Nghe An Province Sustainable village based beef cattle development Training and Extension Programme pot

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report 010/06VIE Nghe An Province Sustainable village based beef cattle development Training and Extension Programme

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

CARD Project Progress Report

010/06VIE Nghe An Province Sustainable village based beef cattle development

Training and Extension Programme

MS2: FIRST SIX-MONTHLY REPORT

6.1 Environment 10 6.2 Gender and Social Issues 10

7.1 Issues and Constraints _ 11 7.2 Options _ 11 7.3 Sustainability 12

10 Statuatory Declaration

11 Reports

Report A Background and Base Date report - March 2077

Report B Situation Analysis for Cattle in Nghia Dan District

Report C Workshop and Demonstrations

Report D Nghe An Province Beef Project - P Rolston

12 Appendices

Appendix A - Evaluation of Pasture Demonstration

1 Institute Information

Project Name Nghe An Province, sustainable village

based beef cattle development, training and extension project

Vietnamese Institution 19 May Fruit & Vegetable Co

Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr Diep

Australian Organisation AusAID

Australian Personnel Mr Tim Harvey

Date commenced February 2007

Completion date (original) December 2009

Completion date (revised) -

Reporting period First six months

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Name: Mr Tim Harvey Telephone: 00 64 6 350 5119

Position: Director Fax: 00 64 6 350 5646

Organisation Massey University Email: T.G.Harvey@massey.ac.nz

In Australia: Administrative contact

Name: Mr M Peters Telephone:

Position: Director Fax:

Organisation Research Management Services Email:

In Vietnam

Name: Mr Toan Telephone:

Position: Project Coordinator Fax:

Organisation BCFRC Email:

2 Project Abstract

The Beef Cattle Development Plan for 2010 (No1155/QD-UB Nghe An) was introduced in May

2003 The plan set objectives to increase beef production, use crossbreeding to introduce new breeds and improve rural incomes The traditional VN beef industry is based on very small household farmlets, grazing waste land; this model has proved unsustainable This project will look at developing a sustainable, economic village based beef farming model to improve long-term meat supply, and improve incomes This project will design, implement and evaluate the village based beef farming system in the Nghe An Region The project will be based around a small nucleus (demonstration) farm and three rural villages, which have below average household income levels (Nghia Lam, Nghia Son and Nghia Quang)

Smallholders have very little land (on average 5000 m2), and therefore increasing beef nutrition and land size will be reliant on the utilisation of crop residue and bi-products The technology of silage making is not practiced in the area The development of this technology will be essential to make beef production viable and profitable in this area The project team will work with local collaborators to establish best on-farm practice for this regions beef industry

3 Executive Summary

The quality of beef cattle fodder in the Nghia Don district is placing major restrictions on the number of cattle smallholders can manage The nutrient value of the fodders (especially over the dry period) is also a limiting factor to both the number of cattle fed over winter, the productivity of the animals and the quality of the meat produced

Smallholders have very little land (0.3 - 8ha) with the average holding only 5000m2 therefore the opportunity to plant larger areas of cattle fodder is limited Crop residues and bi-products from crop processing are available in the area and these are used as cattle fodder However, their availability is very seasonal There is real potential to grow the beef cattle industry in Nghia Don if the nutrient value of this crop residue and bi-products can be captured and stored so they are available in the dry season

There is considerable international experience in conservation of cattle fodder through fermentation of a wide range of bi-products and fodder types The project has started by making silage in big plastic bags, to demonstrate the process The project made silage from sugar cane tops (SCT) and Elephant grass adding molasses and salt There is potential to explore a range of other silages, such as, Green Maize, Maize Stover + N, Peanut Top, Cassava Top, Cassava Pulp and Pineapple Pulp

The quality of most of the Tropical grasses are very low and traditional harvesting methods means the metabolizable energy ME (MJ/Kg) is low and fibre levels high There is a need to identify legumes, grasses and crops that will provide low cost options to increase the ME of the fodders on offer

The Ministry of Agriculture has undertaken a crossbreeding programme in the District to increase the size and productivity of the local cattle A Sindhi cross breeding programme has

been successful with approximately 30% of the cattle now carrying either 1/4, 6/10 or ½ Sindhi genetics The Sindhi breed is a milking breed from Pakistan (and India) The crossing programme has increased the animal size and milking ability but has done little to increase the quality of the beef produced There will need to be considerable thought and discussion over the next six months so sound recommendations can be developed for the introduction of new beef genetic into the district

