C. Devendra

University of the Philippines Los Baños | UPLB

Goats contribute significantly to human nutrition, food security and income of resource-poor small farmers in Asia, Africa and beyond. Because of the high content of mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids in goat milk, it is beneficial for human health resulting in it being sold at premium prices of three to nine times the price of cow milk in countr...

The elements that determine the success of development projects on goats and the prerequisites for ensuring this are discussed in the context of the bewildering diversity of goat genetic resources, production systems, multifunctionality, and opportunities for responding to constraints for productivity enhancement. Key determinants for the success o...

The justification for improving dairy goats and increased milk production in Asia is driven by several important factors, e.g. the demand for higher priced goat milk, compared to dairy cow milk; specific benefits of goat milk in human nutrition and food security; the need for more animal protein and genetic diversity. The world goat population of a...

The importance of rainfed areas and animal agriculture on productivity enhancement and food security for economic rural growth in Asia is discussed in the context of opportunities for increasing potential contribution from them. The extent of the rainfed area of about 223 million hectares and the biophysical attributes are described. They have been...

Goats are widely distributed globally, and the developing world is the home of about 97% of the total world population of about 782 million goats. They are well adapted to tropical and temperate, arid and humid, cold and hot, and steep mountainous environments, where they are valued for many different products and purposes in different parts of the...

The availability and efficient use of the feed resources in Asia are the primary drivers of performance to maximise productivity from animals. Feed security is fundamental to the management, extent of use, conservation and intensification for productivity enhancement. The awesome reality is that current supplies of animal proteins are inadequate to...

Improved efficiency in the use of natural resources, pragmatic production systems and environmental sustainability, justified by the need for improved land use systems and increased productivity, are discussed in the context of Asian integrated systems, diversification, and issues of sustainability. The importance of these are reflected by serious...

The paper presents an analysis and conclusions of the 9th International Conference on Goats in Mexico. It highlights a very successful conference, the types and extent of subject matter areas that were addressed and their trends. Continuing emphasis on research along disciplinary lines is apparent, in comparison to the more applied links with devel...

This paper discusses the potential importance and growing expansion of integrated oil palm-ruminant systems. It focuses on the significance of productivity-enhancing technologies and intensification consistent with economic benefits, social acceptance and environmental integrity, and alludes to potential opportunities associated with the sustainabl...

The paper describes the rationale and importance of the approaches and methodologies of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to enable constraint analysis, to understand the complexities of farming systems and to improve integrated dairy productivity. Implicit in this objective is Farming Systems Research (FSR), which focused on cropping systems in...

Small farms are an integral part of Asian agriculture. They are characterized by the preponderance and emphasis on mixed crop-animals systems across a variety of agroecological zones. Mixed farming is the backbone of agriculture, many categories of which are models of diversification, efficiency and resilience in Asia. In global terms, small farms...

Asian animal production systems are discussed in the context of their relevance, types, trends, opportunities for productivity enhancement, and the implications for natural resource management (NRM). These include a variety of systems in agro-ecological zones which can be grouped broadly into one of three categories: landless, crop-based and, and r...

Summary Small ruminants (goats and sheep) form an important economic and ecological niche in agricultural systems throughout the developing countries. Their current contribution is not commensurate with the potential capacity for higher levels of production. The context for productivity enhancement and increased socio- economic contribution relates...

The objective of this paper is to contribute to progress in the choices of strategies for further development of goat farming in the 21st century. During the last 20 years, the number of goats around the world increased (by about 60%) not only in the countries with low income (75%) but also in those with high (20%) or intermediate (25%) income. Thi...

Poverty is a rural dilemma and continues to be a persistent multidimensional problem. It is associated with poor farmers, small farm systems, the landless, resource endowments, the socioeconomic environment and externalities. Over 75% of the poor live and work in rural areas, trapped in a poverty-adaptation-fragile lives-little hope-low life expect...

The integration of crop and animal production is well developed in the farming systems of Asia, particularly those in small-scale agriculture. There is marked complementarity in resource use in these systems, with inputs from one sector being supplied to others. Specific examples of the main crop–animal interactions are given for different countrie...

Agricultural production in Asia emphasises intensive rice and wheat production. Other systems are associated with maize, cassava, trees and a range of secondary crops. Both monoculture and multiple cropping systems are common, with crops being grown for subsistence and cash. Irrigated agriculture is well developed in high potential areas, but most...

The importance of crop–animal systems in Asia, the multiple roles played by animals and the opportunities for increasing their contribution to these systems justifies continued research effort. An assessment of the role of livestock in mixed farming systems in 14 countries has identified priority systems, technical constraints and weaknesses in the...

Feed resources and nutrition constitute the principal technical constraints to ruminant production in Asia. Four main categories of feed resources are potentially available for use in smallholder crop–animal systems. These are pastures (native and improved grasses, herbaceous legumes and multi-purpose trees), crop residues, agro-industrial by-produ...

