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

As market forces are playing an increasing role in farmer decision-making on resource allocation betweenenterprises, such studies are essential to facilitate the process.Constraints and opportunitiesThere are several constraints to production. There is a lack of information on quantitative aspects of feedresource availability, seasonality of feed supply, and their more efficient use in production systems.Specifically, in the dairy sub-sector, progress has been hampered by yield-reducing environmental stress inimproved genotypes, the inability to sustain the breeding and maintenance of crossbred animals, poornutrition, high capital costs, cheap imports of milk powder, and inadequate marketing infrastructure.Long-term returns to investment are unpredictable due to the lack of detailed analyses of different policyenvironments as competition from imports increases with the opening up of the market.Animal health issues are a major constraint, especially in smallholder systems. However, as inCambodia, this is related to deficiencies in the veterinary delivery systems. In peri-urban areas, increasedrisks of pollution to water supplies necessitate improved manure disposal systems.Although the research capacity is highest amongst the Mekong countries, it is lower than that in theASEAN sub-region. Vietnam is well endowed with a network of research departments, centres and stations.The Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH) in Hanoi, for example, has 10 centres and stations including aveterinary research institute. In the south, the Institute of Animal Science (IAS) undertakes research on animalproduction as well as on farming systems. In all, about 14 institutions are spread across the countryundertaking research and training in animal production and health. Nevertheless, there is a strong need fortraining support. At the IAS, for example, only 37 out of 200 professionals have postgraduate qualifications,mostly at MSc level. Those scientists with a doctorate degree have been trained in Eastern-bloc universitiesof questionable quality. In the social sciences, the situation is even worse. Only two people in the wholecountry reportedly have a PhD in studies related to the market economics of cropping. Others are trying toparticipate in the change from a centrally planned economy to a market economy without appropriate trainingand experience.The IAS has developed strong relationships with government organisations and university departmentsin a number of developed countries, notably France and Belgium. There is also collaboration with five centresof the CGIAR. The institute maintains that it is a multidisciplinary resource centre with strong interests infarming systems research. However, the way that research is conducted is not very clear. The so-calledfarming systems research is concerned essentially with the testing of cropping patterns. In one study,multipurpose trees and Napier grass were planted for feeding to dairy cows and goats on farms growing cashcrops. Although annual farm incomes were increased, the new technology appeared to be treated as acomponent of the farming system, and no evidence was presented of interactive effects, e.g. the applicationof the manure to crops (Hao 1996). The NIHA is concerned exclusively with the animal sciences and alsodoes not have a systems approach to research despite working with mixed farming systems. So considerableopportunities are available for systems-orientated research in Vietnam.The desire of the government to give priority to the animal sub-sector, open-market policies, and theexport of animal products places considerable emphasis on issues of policy. A specific request for supportin policy research was made at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.