The inception visit has increased the knowledge of the Team and a good base has been established on which to build and extend benefit to the local smallholders

4 Introduction & Background

Introduction

The inception project visit was undertaken between 26 Feb and 20 March 2007 The project team for this trip were-: Tim Harvey (Project Manager and Animal Specialist) and Phil Rolston (Pasture & Developmental Specialist) both from NZ

The project team from Vietnam were Mr Diep (Director 19 May Co), Mr Huong, Md Hoa,

Mr Vinnh, Mr Heep, Mr Li, and two other company technicians, Mr Toan (Project Coordinator) first 3 days only and Mr Taˆm Hoang van

Background

The project is funded by CARD (Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development program in collaboration with Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Develop The project is through Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

in Nghe An district

Nghe An Province in north-central Vietnam (300 km south of Hanoi) is one of the poorer areas of the country Many households raise a few cattle and in the Province there has been successful cross breeding of the small framed local yellow cattle with Indian Sinh cattle Cattle nutrition is seen as a limitation to increased profitability from cattle Cattle offer farmers an opportunity to diversify incomes

Three project villages in the Nghia Dan district were selected; Nghia Son; Nghia Lam; Nghia Yen (see outline below) The Nghia Dan area has been selected as suitable for beef cattle production and over the last 5 years the local Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has undertaken a programme to strengthen cattle production in the area The MoA has undertaken some training, special credit arrangements for farmers purchasing cattle, introduction the Sindhi breed and a breeding policy that has support artificial insemination (AI) and upgraded village bulls

Physical situation and environment

Location

The three project villages are around the “19th May Co.” near Nghia Dan town at latitude

19o2’ N; longitude 105o4’ E (about 300 km south of Hanoi)

Climate

The area has four seasons, although winters (Oct, Nov & Dec) are mild and frost free The Province suffers from frequent severe floods and typhoons The annual rainfall in the project area is 1565 mm The monthly distribution is similar to Hanoi with high rainfall in the months of May to September Temperatures also peak during this period averaging between

31 and 33 C but as high as 41 C

5 Progress to Date

5.1 Implementation Highlight

The project objectives for the first visit are:

1 Objective:

To establish a base (small office) at the 19 May Co from which

the project team work and build a strong supportive relationship with

the local community

Output :

One room at the 19 May Co was made available for the project; the

project purchased a desk, lockable cupboard and a small table and

chairs The company has developed a small accommodation block

to allow visitors to stay close to the project Some local high school

children joined the team for some sessions, and a strong relationship

was developed with the one of the local high school English teacher,

who assisted with interpreting for the project

2 Objective:

To confirm the three project villages and work with the village leaders Women’s fed and Farmer assoc to select 3 farming families at each village as the key project farmers (KPF)

Twenty three farmer families were visited in their homes over a one week

period, inspection of cattle and cropping was undertaken

4 Objective:

To set up arrange of demonstrations

a Collecting live weights of cattle and use of weigh scales and girth tape :-

Output:

Limit physical data was collect from the village cattle due to difficult handling the cattle when out grazing Cattle were assessed for condition score and 13 company cattle weighed and condition scored as a capacity building exercise

b Making of silage in plastic bags from Sugar cane top and buffalo grass.-:

5.3 Capacity Building

• The Hanoi Agriculture University was visited and a senior student was invited the join the project team for 3 months to undertake his study field work and practical project This has provided the student with a great opportunity to be involved and exposed to international development work

• One of the local high school teacher’s has spent 2 weeks (afternoons only) working as

an interpreter for the project, this has exposed him to English as first language speakers

• The local technicians have been involved in laying down trial plots using international methods

• Staff from the 19 may Co are been exposed to the NZ team and the work cultures and concepts of international development work

• The NZ team has been exposed to the Vietnamese culture and have a better application

of the social and local environment The project leader was taken to the typical village home for the 2nd of May family celebrations

5.4 Publicity

The provincial TV station attended one of the workshops and aired a 5 minute information segment The provincial Director of Agriculture from Vinnh City; The Vice Chairman of the peoples committee of Nghe An province; and all the local village leaders all visited the project office to provide support for the project The project office will be have CARD (AusAid) signage put up on the next visit

