care. Emuria tied the two goats to a pole in a shaded area near his work. Every day he would usehis work breaks and free hours to visit vegetable vendors, collect cabbage leaves, potato peels, spoilt tomatoes and other wastes, andfeed these to his goats. He bought de-worming tablets from the veterinary shop and gave them to his goats. He treated them for ticksand injected vitamins to hasten their recovery process. He continued feeding them with the abundant market wastes until his goats wereable to walk the distance to his house and back to the town centre. This became the daily routine: during daytime he would leave thegoats to roam the market freely and feed on vegetable wastes, and in the evening he would take them home. He bought two more weakgoats and gave them similar care and treatment, until they were able to roam jointly with the first two goats.

When the rainy season finally arrived, his four goats were strong and two were ready for mating. He took them to a neighbour whoowned some male goats. The mating proved successful as Emuria expected. Faced with the growing goat herd, Mrs Emuria decided tobuild a thatched shed next to the house, with mud walls to keep out the cold, wind and rain. The shed protects the goats and helps themavoid the diseases that commonly affect goats exposed to these climatic conditions.

Today, the family has 35 goats, and Emuria is confident that number will increase even further. Asked why he is so interested in old andweak goats, he says that these are cheaper but still have the potential of raising new stock. If weaker goats are treated, fed well andhoused properly they recover quickly and start bearing healthy kids again. Most of Emuria’s kidding goats bear twins most of the time,which he attributes to good feeding and health. The kids grow faster and he has never experienced kid mortality resulting from poorhealth or malnutrition. In terms of meat and skin production, his goats weigh more than the local goats that rely only on the naturalpastures found on the communal grazing land. Their skins are of good quality due to the good house and lack of ticks.

Every month Emuria slaughters one goat and sells its meat to earn hisfamily some extra income. He uses part of the money to buy drugs andcheap goats. He recently bought some sheep as well, because, likegoats, they feed on many types of vegetable waste, are easy to keep andoffer many benefits to the family.

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Leariwala JeremiahEreto Group, P.O. Box 43, 60300 Isiolo, KenyaEmail: leah20ke@yahoo.com

Good care of goats pays off!

village to help us out. He despatched Jeevan, his trusted aidewith us into the hills. A half hour walk through thickvegetation, crossing numerous streams and ditches andscrambling over rocks and gravel we reached the sleepy hamletof Boripada. There were just two houses in front of us and wewondered if this was the right place. A wrinkled old womansitting in the porch of one of the houses looked at us withcuriosity. Approaching her, we signalled to Jeevan to ask thecrucial question. She muttered in reply and we looked atJeevan for a quick interpretation. He smiled and informed usthat she did have the rice and wanted to know who we wereand why we wanted it.

It was a difficult task to keep a straight face and control ourstrong desire to rush and hug her . For here, after searching formonths, we had found the elusive Kasbai. We explained to herthat we were from Peth nearby and we needed the seeds togrow it. We asked for 10 kilos of rice. She muttered and shescowled. We wondered what could have triggered this. Jeevaninterpreted that she had never heard of Peth village, did not

have a weighing scale and could give the rice only in baskets.We asked for a basket of rice. We collected the rice she got usin a sack and offered to pay. Jeevan guided us to pay hersomething. We handed over a 100 rupee note and she noddedin approval.

As we walk into the fading sunset, leaving behind a smilingold lady we can’t help wondering that here, nestling in thefoothills of a unknown mountain away from the hustle bustleof the road or the city, were the real people of India. These arethe people who still hold the rich biodiversity of our land andno one even cares about them. They have never heard ofhybrids, fertilizers or pesticides. They just grow their rice andeat what they get. The old lady we met has probably never leftBoripada. Her world is unspoilt by “progress.” And for once Iwas grateful for that.

