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

18–21° North, with an average rainfall of 1700 mm occurring between May and October. Averagetemperature is 23°C and altitudes range from sea-level to 1867 m.The development of stylo for seed and leaf-meal in Hainan Province is impressive. Seed production ofstylo is based on state farms where the species is managed as an annual crop and fertilised with both manureand superphosphate. When stands are 85% ripe the plants are cut, with 30% of the seeds harvested from thecut plants. The remaining 70% of the seeds are recovered from the ground by sweeping up the soil forprocessing. The stalks are also produced into meal for non-ruminants, but the quality is poor. There is oneharvest per year yielding 375 kg/ha of seed. The operation is apparently highly profitable though rigorouseconomic analyses have not been conducted. For stylo leaf-meal production, the hay is dried for 2–3 daysbefore being milled. The average crude protein content in the dry matter is about 12–13%. The leaf-meal isused mainly for non-ruminants. Meal from Leucaena leucocephala leaf is also being produced on state farms.Further evaluation of legumes is taking place through collaboration between the FSP and the ChineseAcademy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Hainan Province. These include various accessions of styloand perennial peanut. If the potential for goat production is realised, evaluation of multipurpose treegermplasm would be justified.IndonesiaEnvironment and cropping systemsThe Indonesian archipelago consists of over 13,000 islands with a land area of 1.8 million km 2 , of whichKalimantan is the largest covering 28% of the total land area. Java, although representing only 6–7% of thetotal land area, is the most densely populated island with close to 60% of the population of Indonesia. TheAEZs are well-defined and vary from the humid coastal swamps and wetlands in parts of Java, Sumatera,Kalimantan, south Sulawesi and Bali, to the sub-humid and semi-arid drylands in parts of Java, and onSulawesi and the Nusa Tenggara islands of Lombok, Simbawa, Suraba and Timur (Djajanegara and Diwyanto1995). Some 58% of the archipelago has seven to nine consecutive wet months and less than two months ofdry season. The lowest rainfall areas are found in eastern Indonesia, where the dry season varies from threeto eight months. The temperature stays within constant ranges, differing only in a few degrees between thehottest and coolest months. The farming systems are regulated more by rainfall than temperature. Plantationcrops are associated with the wetter western areas, and more extensive grasslands with the drier easternregions.Crops are produced on about 29 million ha out of 130 million ha of available arable land. About 9.0million ha are drylands and 8.0 million ha are wetlands including rainfed areas suitable for rice cultivation.About 7.0 million ha are planted to perennial crops, and secondary crops cover more than 5.0 million ha. Themajority of animals are associated with cropping in smallholder systems.Soil fertility is strongly affected by climate and is a major constraint to agricultural production. Heavyrainfall leads to soil erosion and high temperatures contribute to chemical weathering. Soils are mostly ultisolsand oxisols, characterised by high levels of aluminium but low contents of available nutrients. Soils in theeastern part of the archipelago are generally too poor to support intensive cropping without the addition offertilisers.Rice is the dominant food crop, particularly in the wetlands and swamps. The country has beenself-sufficient in rice since 1984, and average yields are amongst the highest for all three rice cultures.Traditionally, rice is mono-cropped but multiple-cropping patterns based on inter-cropping andsequential-cropping are now common. Other major crops are maize, cassava, sweet potato, soyabean and peanut.Perennial tree crops, especially rubber, are included in smallholder systems. In the transmigration areas of southSumatera, vegetables, fruit, cassava and pulses are grown in the home gardens; rice and legumes on the food-cropland; and rubber as the principal plantation crop. Rubber production is lucrative and provides a regular incomeas well as being less labour-intensive than food crop production. Farmers are increasing their areas of rubber forthese reasons, and reducing the area of food crops. Maize is sometimes inter-cropped with rice, and cassava andpineapple planted as borders. Rice with soyabean is a popular rotation in some areas.