5.5 Project Management

The project is well established, with an office, and internet connection A management structure is in place and agreements set up on a visit by visit basis on service provision and support Land has been made available for demonstrations and our counterpart has been fully

involved at all levels of the project The visit was well organised and most activities could take place as planned

Without Mr Toan’s involvement in the project for this one trip, it was difficult to involve the BCFRC in the implementation of the project I would hope that at the next visit a visit to BCFRC can be arranged and a small seminar and discussions can be held at the institute

The budget has proved to be very tight with the cost of international travel and the high NZ: AUST exchange rate Also the need to employ additional interpreters for this visit has added some costs This is been managed at by the project leader at this time

9 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues

6.1 Environment

There are some environmental concerns identified by the project team:

ƒ The cassava processing factory was producing large quantities of pulp waste The liquid from the pulp was leaching out and could contaminate local water supplies If the pulp could be used more effectively by making silage for beef cattle there could be environmental benefits

ƒ The making of silage can have its own problems with leaching of acidic liquid into the environment This will need to be monitored and managed within the project

ƒ The use of plastic bags and plastic covers for silage making can add to the environmental contamination if recycling is not managed

ƒ The increase in animal numbers is usually positive to the environment, increasing the use of animal manure rather than chemical fertilizer Village farmers put a high value

on animal manure and most of the animal waste is returned to the land and very little contaminates local water ways

6.2 Gender and Social Issues

There are no women farmer technicians in any the villages at present, however the women undertake a lot of the animal work The number of women attending the demonstration and workshops was approx one third of the total which was pleasing At the next visit there will need to be a discussion with the leaders of the Women’s Federation in each village to see if the participation of women in the project can be increased

10 Implementation & Sustainability Issues

There is only one active animal extension officer in the district Mr Li has an excellent understanding of the local situation and carries out most of the training in cattle breeding and nutrient in the area The level of expertise of the local village farmer technicians is relatively low There is relatively good farmer support for farmers raising animals in two of the village farmer but the third is only just starting to undertake training of farmer technicians

Extension of the project technologies may be difficult to achieve outside the local district, due to lack of ToT’s

The 19 May Company has not started to develop the small beef breeding herd to date A part

of the first workshop was focused on the development of an implementation plan for the companies beef project

At this point in time it does not put the project at risk, however, if there is no change by September 2007 then, discussions with the CARD office will be required

7.1 Issues and Constraints

Dairy production

Vin Milk (SOE Corporation) is about to sign an agreement with the 19th May Co to establish

a 2,000 cow dairy farm on 50ha of company land

There is a high risk in this venture due to the following factors-:

2,000 cows plus 800 female progeny is a very large operation and given the poor results from other Holstein based dairy operation in tropical regions the risk is high Vin Milk may have the expertise to manage this operation and have the company size to put in a strong management team, however it will have an impact on the district

These cows will require approx 8,000 ton of DM of fodder per year Also 2,000 cows will require large quantities of bi-product, or imported feed The enterprize will take land out of cropping into dairy cattle fodder production It will also decrease the quality of bi-product available to the local farmers, increasing beef production costs, especially the cost of feed

800 female progeny cattle will need to be raised by the operation or contract reared by local farmers

800 male cattle will come onto the market – Europe Holsteins cross animals are hard to rear and expensive One question is, will there be a market for these animals or will they be slaughtered at 4 days of age

It is estimated that 8,000 ton of DM fodder will need to come from bi-product (50%) and the other 50% from grass and crop product, the land required to provide high quality feed (not just bulk) for grass and special cattle fodder crops is estimated at approx 250 to 300 ha of land, well above the 50 Ha allocated

Foot and Mouth

Foot and Mouth disease has been present in the district with an outbreak in Nghia Loc, Quigih Liu and around Vinh City in 2005-2006 The disease was controlled by vaccination, however, the outbreak lead to panic selling of beef in the surrounding areas, driving prices down Vaccination is undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and individual farmers cannot vaccinate if not in a controlled area The risks are high and as farmers use cattle as a

“banking system” for savings the risks are high

7.2 Options

Opportunities to develop the beef industry and increase nutrient levels:

The use of traditional fodder crops for silage making is definitely a possibility, however there are a range of other possibilities as follows:-

