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SAARC JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE (SJA)
Volume 17, Issue 2, 2019
ISSN: 1682-8348 (Print), 2312-8038 (Online)
© SAC
The views expressed in this journal are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect those of SAC
Published by
SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC)
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Phone: 880-2-8141665, 8141140; Fax: 880-2-9124596
E-mail: saarcjournal@yahoo.com, Website: http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/SJA/index
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. S. M. Bokhtiar
Director, SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Managing Editor
Dr. Ashis Kumar Samanta
Senior Program Specialist (Livestock), SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Associate Editor
Fatema Nasrin Jahan
Senior Program Officer, SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Printed at
Natundhara Printing Press, 277/3, Elephant Road, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh
Cell: 01711019691, 01911294855, Email: natundhara2014@gmail.com
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. S.M. Bokhtiar
Director, SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Managing Editor
Dr. Ashis Kumar Samanta
Senior Program Specialist (Livestock), SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Associate Editor
Fatema Nasrin Jahan
Senior Program Officer, SAARC Agriculture Centre
BARC Complex, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
Members
Dr. M. Jahiruddin
Professor,
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of
Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural
University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Email: m_jahiruddin@yahoo.com
Dr. Muhammad Musa
Deputy Director (Research), Ayub
Agricultural Research Institute,
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Email: mum96@hotmail.com
Dr. P. K. Mandal
Principal Scientist,
National Research Centre for Plant
Biotechnology,
IARI, Campus, New Delhi, India
Email: pranabkumarmandal@gmail.com
Dr. Md. Abdus Samad
Professor
Department of Medicine Faculty of
Veterinary Science Bangladesh Agricultural
University,
Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Dr. S. K. Sahoo
Principal Scientist,
Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture
Bhubaneswar, Odisha,
India
Email: sksahoo100@rediffmail.com
Dr. Badar Naseem Siddiqui
Department of Agriculture Extension &
Communication, PMAS-Arid Agricultural
University,
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Dr. Bhim Bahadur Khatri
Senior Scientist and Coordinator,
National Potato Research Programme,
Nepal Agricultural Research Council,
Khumaltar, Lalitpur,
Nepal
Email: bhimkhatri058@gmail.com
Dr. P.B. Dharmasena
National Consultant Food and Agriculture
Organization Sri Lanka
Email:dharmasenapb@ymail.com
Professor Dr. Md. Shahidur Rashid
Bhuiyan
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding,
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr. Pratap Singh Birthal
Principal Scientist
National Institute of Agricultural
Economics and Policy Research (NIAP),
D. P. S. Marg, Pusa, New Delhi, India
Email: psbirthal@yahoo.com
Dr. A. K.Singh
Head Genetics & Joint Director (Research),
ICAR-Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa-
110012, New Delhi
Email: jd_research@iari.res.in
Dr. P. Pravin
Assistant Director General (Marine
Fisheries)
ICAR Hqrs
Email: pravinp2005@gmail.com
CONTENTS
Title
Page
POTENTIALITY OF UNDERUTILIZED CROP DIOSCOREA SPP.: A SOURCE OF
NUTRACEUTICAL
F.N. Jahan, M.A. Rahim, S.M. Bokhtiar and A.K. Samanta
1
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF FARM ANIMALS IN BANGLADESH: A REVIEW
M.A. Hamid
15
DUCK GENETIC RESOURCES, THEIR IMPROVEMENT AND CONSERVATION
IN BANGLADESH: A REVIEW
M.A. Hamid
31
MANAGEMENT OF THRIPS INFESTING MUNG BEAN USING PESTICIDES
S. Yasmin, M.A. Latif, M. Ali and M.M. Rahman
43
IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ATTRIBUTES ON THE LIVING STANDARDS
OF FEMALES IN FARMING SYSTEM OF PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
T.I. Ullah, H.N. Anwer, M. Musa and F. Sher
53
SEROPREVALANCE AND MOLECULAR DETECTION OF FMDV
IN CATTLE AT SAVAR IN BANGLADESH
N. Jannat, M.S. Rahman, E. Islam, N.A. Rumi, M. Giasuddin, M. Hasan
M.R. Islam and M.Z. Hassan
67
MANAGEMENT OF THRIPS AND POD BORERS USING CHEMICALS,
BOTANICALS AND BIOPESTICIDES IN MUNGBEAN
K.N. Islam, M.M.H. Khan, M.A. Latif, M.M. Uddin and M.M. Islam
79
AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF GOVERNMENT CUSTOM HIRING SERVICES