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Venkateswaran Iyer203, Madhyam society, M. G. Road, Goregaon (West),Mumbai - 400 062 Email: ivenkat66@gmail.com

Starting with one weak goat five years ago, Emuria’s family nowowns a healthy stock of goats, thanks to proper animal care.P

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33L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 534

In parts of Erode District, Tamil Nadu,sheep rearing is an important source oflivelihood. The periodic failure of monsoons

has turned it into a primary occupation for manyhouseholds, while for others, it remains on parwith agriculture and is an equally important sourceof income.

Among the various breeds, Mecheri is morepopular in the district. Mutton from the district hasa good market, and sheep from the southernregions of the district are regularly transportedacross the nation.

The sheep in this region are maintained in smallflocks and open grazing is the normal feedingpractice. Open grazing has its advantages but alsolimitations such as parasitic infestation. Periodicdeworming is a known and accepted practice.Easy-to-administer chemical dewormers likealbendazole, panacur etc., are what are most commonly used.Indigenous botanical dewormers like NSKE, neem oil andbitter vegetable extracts are also perceived as being effective;they are locally accessible and ecologically more acceptablebut not very widely used.

The Myrada Krishi Vigyan Kendra (MKVK) startedfunctioning from 1992 under approval from the Indian Councilof Agricultural Research (ICAR). Over time and with greaterstaff stabilization, the MKVK made a conscious choice infavour of promoting ecologically more acceptable technologiesand practices to support livelihoods of farmers working undercomplex, diverse, and risk-prone conditions.

On farm trials

In 2002, the MKVK was exposed to the benefits ofadministering aloevera to control endoparasites in sheep andundertook an on-farm trial to evaluate the comparativeperformance of aloevera with other dewormers in this regard.The study was done in association with the Tamil NaduVeterinary University Training and Research Centre(TNVUTRC), Erode and Tamil Nadu University of Veterinaryand Animal Sciences (TANUVAS), Namakkal. Thecomparison was between the following four sets of ingestibles:

1. Albendazole administered at the rate of 7.5 mg. perkilogram of body weight.

2. Neem oil administered at 50 ml. per animal.

3. Extract of neem seed (20 gms.), bittergourd (20 gms.),garlic (50 gms.), edible banana stem (50 gms.) combinedwith jaggery and orally administered.

4. Aloevera (50 gms. to 75 gms. of edible mucilage)combined with jaggery (10 gms.) and orallyadministered.

40 sheep belonging to a single flock and similarly managed inall other aspects were randomly divided into sub-groups of 10,with each group being administered one of the abovedewormers. Body weight measurement and blood sample testswere done before and one month after administering thedewormers. Faecal samples from each group were collectedand analysed before and on the 7th, 14th and 28th days afteradministering the dewormers. The results were evidentlyfavourable to aloevera, as shown in the following Table 1.

As a consequence of these findings, the MKVK started tospeak more often and to more numbers of people on the

Spreading ecofriendly disease managementin sheep – MYRADA KVK’s efforts

P. Alagesan, M. Alamelu andS. Suresh

Administering alovera mixture to sheep

Indicators Albendazole Neem oil Veg. extracts Aloevera

Before After % Before After % Before After % Before After %

Body weight 22.6 kg. 23.8 kg. (+) 5.3% 29.6 kg. 30.3 kg. (+) 2.4 29.7 kg. 30.9 kg. (+) 4.0% 14.5 kg. 16.3 kg. (+) 12.4%

Haemo- 10.3 gms. 10.6 gms. (+) 2.9% 10.5 gms. 10.6 gms. (+) 0.9% 11.2 gms. 11.5 gms. (+) 2.7% 11.6 gms.12.03 gms. (+) 3.7%globin %

Egg count / 370 10 (-) 1830 160 (-) 1510 100 (-) 1040 0 (-)gm. of 97% 91% 93% 100%faeces

Table 1: Comparitive effectiveness of various dewormers

35L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

benefits of aloevera use. It was alsoengaged in the training of veterinarypromoters, and this was one of thesubjects of training. Over the next twoyears, a spread in the use of aloeveraamong the sheep rearers of the areawas observed.