The Local Factory processes approx 30,000 – 40,000 tons of pineapple per year (200 ton/day capacity) The bi-product pulp is available to farmers “free”

None of the project farmer interviewed used pineapple pulp as cattle feed – even with it being available “free” This factor highlights the need to do more research into the quality of this bi-product, its nutrient value, and any possible dietary problems associated with the product Some research has been undertaken in NZ using wet pulps for silage made by layering them between straw or hay to reduce the wet matter

Cassava pulp is also available in the district from a processing plant The use and availability

of this bi-product will need to be assessed over the next 6-months The cassava pulp was not used by farmers interviewed and more investigation is required to assess the potential for this product The top of the cassava is also a bi-product of the cassava crop Approximately 10,000 tonnes of cassava is produced in this area Bavi BCFRC has undertaken some research into making this bi-product into silage The fresh re-growth of cassava is however very poisonous to animals (cattle) and humans More investigation is required into its potential

Other bi-products available in the area are soybean waste and peanut skin; little is known about the potential of these bi-products

The project farmers reported using some soybean for feed (approx 20% - 4:23) Orange crop processing bi-product – at present the district produces about 5,000 tonne of oranges All fruit is sold as fresh, with a small amount going into cool storage for sale later If a juicing plant was established in the area maybe as a Joint Venture (JV) with Vin Milk or the pineapple processing plant; the orange pulp would be a useful bi-product for cattle feed and adding to silage mixes

7.3 Sustainability

Weather fluctuation

Weather fluctuations are an issue, this area of Vietnam has bad tropical storms, especially closer to the coast Flooding can be an issue and the dry season can be very variable with

spring weather difficult to predict

Change in Land Use

The farmers are very reliant on oranges, coffee, sugar cane and rubber with approx 60% of all income coming from these crops The sugar cane top is fed to cattle and buffalo up to approx 5-months making up 20-60% of there diet, depending on of cattle are grazed on the hill

If the sugar cane area was markedly reduced then farmers would have to grow alternative feed i.e maize

11 Next Critical Steps

The planning and objectives that need to be undertaken are outline below in two parts one covering the next steps and outcome to be undertaken between the first and second visits and then a set of objectives and plans for the second visit: -

The project objectives between the first and second visits are as follows: -

(i) Have Mr Vinh (Student from Hanoi University) undertake the evaluation of Pasture

Trial (demo) (See Pasture evaluation report)

(ii) The NZ Team research the nutrient value of Pineapple Pulp and Cassava Pulp and

international trials on silage using these bi-products

(iii) Have the Project Manager (Mr Diep), finalised the Key Project Farmers (3 x 3.9)

(See attached list)

(iv) Arrange for 9 x 3 well liners (mini silage tanks 1.2m3) to be purchased and three

delivered to each Key Project Farmer The well liners will be used for silage at the next visit (See second visit plan)

(v) Chopper Have one forage chopper built as soon as possible Test the machine on

Sugar Cane Top, Yellow Stem Corn and Elephant Grass If successful, build two more choppers before the next visit

(vi) Arrange for twelve well liners on company at one site for silage evaluation at next

visit

Objective List for second visit: -

(i) Evaluate the three chopping machines and test and modify if required

(ii) Inspect pasture trial sites and evaluate and analyse samples

(iii) Hold workshops at demonstration sites for Farmers (if successful)

(iv) Hold workshops for farmers (in training centre) on feed nutrient and silage making (v) Visit three villages and demonstrate silage making in well liners

(vi) Visit Pineapple Processing Factory to discuss bi-product availability and nutrient

13 Reports

A Background and Base Date Report – March 2007

B Situation Analysis for Cattle in Nghia Dan District

C Workshops and Demonstrations

D Situation Analysis – Pastures and Feed – Phil Rolston

14 Appendices

A Evaluation of Pasture Demonstration

Report A Background and Base Date Report

March 2007

Background and Base Date Report – March 2007

Nghia Dan District

Mr Long – Vice Chairman of district peoples Committee

Mr Hai – Director of Agriculture

Mr Hong – Vice director of Agriculture and Forestry Department

Mr Toa – Director of district extension office

Mr Lie – Senior extension officer

Nghia Dan District located in the north of the Nghe An Province in a hilly area It has 75,000

of fertile land The main production is Sugar cane, rubber, coffee, oranges, water melon and cattle It has: - 30,000 Buffalo