FOR DIFFERENT FARM MACHINERIES IN BHUTAN
N. Kinga and W. Chetem
93
VARIABILITY, TRAITS ASSOCIATION AND PATH COEFFICIENT OF YIELD
AND YIELD CONTRIBUTING TRAITS OF SELECTED BORO RICE (ORYZA
SATIVA L.) GERMPLASM
T. Chakrabarty, M.Z. Islam, N. Akter and M. Khalequzzaman
103
INFLUENCE OF SOLUTION CONCENTRATION AND EQUILIBRIUM TIME ON
PHOSPHORUS SORPTION IN CALCAREOUS AND NON-CALCAREOUS SOILS
J.C. Joardar, S. Sikder and S.B. Hasib
117
STRESS TOLERANT RICE AND ON-FARM SEED PRODUCTION ENSURE FOOD
SECURITY AND LIVELIHOOD TO SMALL AND MARGINAL FARMERS OF
SUNDARBANS (INDIAN SITE)
K. Chattopadhyay, S. Gayan, I. Mondal, S.K. Mishra, A.K. Mukherjee, J.N. Reddy
B.C. Marndi and R.K. Sarkar
127
Title
Page
GENETIC EVALUATION OF RED CHITTAGONG CATTLE IN BANGLADESH
F. Ferdous, M.P. Choudhury, M.O. Faruque, M.M. Hossain and A.K.F.H. Bhuiyan
141
CLIMATIC FACTORS AFFECTING THE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF LENTIL
APHID IN INNER TERAI REGION OF NEPAL
S. Neupane and S. Subedi
155
FINANCIAL PROFITABILITY AND RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS OF
GARDEN PEA (PISUM SATIVUM L.) PRODUCTION IN DHANKUTA, NEPAL
S. Gahatraj and R. Uprety
165
VERMICOMPOST INFLUENCES PROCESSING QUALITY OF POTATO TUBERS
J. Ferdous, T.S. Roy, R. Chakraborty, M. Mostofa, R. Noor, F. Nowroz and B.C. Kundu
173
PHENOTYPIC DIVERGENCE IN TOMATO GERMPLASM
M.Z. Ullah, L. Hassan, M. Samsuzzaman and M.A. Main
185
PREVALENCE OF FUNGAL DISEASES IN MEDICINAL PLANTS IN NORTHERN
REGION OF BANGLADESH
M.A. Rahman, Z.R. Moni, M.A. Hussen and T.H. Ansari
197
SMALL-SCALE DAIRY VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DAIRY DEVELOPMENT IN MYMENSINGH
DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH
H. Rahman, F.A. Happy, A.H. Efan and F. Yeasmin
213
FARMING PRACTICES AND LIVELIHOOD STATUS OF NON-SALINE AND
SALINE HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTHERN BANGLADESH
M.T. Uddin, W. Erskine, A.R. Dhar, M.I. Shishir and M.G. Neogi
227
PERCEPTION, IMPACT AND DETERMINANTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION AMONG VEGETABLE GROWERS OF DHADING
DISTRICT OF NEPAL
B.R. Dahal, B. Shrestha and J. Shrestha
239
ASSESSMENT OF THE DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN
NEPAL: A SYNTHESIS OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS
T.P. Paudel, B.R. Pokharel and B.S. Shrestha
253
FARMERS’ FERTILIZER APPLICATION GAP IN RICE-BASED CROPPING
SYSTEM: A CASE STUDYOF NEPAL
B.R. Baral, K.R. Pande, Y.K. Gaihr, K.R. Baral, S.K. Sah, and Y.B. Thapa
267
GUIDE FOR AUTHORS
279
SAARC J. Agric., 17(2): 253-266 (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/sja.v17i2.45310
ASSESSMENT OF THE DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM
OF WESTERN NEPAL: A SYNTHESIS OF FOCUS GROUP
DISCUSSIONS
T.P. Paudel1*, B.R. Pokharel1 and B.S. Shrestha2
1Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Khumaltar, Lalitpur
2Heifer International Nepal (HPI), Hattiban, Lalitpur
ABSTRACT
Livestock, the dairy sector in particular, has traditionally contributed to
the Nepalese economy and livelihoods even though vegetarian centered
food habits predominate. Despite a long chain of observations,
discussions, and interventions, this sector has not realized substantial
improvement. An International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
developed tool, Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST), has been deployed to
precisely analyze the livestock feeding system in the Kapilvastu, Palpa
and Arghakhachi districts of Nepal. A large proportion of the populations,
especially the youth segment, have migrated, and as a result the area
under agricultural production is ever decreasing. The typical crop
production pattern does not reflect any dominance of fodder crops, which
limits the availability of feed and posesa serious threat to the expansion
of commercial dairy enterprises. Additional barriers to increased
productivity include a limited supply of labor, competition for resources
(i.e. labor, land) with rice production and the significant number of
indigenous dairy animals in the national herd. Policy barriers that include
unaffordable credit, limited access to inputs and inadequate government
support further hinder potential growth of the dairy sector of this region. A
dairy focused program to utilize the land and other resources to
commercialize the dairy sector in order to tap the potential of this
geography could be the only alternative to contribute toward meeting the
national objective of making the country self-sufficient in milk and its
products by 2020.