Training and Orientation

MKVK followed up the trial with anumber of training programmes,publications in their quarterly Tamilnewsletter, and integrating theveterinary promoters in thedissemination process. In the Talavadiarea, a number of SHGs that hadopted for sheep purchase under the Government’s SGSY loan-cum-subsidy programme were specifically oriented on thispractice and approximately 1,400 sheep were administeredone dose on a demonstration basis.

Scaling up - aloevera as a dewormer

It is true that even though the MKVK-facilitated trials wereconducted in one village (Elur) in one Block of Erode District(T.N. Palayam) in December 2002, the spread of the practicecould be confirmed in at least two other Blocks (Talavadi andAnthiyur). However, it is likely that this spread would nothave been an automatic outcome from one demonstration.

To confirm the spread of the activity, a survey was conductedwith 40 sheep rearers selected from blocks where MKVK wasactively working on several programmes, though aloeveraadministration had been demonstrated only in one village ofT.N.Palayam Block.

The findings revealed the following aspects.

In general, majority have started the practice with aloeveraonly after the intervention and have understood administeringit properly. Spread took place through MKVK directly, theMKVK-trained animal husbandry promoters, the sheep rearers(through discussions in their self help groups), and the MKVKNewsletter. Interestingly, MKVK-trained veterinary promotersdid not initially recommend aloevera because it was felt toaffect their own incomes. Later, there seemed to be anacceptance that it was necessary to share this information bothbecause it was a workable local remedy and because they hadto be seen as people who were knowledgeable, and notignorant, about it. Thus, over 81% of the 27 aloevera userssaid that the MKVK-trained veterinary promoterswere one of the sources of knowledge on thispractice.

Ironically, none had heard it from the AnimalHusbandry Department and none had come toknow of it through mainstream mass media.

Sheep rearers preferred using it for the followingreasons – local availability, ease of use, cheap andeffective option and some found it to triggerseveral positive developments on the generalhealth of the animals.

Some of those who were not using aloevera feltthat gathering and preparing concoction is difficult

and also that the Government Veterinary Dispensaries were notrecommending it.

Learnings

Through this study, the MKVK also became aware of thenecessity to co-opt local level units of State-run agencies – inthis case, the local veterinary hospitals and dispensaries – inorder to succeed in a wider outreach.

Interestingly, the practicing farmers not only recommended tothe MKVK to take up more aggressive campaigning topopularize the practice. One of them even suggested the needfor research to see if aloevera could be made available in thedrug market as a ready-to-use formulation.

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Table 2: Cost comparison between administering Aloevera and Albendazole

Annual expenditure for 30 sheep (in Rupees)

Costs Albendazole/other formulations Aloevera

Input cost Rs. 180.00 Rs. 18.00(Cost of formulation @ Rs.1.50 (Cost of jaggery at Rs.0.15 per dose per dose per sheep x 4 doses x(4 doses per sheep) 30 sheep. Aloevera is freely

available.

Administering cost Rs. 600.00 Rs. 160.00Charges of Livestock Inspector / Family labour (one person) x 4Veterinary Promoter at Rs.150/- times per year x Rs.40/- per dayper visit x 4 visits per year

Total Rs. 780.00 Rs. 178.00

Method of administering Aloevera fordeworming in sheep

• Select a healthy aloevera plant with succulent leaves.• Cut leaves from base of plant; wash with clean water

and remove thorns and outer skin.• Take the edible mucilage (jelly portion) and mix with

jaggery.• Orally administer this mixture to sheep once in 3

months.

The amount to be given per sheep per quarter is 50gms.to 75 gms. of mucilage mixed with approximately 10gms. of jaggery.

Note : The addition of jaggery is only to enhance the taste ofaloevera.

