期刊
ANIMAL PRODUCTION SCIENCE
卷 61, 期 14, 页码 1484-1496出版社
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/AN19709
关键词
Bos indicus; Bubalus bubalis; farmers; calf; cow; cattle; buffalo; knowledge; attitude and practice survey; reproductive efficiency; smallholder farmers; south-east Asia; Laos
资金
- Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research [AH/2012/068]
The study found that increasing land dedicated to forages and promoting farmer market-orientation can improve reproductive performance of cattle and buffalo. Additionally, having more female cows can enhance reproductive performance.
Context. Smallholder beef farming in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) is constrained by poor reproductive performance, contributing to regional food insecurity. To address this, interventions were promoted in some rural communities by extension services to enhance cattle and buffalo nutrition, health, and reproductive husbandry. Aims. This study assessed the impacts of these interventions on cattle and buffalo reproductive performance. Methods. Knowledge, attitude and practice surveys were conducted on smallholder beef farmers in 2015 (n = 637) and 2018 (n = 226). With written records lacking on these farms, the survey relied on farmer recall of the number of calves born in the previous 12 months and the number of female cows (>12 months of age) present. The rate of these, calves/female cows, was used as an indicator of reproductive performance. Key results. This proportion was higher in 2018 at a predicted mean 0.27 calves/cow compared with 2015 at 0.21 calves/cow (P < 0.001), suggesting a beneficial effect of interventions over time. Specifically, reproductive performance improved with increasing land dedicated to forages (P < 0.001) and increased farmer market-orientation (P = 0.006). Farmers who believed that selling sick large ruminants stopped the spread of disease had enhanced reproductive performance (P = 0.008). Although the practice of culling animals of low reproductive performance is desirable, in countries where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic, it is important to discourage practices that increase infectious disease transmission risk. Conclusion. As reproductive knowledge interventions were not associated with reproductive performance, introducing interventions such as castration and weaning to consolidate reproductive knowledge is recommended as well as addressing challenges that limit forage adoption; and debunking misconceptions on effectiveness of biosecurity.
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