Keywords: Feed Assessment Tool; Feeding System; Animal Production;
Market
* Corresponding author: tulasi.paudel@uqconnect.edu.au
Accepted: 22.08.2019 Received: 02.11.2019
254 Paudel et al.
INTRODUCTION
A review of the statistics related to agricultural production and their trends over the
decades reflect that livestock, ruminants in particular, is the fundamental component
of agriculture system of Nepal. Indeed, more than one-third economic share of
agriculture is occupied by livestock, and agriculture nearly contributes the same
proportion of the national economy (MoALMC, 2018). Common species like cattle,
buffalo, sheep and goats have traditionally complemented the crop farming
community by supplying milk, meat, wool and to a certain extent farm power
(Paudel, 2009). Over the years, the livestock sector, especially dairy production, has
undergone its own transformation and acquired the status of commercial enterprise or
agribusiness, in part due to greater efforts towards improvements, especially in
feeding (Paudel, 2009). Comparative studies of the potential productivity of these
ruminants, however, indicate that significant further improvement could result from a
number of interventions in feeding, breeding and health, and thereby improve the
overall productivity of ruminants. The productivity of dairy animals, especially under
the forage-based systems, is perceived as being highly responsive to feeding
interventions. Understanding the forage-based system to produce quality milk and
meat, a variety of quality alternatives are also available within the ecological niches
of each production system (Paudel et al., 2017) and therefore hold immense potential
to help in the mission of making country self-reliant in milk and meat (MoALMC,
2018). However, selection of the right feeding interventions requires a
comprehensive investigation of the existing livestock production systems along with
their feeding pattern as well the potential of improvement. The established system of
such assessment from those of African and Indian cases have been quite relevant and
sensible considerations for this purpose (Amole and Ayantunde, 2016; Adegoke and
Abioye, 2016; Wondatir and Damtew, 2015; Lukuyu et al., 2015; Wassena et al.,
2015).
METHODOLOGY
Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST), a system developed by Duncan et al., (2012) was
used in a total of six (6) locations in three (3) districts in Nepal, to assess the
livestock production system, feeding system in particular (Fig. 1). The process
involved in the data collection was conduct of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in
each location. The FGD accommodated between 8 and 12 farmers amongst the
participants of the project implemented by Feed the Future Innovation Laboratory.
The discussions focused on four major areas i) the farming system, ii) management
of livestock species, iii) problems and their corresponding solutions and iv) the
wealth/land distribution of community.
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 255
Figure 1. GIS map of study area
The following table presents the information on the estimated number of households
(HH) living in each study location along with their typical family size and the
proportion of that population that had migrated inland or international for different
reasons, and thus unavailable for contribution to the agricultural enterprise. Likewise,
the table also indicates the number of participants disaggregated gender-wise in each
discussion.
Table 1. Demographic characters of the study locations and respective Focus Groups
for the feed assessment tool FEAST discussions in Nepal.