Women sharing theirexperiences on alovera as a

dewormer

L E I S A I N D I A • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 536

Paddy cultivation and duck farming have always beenclosely interlinked in the Trivandrum district of Kerala,the southernmost state of India. The ducks are released

on paddy fields after harvest, feed on leftover rice grains andin the process enhance soil fertility through their droppings.However, during the last two decades paddy cultivation in thearea has substantially decreased because of increasedurbanization, changing cropping patterns (whereby rice isgradually replaced by higher value crops such as vegetablesand bananas), and migration of young people away from ruralareas. This development has forced farmers to purchase feedfor the ducks all year round, making duck farming expensiveand unsustainable. But “necessity is the mother of invention”and farmers have developed an alternative that enables them tokeep duck farming profitable.

Let the march begin!Many farmers in Punchakkari area of Trivandrum keep duckflocks of 5 000 - 10 000 birds. The ducks, mostly local breedslike chara and chempalli, are kept for egg production, and aresold or slaughtered at four years of age. Demand for thenutritious duck meat is high and the price is good: It fetches upto 70 Indian rupees (US$1.61) per kilogram, compared to 50Indian rupees (US$1.15) for chicken meat. During part of theyear, the ducks used to feed on rice grains on the farmer’spaddy fields and other fields nearby, but confronted with thedecreasing areas under paddy cultivation the farmersintroduced a system of “migratory duck farming”, whichprovides benefits to the duck owner, farm labourers and paddyfield owners in the district and beyond.

Migratory duck farming depends on the paddy fields of Keralaand the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, where farmers ownlarge paddy fields and grow up to 3 rice crops a year. ByFebruary, as the harvest of the second crop of paddy is over,the duck owner splits the flock into groups of 500 birds eachand employs 2 labourers to escort each group. The groups thenundertake a long four-month journey that ends in Tamil Nadu,covering hundreds of paddy fields on their path. The ducksfeed on paddy grains, wild rice, snails and small fishes. Duringthe night they stay on garden lands near the fields and thelabourers keep guard in turns to chase away wild cats andfoxes. The land owners receive duck eggs as remuneration.During the journey eggs are also sold to shops and individual

households. They are in high demand because they are said tobe beneficial for people with diseases such as piles(haemorrhoids). One duck egg fetches an equivalent ofUS$0.10. The duck owner pays weekly visits to each groupand collects the money obtained from the egg sales. By the endof May, when the fields in Trivandrum are prepared for thefirst paddy crop, the groups make the return trip home bytruck. This allows the labourers to start with their regular fieldwork. Back at the farm the ducks are kept in poultry housesmade from locally available materials. Farmers purchase wheatand paddy grains to supplement the ducks’ diet.

BenefitsMigratory duck farming caught full momentum during the1990s, and is still popular because of the benefits it offers toall parties involved. The duck owners now have two optionsfor selling ducks: They can sell duck meat in their district asbefore, or they can sell 4-year-old live animals at 60 Indianrupees for a 2 kg duck to large Tamil Nadu duck farmers.Farmers generally prefer the latter option because it leavesthem with fewer ducks at the end of the trip, which savestransport costs back home. It also saves the labour involved inslaughtering ducks, and enables them to sell large numbers ofducks simultaneously. Part of the sales earnings in Tamil Naducan be reinvested by buying ducklings from the Tamil Naduduck farmers. Additional income is obtained from the sale ofduck eggs during the journey. Farm labourers also benefit fromthe system. They usually work in the paddy fields from May toFebruary, but may find it difficult to find employment duringthe lean period. By getting involved in migratory duck farmingthey earn 100 Indian rupees per day during the off-season.

The landowners of the paddy fields visited during the journeyobtain benefits as well. They receive duck eggs asremuneration for making their land available. They alsowelcome duck manure that fertilizes fields and gardens. And asfor the marching ducks: they enjoy a feast all the way!

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G.S.Unnikrishnan NairAgricultural officer & farm journalist. Anjana,T.C-25/3175-1, Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum,Kerala - 695035, IndiaEmail: unni_krishnan1@hotmail.com

Migratory duckfarming in India

Migratory duck farming offers benefits for the duck owner, land owners and farm labourers.

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G.S. Unnikrishnan Nair