Mixed Grazing System:
Crop farmers also keeping livestock

Background

Livestock can be considered as one of the better savings accounts for many farmers:

- Capital value tends to follow inflation; annual increase 10 to 30%;
- easy capitalisation of savings in case of need.
- In addition livestock can provide services (DAP) and products for local use (milk, hair, wool, meat, skins etc.).

Increase of general income levels can also result in an increase of livestock owned by crop farmers and result in an increased pressure on available pasture and water resources.

In areas where communal pastures are still being grazed, the demand for agricultural products leads in general to an expansion of the area under cultivation, more than to intensification of land use. Livestock kept in association with crop cultivation can prolong cultivation periods and so reduce the demand for land.

Development trends are towards a concentration of farmers in villages and along roadsides. Expansion of area under cultivation occurs through making use of communal pastures for crop cultivation. However, this also reduces the availability of pastures for livestock. A partial solution to the problem of lack of communal pastures is to move (some) livestock either seasonally or permanently to pastures elsewhere. This results in reduced land pressures, but will also reduce the amount of manure potentially available for crop cultivation.

Locally the impact of the expansion of area under cultivation and the concentration of farmers can be far more drastic than conventional information about livestock ownership or statistical averages obtained over a larger area may suggest. Therefore results from an assessment reviewing the situation in a number of individual villages will provide much better insight to the situation than a review of regional averages.

Pressures on the System as a whole are summarised in the following table

Driving Forces | Impacts | Probable Result
Increase of income, e.g. remuneration from employment in urban areas | Greater potential for savings in form of livestock | Various systems are developed that emphasize the keeping of livestock as a saving, rather than optimizing the productive capacity
Increase demand for crop land | Nearby communal pastures used for crop cultivation | Placing of livestock in herds outside the location Less large and more small ruminants in association with crop cultivation
High concentration of farmers in villages and along road sides | Poor livestock / cropland ratio Poor pasture / crop land ratio Poor soil fertility and structure, accelerated erosion, land degradation High livestock densities on remaining communal pastures | People abandoning agriculture, labour migration to urban centres Migration of farmers to other villages / new areas with a better potential Local rules and regulations for use of remaining communal resources Change in livestock systems

Indicators

Some general indicators that can serve to assess present state and ongoing trends include:

- Changed percentage of farming households keeping ruminants.

When % in the location is decreasing then this can be an indication that opportunities for farmers to accumulate savings in ruminantsare scarce. This can be because of poor incomes as well as from lack of availability or access to communal pastures, and factors that reduce the productive capacity of ruminants (e.g. livestock disease).

Whatever the cause, the impacts on opportunities to maintain soil fertility of land under cultivation through crop-livestock integration remains the same: rapid decline of soil fertility and high risks of accelerated erosion on land cultivated by farmers without livestock.

A change in village herd composition from large to small ruminants can be an indication for a decline in the quality of communal pastures. In general it goes with a decline in number of Tropical Livestock Units (TLU) as well, and thus in the amount of manure produced.

- Seasonal absence of large ruminants (during the crop growing season).

This can be an indication of lack of appropriate nearby pastures, lack of labour to care for livestock, local restrictions, but also of having access to pastures of better quality elsewhere.

When more animals are seasonally absent and / or when they stay away for a longer period, then less manure will be available locally for crop cultivation. The trend is then away from crop-livestock integration.

- Permanent absence of large ruminants

Some farmers may own large ruminants but an increasing number are kept in family or group herds in grazing systems. This can be an indication for a decline in superficies of nearby communal pastures and /or of its carrying capacity. Herds may still frequent the cropping zone to convert crop residues in manure, but the import of plant nutrients from communal pastures to cropland is reduced.

- Evolving of new practices and livestock production systems

Harvesting and storage of crop residues can be an indicator for (seasonal) shortage of feed on surrounding communal pastures. Shortage can be caused by:

- too many livestock from the village regularly grazing these pastures
- too many livestock from transhumance systems temporary grazing these pastures

It can also indicate an increase in competition in using crop residues as feed amongst farmers and/or with herds on transhumance.

In other situation local rules and regulations can become restrictive for grazing and farmers may go over to other systems of livestock keeping: cut and carry or feed from farm.

The prevalence of one these systems can be an indication that some local rules and regulations regarding the use of communal pastures are in place and being respected.

Farmer Response

The response of farmers to decreasing opportunities to keep livestock on nearby communal pastures can go three ways:

- move livestock away from the village and place them in herds elsewhere;

- reduction in livestock and movement of savings to other assets, become member of saving associations; open a savings account at a bank etc.

- adjust management systems and / or create new feed resources for livestock and continue saving in livestock

Central governments and development agencies in general, are in generally favour of the banking system more than of a (re-) introduction of livestock as saving account. It is arguable whether in rural areas this is in fact the best strategy.

In practice many farmers still prefer livestock. Next to the option to place livestock in herds elsewhere, they may change their livestock system to one based on crop residues, cut and carry, or feed cultivation on farm. Management costs and labour requirements will increase and maximum numbers are reached earlier, but control over production is improved and crop-livestock integration can be enhanced. Due to common labour constraints and irregular feed availability animal production in terms of daily milk production, weight gain and reproduction performance tend often to be lower than in grazing systems, but this often does not result in higher mortality rates. As a result of smaller herds and more intensive management, these systems can easily evolve in more intensive and more productive livestock systems by making use of external feed and other inputs.

The positive contribution of livestock in these systems to rural development is through enhancing more permanent crop cultivation and stabilising farm income. It also reduces land degradation, claims on new land for crop cultivation, rural poverty, and all negative environmental, economic and social impacts associated with it.

In terms of animal products these systems at first will not contribute much to satisfy an increasing urban demand. But as a result of change in management they can easily evolve in systems making use of external feed. By then they are very well able to produce a surplus for the market. Extreme but not exceptional examples can be found in densely populated areas as for instance in parts of India, Nepal and Ethiopia. Here even land less farmers succeed in securing their savings and making a living by producing milk for the market with a few dairy cows. Feed is collected from roadsides, communal areas and nearby farms, ration is supplemented with concentrates, manure used as fuel and sold to crop farmers.

Livestock Pressure on Communal Pastures

Being it through saving accounts or through fodder crop cultivation, neither way will be effective in reducing the pressure from livestock on communal pastures. At best they prevent a further increase of this pressure. The explanation is that the decision to put (a share of) savings on a bank account or to start growing (a share of) feed requirements on farm is a decision by an individual farmer independent from action by other members of society. They and other persons can still continue keeping (more) livestock on the communal pastures. So, when the objective is to reduce the pressure from livestock on communal pastures, one should address the community and assist it to establish local rules and regulations that can and will be respected by all users (see also grazing systems). Demonstrating and offering alternatives can be then be inputs for the discussion.

See Also

> Crop Farmers also keeping livestock
> Policy Options

or return to Mixed production systems with communal grazing

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