Improvement of Livestock Production in Crop-Animal Systems in ...

Educational, research and extension institutions in the province are linked closely to each other and tothe civil/political structure for identification of problems and the generation and diffusion of technologies tofarmers. The CAAS conducts research on issues of national importance, whilst the Hunan Academy ofAgricultural Sciences (HAAS) is involved with provincial issues and, to a lesser extent, national issues.Feed supply is the principal constraint. Although diseases are not a major problem, they do occur andare the same as those encountered in other countries in the region. For example, the major disease of pigs isswine fever and, for poultry, Newcastle disease. Cattle and goats are affected by a range of internal parasites.For certain diseases, mass vaccination is carried out twice a year, and each village has a veterinary stationthat is linked to a network throughout the province. Services are free but farmers pay for drugs and vaccines.Private companies managing large farms, however, also pay for veterinary services.No erosion was evident in the rice-growing areas in the lowlands. Terraces and bunds were present onall of the cultivated land. In the uplands, erosion has occurred and has been associated in some areas withovergrazing. Terracing is being practised in these areas together with the planting of trees.Major challenges for the future include environmental protection and related resource management, thedevelopment of animal feeds without chemical additives, the improved efficiency of livestock production,disease prevention and the creation of processing and marketing infrastructure to meet the rapidly risingdemand for better-quality animal products. In order to tackle these problems, a more multidisciplinaryapproach to research and technology evaluation and dissemination will be required. More economic analysisof technology options and their impacts, and assessments of market potential for inputs, technologies andproducts need to be conducted. Economists from the Agricultural Economics Research Institute in HAASparticipate in some of the work, but the number of economists may need to be increased as the market becomesthe key determinant of resource-allocation decisions by producers and consumers.Guangdong and Hainan provincesFarming systems in South China (Guangdong and Hainan) involve mainly intensive rice production in thelowlands with peanut, soyabean and mungbean grown as cash crops (Devendra and Sere 1993). In the uplandsof Hainan Province rubber, tea, fruit, cassava and sweet potato are grown and there is intensive vegetableproduction in the lowlands. Typical cropping patterns in South China include wheat–soyabean/peanut–rice(uplands); wheat–rice–rice; sweet potato–rice–rice; maize–rice; and rice/jute–rice.In animal production systems, non-ruminants (pigs, poultry and ducks) are the most important animalsfollowed by cattle, buffaloes and goats. Buffaloes are important for land preparation and haulage.Considerable opportunities exist in Hainan Province for the production of goat meat, where prices areappreciably higher than those for pigs or cattle, and there is a special consumer market in the urban areas.The major feed for ruminants is native pasture on marginal land and in rice-fields after harvest. Rice strawis utilised in the dry season, but treatment with urea is not yet a widespread practice.Until 1988, Hainan was part of Guangdong Province and the work on pastures and forages had acommon focus. Tropical pasture technology was introduced into Guangdong Province in 1981, where arange of grasses (e.g. molasses grass, paspalum, setaria) and legumes (e.g. stylos, siratro, greenleafdesmodium) were tested. Stylos were inter-cropped with fruit trees in hilly areas and leaf-meal wasproduced for non-ruminants. The inclusion of legumes was expected to improve soil fertility and controlsoil erosion. In 1995, there were 200,000 ha of improved pastures in Guangdong Province, of which 80%was stylo. Pasture evaluation on Hainan Island identified stylo CIAT 184 as the outstanding cultivar.Since becoming separate territories, divergence of effort is evident. In Guangdong Province, where theaverage farm size is 0.5 ha, competition for land and the greater efficiency of non-ruminants has resultedin a strong emphasis on pigs and poultry at the expense of ruminants. This trend is expected to acceleratein the future. Farmers are diversifying into fruit production and animal agriculture, but the importance ofnon-ruminants is indicating that ruminant production is not a viable option. Accordingly, opportunitiesfor ruminants and pasture development exist primarily in Hainan Province. On the coast, for example,there are significant areas of marginal lands that could be developed for improved pastures, whilst foragelegumes could be integrated with vegetable production and rubber. Hainan Province lies between latitudes