Location
HHs in the
area
Family Size
per HH
%
Migrated
FGD Participants
Total
Male
Female
Kopuwa
300
6
33
9
6
15
Dhankauli
400
8
19
14
4
18
Dumre
1458
5
40
9
3
12
Chinari
52
5
20
5
11
16
Durgaphat
180
8
25
9
3
12
Kimdanda
500
6
38
6
8
14
Source: FGD Survey (2016)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Household Information and farm size
The diversity of number of HHs ranged between 52 HHs in Chinari of Palpa and
1458 in Dumre of the same district with an average size of 5 to 8 people per HH.
256 Paudel et al.
Likewise, the average proportion of members migrating out of the family ranged
from 19% in Dhankauli to 40% in Dumre. The highest number of HHs in the area
with the highest percentage of the members migrating out of the town could perhaps
be due to the awareness of the members about opportunities outside the village/town
for jobs and education.
Figure 1. Stack chart showing percentage of small, medium and large farm HHs
Similar diversity existed in the size of the land holdings reportedly ranging from 0.67
ropani (where 1 ha=20 ropanis) to266 ropanis. However, the proportion of HHs with
large holdings is significantly less. This is indicative of expansion of existing dairy
farms to large ones that operate on forage-based feeding. The proportion of farmers
representing each group viz; small, medium and large are presented in a stack chart
(Fig. 2) below which indicate that the on an average the proportion of small farmers
in respective contexts dominate the distribution of land followed by the medium
farmers and large farmers.
Cropping season and water availability
The crop calendar in Figure 3 depicts the classical annual cropping pattern that
existed across the locations studied showing wheat dominating during winter with
some records of potato, mustard and oat being grown, though in small areas. Wheat
production is preferred in areas where farmers can provision for at least one irrigation
during flowering which is the most critical stage for economically relevant harvest of
the crop (Singh, et. al., 2018).
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphat
Kimdanda
Small
Medium
Large
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 257
0
200
400
600
800
1000
0
1
2
3
4
5
Actual Monthly Rainfall in mm
Perceived Intesity
Months
Annual Rainfall Pattern across study
locations
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphat
Kimdanda
Location
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Kopuwa
Rice
Potato
Potato
Sunflower
Dhankauli
Rice
Wheat
Wheat
Dumre
Rice
Wheat/Oat
Wheat/Oat
Maize/Teosenti
Chinari
Maize
Siltung (Legume)
Mustard
Durgaphant
Rice
Wheat
Wheat
Maize
Kimdanda
Maize
Wheat
Wheat
Mustard
Figure 3. Cropping pattern of studied area
Figure 4. Annual Rainfall pattern in study area
258 Paudel et al.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphant
Kimdanda
Cattle Indigenous
Cattle Improved
Buffalo Indigenous
Buffalo Improved
Draught Cattle
Goat
Pig
Rural Poultry
Commercial Poultry
The farmers were asked to evaluate the intensity of rainfall across months on a 5-
point scale (Fig. 4) which demonstrates that the new monsoon is extended from June
to September. In the meantime, the FGD participants across almost all locations
indicated that March, April, November and December are the driest months in a
calendar year. This information is indicative of further expansion of fodder during
high water availability and preservation of these fodder/forage for the use during the
driest months (Paudel, 2009) and at the same time indicating the need for water
management strategies to cater the need for forage/fodder during drier months. The
variation for availability of water existed across locations; Kopuwa being the most
advantageous while the plight of Chinari and Kimdanda farmers offers considerably
less opportunity to plan for fodder/forage production. The collected information was
matched from the nearby agriculture center (plotted on the chart on secondary
vertical axis). The comparison indicates that farmers' perception also matches with
the actual precipitation recorded except for the fact that contrary to farmers'
perception, the month of August received no precipitation at all in the area.
Labor requirement
The migration (internal and international) trend over the years especially triggered by
the armed conflict during the 1990s and thereafter has created a vacuum in the labor
force (KC, 1998) that would otherwise be abundantly available for agriculture-based
operations. Despite a degree of mechanization and customization to agriculture
practices, some periods observe higher labor requirements that have been addressed
by either exchange of labor service, barter the service for some other goods or pay for
such services. The respondents revealed during the FGDSs that June and July are
earmarked for the maximum labor demands largely attributable to the cultivation
(nursery management, land preparation, puddling, seed pulling and transplanting) of
the staple crop.