29,000 Beef Cattle

54,000 Pigs The district is one of the most fertile in the province with good basalt soils with ph ranging from 5.8 to 6.6 The potential for development of beef farming is very good The district has had in place a cattle breeding strategy for the last 4 years with the introduction of Sindhi cattle via AI and natural mating Most villages have a f2 – f3 Sindhi bull

Main crops: - sugar cane, rice, oranges, water melon, corn, cassava, pineapple and peanut

In the area there are processing plants for: - Sugar cane, Pineapple, Cassava

Village 1 = Nghia Son

Mr Tu General Secretary (also Chairman of People’s Congress)

Mr ??? Chairman of Village People’s Committee

Location in Nghe An District 1km from 19 May co

Population 3000

No Families 800 (80% agricultural worker)

Families with beef cattle 160 families have beef cattle (total 400) 600 buffalo

Average No of cattle 2.5 (lto 20)

Village Divided into five sections (sub-villages)

Technicians 1 x Agricultural and 1 x Animal for village – all men

Technicians 1 x Farmer for each section – all men

University Students 20 students studying at university

Average price of cattle At sale – 2,000,000 VND

Associations Farmer Association in place but no Farmer Cooperatives Poverty Line 5% of families are below the provinces official poverty line

Village 2 = Nghia Lam

Mr Nhan General Secretary (also Chairman of People’s Congress)

Mr Sinh Chairman of Village People’s Committee

Location in Nghe An District 2km from 19 May co

Population 8000

No Families 1400 (80% agricultural worker)

Families with beef cattle 350 families have beef cattle (total 700) 1300 buffalo

Average No of cattle 2.5 (lto 20)

Village Divided into seventeen sections (sub-villages)

Technicians 1 x Agricultural and 1 x Animal for village – all men

Technicians 1 x Farmer for each section – all men

Average price of cattle At sale – 2,000,000 VND

Associations Farmer Association in place in each section but no Farmer

Cooperatives Poverty Line 25% of families are below the provinces official poverty line

Village 3 - Nghia Yen

Mr Phu (Phan van) General Secretary (also Chairman of People’s Congress)

Mr Phue (Hoang van) Chairman of Village People’s Committee

Location in Nghe An District 5km from 19 May co

Population 6000

No Families 1200 (85% agricultural worker)

Families with beef cattle 350 families have beef cattle (total 780) 1600 buffalo, 1800

goats, 3500 pigs Average No of cattle 2.0 (l to 53)

Village Divided into fourteen sections (sub-villages)

Technicians 1 x Agricultural and 1 x Animal for village

Technicians 0 x Farmer for each section, only starting training in livestock Average price of cattle At sale – 2,000,000 VND

Associations Farmer Association in place in each section but no Farmer

Cooperatives Poverty Line 53% of families are below the provinces official poverty line,

this is the poorest village in the area

Summary of Base Line data

Introduction

Twenty-three smallholder farmers were interviewed over a one week period from 1st March

2007 The farmers selected all had beef cattle as a production system This selection was not totally random as we tried to get a cross section of smallholders

Three different villages were selected in a 12Km radius of the 19 May Co The villages were approximately 25Km from Nghia Dan townships, and therefore were classified as rural villages

The three villages were very different ranging from 5% under the district poverty line to 52% All villages had a high percentage of ethic minority people

a cut and carry system reducing labour, but increasing feed costs

House type, age of house was similar for Nghia Son and Nghia Yen, however, Hghia Lam had more modern houses and with average age of 12.1 years vs approximately 20 years for the other two villages

Electric water pumps, refrigerators, freezers and phones were also a good indicator of wealth and development (see figure 2.)