Crop–animal systems, in which livestock play a multi-purpose role, are the backbone of Asian agriculture. In the future, increased productivity from livestock will be necessary in these systems to meet the increased demand for animal products, to alleviate poverty and to improve the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers. Agriculture in the region is...

In the next two decades, the demand for animal products will more than double. The concluding paper provides some considered predictions on the future for crop-animal systems in Asia, as a consequence of this trend. Although meat and eggs from non-ruminants in industrial systems will continue to be the main source of animal proteins, it is unlikely...

This review paper discusses the relevance and potential importance of food-feed systems in Asian agricultural systems, and in particular the role and contribution of legumes to these systems. A food-feed system is one that maintains, if not increases, the yield of food crops, sustains soil fertility, and provides dietary nutrients for animals. It i...

This review paper discusses the relevance and potential importance of food-feed systems in Asian agricultural systems, and in particular the role and contribution of legumes to these systems. A food-feed system is one that maintains, if not increases, the yield of food crops, sustains soil fertility, and provides dietary nutrients for animals. It i...

Asia is a region of dynamic economic changes, fuelled by rapid population growth, urbanization, increased incomes, demand-led processes and changing consumer preferences for foods of animal origin. The projected total meat and milk consumption levels for 2020 are far in excess of anticipated supplies, and place unprecedented pressure on the managem...

Strategies for improved feed utilisation and ruminant production systems are discussed in the context of the demand-led processes for foods of animal origin, in which the contribution of ruminants is lagging. Increased productivity in the future will need to come from improved per animal performance, and the under utilised but potentially important...

Fodder resources provide the principal sources of feeds throughout the humid and sub-humid, arid and semi-arid and Mediterranean regions. They include grasses and legumes, and fibrous crop residues (FCR). Browse is another important source of fodder. The availability and use of the fodder resources is dependent on type of agroecosystem (e.g. humid...

Comparative aspects of digestive physiology and nutrition in goats and sheep are discussed in the context of differences due to feeding behaviour, intake, digestive function, utilisation of nutrients, water economy and turnover rate, and digestive efficiency. Some of these differences are inherent, but others result from adaptation and interaction...

3. ed.

The introduction discusses the geographical distribution, environments, functional roles, importance in rural communities, and the importance of promoting production. The 2 main parts analyse for each animal: origin and history of domestication; breeds; reproductive behaviour; breeding methods; feeds and feeding; diseases and parasites; management;...

In animal production systems, a particular species is utilized for two main reasons. First, because of its ability to adapt to a particular environment and use the existing resources efficiently. Second, and more particularly, its economic importance both actual and potential, which can be achieved by adjustment of the environment to suit this prod...

Dairy goats are important for the supply of high quality proteins in milk through conversion of feed from noncompetitive sources. Significance of milk production in less developed countries is growing. Goats are the third ranking source of milk, but these countries produce approximately 52% of the world production of goat milk. Given are gross comp...

Digestibility studies were carried out to establish the inter-relationship between crude fibre and total lipid digestibility in the presence of added calcium or non-ionic detergents. Three levels of calcium, corresponding to daily intakes of 2·3, 4·8 and 22·9 g per sheep, were used in a predominantly ground barley diet (65 to 73%) to which was adde...

A comparison has been made between the methods for crude fibre (CF) and acid-detergent fibre (MADF) determination. In diets containing 10 to 70 % hay with or without 8 % tallow (T) or maize oil (MO), a highly significant (P < 0·001) correlation of r = 0·95 was observed between CF and MADF estimates. This high correlation confirmed a similar relatio...

The variations in the composition of milk over an 18-week period from lactating British Alpine and Anglo–Nubian goats imported into Trinidad are reported. The animals were fed Napier grass ( Pennisetum purpureum ) ad lib . and 2 lb of a proprietary concentrate mixture daily. The mean percentage contents of the milks of British Alpine and Anglo–Nubi...

Forty crossbred weanling piglets were used to evaluate their performance on four different growing and finishing rations embodying largely locally available feed ingredients. A widely used proprietary ration served as a control. The overall performance in terms of the parameters measured was best in the control pigs. However, the treatment 3 group...

The optimum protein levels were determined for growing and finishing pigs in a tropical environment. There were statistically significant differences in daily live-weight gain and feed conversion efficiency between pigs fed a diet containing 16 per cent crude protein and those receiving 18 per cent crude protein. No differences in response were fou...

The justification for improved animal production systems in Asia is the need for more animal proteins, due to a widening gap between projected demand and available supplies, and the objective of eradicating poverty. The issues are exacerbated by a changing environment and several demand-led factors. These include rapid population growth, urbanisati...

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the agricultural setting in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in the context of socio-economic indicators, prevailing agro-ecological zones, dynamics of crop-animal systems, and emerging challenges and their trends in the face of a rapidly changing external environment. More importantly,...

Repeatability estimates of milk yield and length of lactation of local, ½ Anglo-Nubian × local and ¾ Anglo-Nubian × local cross-bred goats were calculated. There were highly significant differences in the effect of dams on milk yields for the third, fourth and fifth lactations for local goats, when considered together. No significant differences we...