Figure 5. Percentile distribution of farmers rearing different livestock species
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 259
90
100
98
79
13
10
10
0
2
21
87
90
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphant
Kimdanda
Formal
Informal
The percentage of farmers rearing goats is above 80% and the (fig. 5) strongly
supports the common claim that goats constitute the integral component of the hill
and rural farming system of Nepal (Paudel et al., 2012). Among dairy animals, the
proportion of improved cattle exceeds local breeds; less than 10% of local breed
cattle and buffaloes have been maintained which indicate that the performance of
local breeds against their crossbred counterparts are inferior (Pokharel et al., 2012)
and cannot address the local and national demand for milk (CLDP, 2011). This
growing affinity of farmers towards improved breeds of dairy animals indicates the
growing commercialization of dairy sector in the study locations.
Sources of credit
Owing to growing herd size, especially of dairy farms, the investment influx to
support the ever-growing sector through simultaneously growing different financial
institutions is needed. However, significant work is required to support the much
needed commercialization of the livestock sector in general (IBN, 2017). Figure
6illustrates the proportion of farmers receiving loans from two major categories3 of
financial institutions viz; formal and informal. Except of Kimdanda, thereappears to
be a general trend of accessible areas getting better access to formal sector credit.
Areas remote from market centers are deprived of such formal credit access and are
therefore dependent on the informal sector, resulting in being forced to pay
unaffordable interest rates. However, the informal sector provides the flexibility and
comfort of pursuing loans locally, and avoid the formality and paperwork
requirements that are often cumbersome for the farmers in pursuit of small volume
loans for agricultural purposes including dairy.
Figure 6: Proportion of farmers taking loans from different sector
3Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, has broadly categorized the financial institutions as formal and
informal. Formal sources are those registered formally under the umbrella policy of the NRB to a clearly defined
boundary of financial transactions. These are further classified as Class A, B, C and D on the basis of the amount of
capital been managed by these institutions and
the area of coverage. Informal sector are those institutions providing casual loans to the needy farmers usually for
unforeseeable instances in the family. These institutions are usually groups registered in district level line agencies or
individuals offering loans to farmers usually on higher interest rates than the formal sector.
260 Paudel et al.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphant
Kimdanda
Fodder
Subsistence
Cash crops
Area under cultivation
The overall impression of the study revealed that there could be more land available
for cultivation if additional inputs are available for agricultural operations. In cases
where farmers need to lease in or out land for cultivation, the cost of leasing (in and
out) varies from Rs. 1,750 in Dhankauli to Rs. 4,000 per ropani per year in
Durgaphant and Kimdanda. Because the status of irrigation for crop cultivation in
Chinari is extremely daunting andwith no possibility of potential growth of
agribusiness in the areas, there exists no possibilityof leasing in- or out.
Figure 7 illustrates the dominance of area under cash cereal crops except in Dumre
and Kimdanda wherein the dominance of fodder crops was evident attributable
largely to the economic reliance on livestock farming, especially of dairy for
livelihood and income generation.
Figure 2. Land Use Pattern of Cultivated Land for Fodder, Cash and Subsistence Crops across
Study Locations
Figure 7 illustrates the dominance of area under cash cereal cropsexcept in Dumre
and Kimdanda wherein the dominance of fodder crops was evident attributable
largely to the economic reliance on livestock farming, especially of dairy for
livelihood and income generation.
a. Market
Distance and/or cost involved in travelling to nearby market have been considered in
defining the accessibility of market around each focus group. The range of distance
differed from 3 kilometers (km) in both Kimdanda and Dumre to 13 km in
Dhankauli. However, some interesting situationsexist in Dhankauli wherein farmers
relied on a market beyond the border rather than on a nearby market. In Durgaphant,
farmers pursuedlocal Village Animal Health Worker (VAHW) service to cope with
the distant markets in Palpa for inputs required for animal production. The average
cost of travel to the nearby market for all locations ranged from Rs. 30 to 50, largely
governed by distance and condition of the road. Agrovetsare the significantly
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 261
50
25
90
96
30
40
50
75
10
4
70
60
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphant
Kimdanda
Male
Female
dominating source of input supply (implements, fertilizers, seed, drugs, semen for AI
and vaccines) in almost all study locations, making many livestock enterprises less
efficient in these situations. As a token to have complemented to public service, the
government needs to offer more support services (both technical and financial) to
thesegrassroot enterprises (IBN, 2017).
Management of livestock
b. Housing system
The farmers in the study area tended to house animals based on broad categories of
ruminantsvs non-ruminants owing largely to their feed requirements. The degree of
commercialization further separated large from small ruminants. Within this system,
the hills housing system was marked by stall fed system characterized by no allocated
grazingareaand risks associated to topography for grazing their ruminants. These
structures were mostly marked by the provision of a feeding trough that provides
space for the hay/straw and green fodder with either removable metallic or cement
watering trough. Seasonality in provisioning bedding material to the animals is
evident wherein winter requires bedding for insulation from the chilling floorwith the
exception of Kimdanda where farmers believed that the floor invariably remains dry
throughout. The requirement for insulation during winter is provided by these
leftover roughages without additional inputs (Paudel and Perrera, 2009).
c. Feeding
Farmers tend to manage their feeding with the objective to meet the nutritional
demand of the animals by both season and the stage of production. The animals
during winter got high energy feed that provided additional energy to keep their body
warm. Lactating animals often got more feed and balanced diet as compared to other
classes of animals to cope with the additional demands of milk productionduring
lactation.
Figure 3. Distribution of feed processing roles between males and females
262 Paudel et al.
All farmers were involved in one or other form of feed processing like chaffing,
boiling, mixing, soaking etc. Mostly these processing techniques were applied during
winter in a bid to help the animals cope with the cold stress (Paudel and Perrera,
2009), in addition to improving the digestibility of nutrients. Gender wise, these tasks
did not exhibit any pattern across the locations. The involvement of females in feed
processing in all sites except in Chinari and Dumre was above 50%. However,
extreme examples were observed in Chinari and Dumre of Palpaw here in the
involvement of females was well below that of males (less than10%).
The proportion of farmers using concentrates for their animals was very high,
indicating the instinct for commercial dairy production and an understanding that
quality feeding was a major contributing factor for satisfactory milk production.
d. Animal Health services
Many farmers reported that they sought veterinarians or technicians for higher degree
complications (usually mastitis and milk fever) while managing minor issues by
themselves. However, the reach of public sector practitioners is limited. Only three
out of six locations have received both private (usually operated by agrovets) and
public animal health services. The cost of accessing such services by the farmers
varied, with private sector provisioning services at a higher cost (Table 2).
Table 2. Distance and Price for procuring private and public animal health services
across FGD locations
Interestingly, the Livestock Service Center (LSC) in Chinarihas been offering free
services which if pursued through private sector can costs as much as Rs. 2500 a
visit. Some indigenous practices (e.g. a paste of rapeseed oil and turmeric powder,
cannabis, egg and oil,and a wooden/bamboo frame around the fractured bone)have
long been used and remain in use (Paudyal, 1998).
e. Reproduction/Breeding
Cattle across study locations were invariably artificially inseminated (AI) and were
served both by public and private sector technicians, whereas buffaloes, with some
Locations
Distance (km)
Average cost of each service(Rupees)
Private
Public
Kopuwa
-
100
N/A
Dhankauli
-
300
N/A
Dumre
-
400
400
Chinari
7
2500
Free
Durgaphant
-
700
300
Kimdanda
3
N/A
300
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 263
50
75
90
100
33
60
50
25
10
0
67
40
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Kopuwa
Dhankauli
Dumre
Chinari
Durgaphant
Kimdanda
exception, were mostly bred using natural service. The limitation to adoption of AI
technique in buffalo breeding was largely attributed to significantly lower conception
rates in buffalo inseminated artificially (NLBC, 2014).The overall picture of the use
of AI versus natural breeding shows the dominance of AI over natural breeding. This
is largely because of the dominance of the cattle population over that of buffaloes.
Figure 4. Proportion of farmers using different breeding techniques
The remoteness of Durgaphant in securing the AI service and the unavailability of AI
technician in the area has surged the proportion of natural service over AI. Table
3catalogs the availability of these services scored on a 5-point scale, the price of
receiving such services and quality of service measured in terms of rate of repeat
cases from different service providers.
Table 3. Accessibility, cost and quality of AI service provided by different service
providers
Locations
Availability score (out of 5)
Price
Rate of
repeat (%)
Private
Public
Private
Public
Kopuwa
4
1
300
450
80
Dhankauli
1
5
150
500
35
Dumre
4
5
600
600
40
Chinari
2
4
700
50
33
Durgaphant
N/A
4
N/A
500
30
Kimdanda
N/A
4
N/A
500
40
264 Paudel et al.
Buffaloes are mostly bred naturally, by either Murrah or its crosses, and maintained
by a small group of farmers. The price of such service is between Rs. 700 and Rs.
1000, with the availability score of 3 on a 5-point scale.
Answers to prioritized problems with livestock production
A brief assessment of major problems relating to dairy animal production along with
their potential solutions from the perspective of participating farmers was made and
ranked by survey participants themselves. The broader category of problems indicate
that the growth of the sector is constrained by the factors like production related
problems, pricing and marketing of milk, poor financial services and poor
infrastructure to support the growth of dairy sectors aspired to in the region.
A reliable source of water has been identified as the most prominent bottleneck to
livestock production. The farmers aspired to get GoN support in installing deep-tube
wells and gravity flow pumps to ensure adequate water supply to further expand the
existing scale of dairy operations to overcome this limitation. Marketing related
issues score second compounded by the irrational pricing of milk, lack of milk
collection centers with spontaneous milk holidays exacerbating the plight. Farmers
opined that the provision of milk collection with processing centers paired with
government facilitated rational pricing policy can provide relief to this problem. In
addition, the farmers have limited access to financial services to support their
growing dairy enterprise. Major problems in accessing these financial services are
either high interest rates of up to 18% per annum or the cumbersome procedure to
secure loans from the formal sector. Possible government intervention to render loans
in the agriculture sector at a maximum interest rate of 6% per annum dedicated
financial institution could ameliorate the current crisis in expanding financial services
towards the growth of the dairy sector in the region. The most prominent constraint
related to production is the availability of fodder species that require less water yet
have high nutritive value. Farmers are left with no option to continue feeding their
dairy animals on fodder grown traditionally on marginal land, which are of poor
nutritive value, or to rely on expensive concentrate-based system. In the meantime,
the accessibility and support in fetching processing equipment like chaff cutters for
both small and medium holder farmers can somewhat improve the palatability of
roughages currently in use.
The other importantly and frequently raised issue in milk production was the
incidence of diseases that compromise milk yield substantially, primarily mastitis and
milk fever. The complexity in managing animals and environment to reduce these
ailments is critical due to the loss of production and in severe cases the animals
become permanently unproductive. Farmers opine that these conditions could be
avoided first by building the capacity of farmers themselves in aspects of feeding and
housing management and simultaneously providing technicians to treat these
conditions. Farmers' training and practical learning approaches like Farmer Field
Schools (FFS) seemed to have become obsolete, but in fact were instrumental
DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF WESTERN NEPAL 265
in building the capacity of the farmers in a number of production aspects. So, efforts
to multiply the number of such events focused on dairy farmers would add value to
the entire dairy production industry of the region.
CONCLUSION
The locations studied varied in regard to the degree of commercialization of the dairy
sector they harbor. Based on the results obtained in terms of the information collected
and in also based on the subjective evaluation, Dumre stays at the top of
commercialization ladder whereas Dhankauli apparently is at the bottom. The degree
of commercialization, however, is apparently affected by the availability of land
thereby affecting the herd size, capacity to supply nutrient rich feed resources, access
to credit and affordability of inputs among others. Some supportive state mechanisms
remain consistently unreliable except in the case of Chinari. Nevertheless, the
aspiration of farmers is supported in some measure through technical and financial
means by the government directly or indirectly and are yet to cease, but should be
increased. Some prominent issues in livestock, especially dairy production are
prevalence of mastitis and milk fever, which highlights the need for interventions of
management of dairy animals against these two diseases. Likewise, the national
objective to reduce the cost involved in milk production on aper liter basis can be
enhanced by a strong fodder research and development program with emphasis on
promotion of forages with high nutritive value and preferably perennial in nature
along with sustainable strategy to improve the productivity of native grass species
would be an imperative agenda.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its Feed the
Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems managed by the University of Florida
and the International Livestock Research Institute. The contents are the responsibility
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States
Government.
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