Land use differed greatly between the three villages Nghia San had very little land for rice, most of the cash crops were fruit trees, with very little land set aside for Elephant Grass Nghia Lam had good areas of rice land, large areas of sugar cane, water melons and most farmers had an area of Elephant Grass for feeding cattle

Nghia Yen had good areas of rice and larger areas of land for cash crops (Sugar Cane, Cassawa, Rubber, Coffee) It was the only village with large areas of Timber Trees (see figure III)

Although the smallholders selected were all beef producers, the area of land dedicated to growing crop and pasture for cattle was very low (3.3% on average) This represented 132m2

by cattle owned (7 per family) This highlights the reliance that the farmers place on crop residue, bi-products and grazing common grazing land

If beef production is to increase there will need to be a small increase in dedicated land for growing cattle feed However, crop residue and bi-products will still form the majority of cattle feed Therefore, a focus on conservation of this type of feed and improvements in the feed quality

The average number of cattle per smallholder for the twenty-three farmers interviewed was 7 cattle When asked what were the restrictions to growing the cattle enterprise, the order of responses were: -

• Lack of food over the Dry Season

• Lack of labour to graze with cut cattle feed

• Lack of investment money to buy more cattle

• High risk with Foot and Mouth and price fluctuations been experienced over the last few years

FIGURE 1

NGUYEN THI

NGUYEN VAN

DINH PHUOC

Lichie Fruit

Other Fruit Trees

Sugar Cane

Water

Other Cash Crops

Elephant Grass

DINH PHUOC

NGUYEN VAN

NGUYEN DUC

651220 8650 32100 10000 5000 33000 10000 15000 163500 54000 52500 16000 27800 21500 0 218000

FIGURE 3

Cattle F – 12m

Cattle M – 12m

Cattle F – 12m-2yrs

Cattle M –

FIGURE 4

House Type

No of Rooms

Age of House

Nghia Yen Total 9 2.7 12.1 100% 89% 22% 55% 89% 33% 33% 100% 78% 11% 100% 100% 0%

17.26 100%

Report B Situation Analysis for Cattle in Nghia Dan District

Situation Analysis for Cattle in Nghia Dan District:

Background:

There is approximately 29,000 cattle in the Nghia Dan District with the majority of these being beef animals Approximately two thirds are traditional local cattle and approximately one third is Sindhi (Indian) cross local

The local breed is small with low milk production The Sindhi cross local in larger but has a poor meat to bone ratio and meat percentage of 42%

Red Sindhi

Also Known By: -

Malir (Baluchistan), Red Karachi, Sindhi

The Red Sindhi originated in the Pakistani

state of Sind but due to its hardiness, heat

resistance and high milk yields they have

spread into many parts of India and at least

33 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania and

the Americas

Under good management conditions the

Red Sindhi averages over 1700 kg of milk

after suckling their calves but under

optimum conditions there have been milk

yields of over 3400 kg per lactation

The average height of a Red Sindhi cow is 116 cm with a body weight of 340 kg Bulls average 134 cm in height and a body weight of 420 kg They are normally a deep, rich red color but this can vary from a yellowish brown to dark brown Males are darker than females and when mature may be almost black on the extremities, such as the head, feet and tail

Local Sindhi Cross

Under Local Nutritional Conditions

Breed Birth WT 12-month WT Mature Female Mature Male

Traditional Cattle raising System:

The majority of farmers still rear cattle under the traditional system Under this system manure production is the main priority transferring crop residue into organic fertiliser Bedding and food is supplied in such a way as to ensure a damp environment to assist with the breakdown of fibre and the adding of animal manure to increase its usefulness as a crop fertiliser The traditional rearing system involved 6-8 hour grazing of cattle on the hills surrounding the village (common grazing land) and the cutting and carrying wild grass back

to the house to feed with dry yellow stem corn (maize stover)

The level of nutrition is direct related to the season and the number of cattle reared is governed by the feed supply over the dry season in October-March feed for 4-5 months of the year The number of cattle is also governed by the labour available to cut and carry the wild grass Feeding levels of cows are very low due to the very small size and low maintenance requirement

Most cattle become an-oestrus over the winter dry season and do not start cycling until April

or May and calf in January-February the following year

Individual farmers do not keep a male animal and use the village bull or a friend’s bull

Change to the Beef System over the last 5 years:

The Nghia Dan Ministry of Agriculture has had a beef development project for the last 5-6 years, which has started to change the traditional ways of rearing beef The Ministry of Agriculture introduced a cross breeding programme using AI and putting F1, F2 bulls into villages as “village bulls” This strategy has been very effective and approximately 1/3 of cattle are now Sindhi cross and all “village bulls” are cross bred (F2 – F3)

In the 3 project villages approximately 50% of farmers have used AI and sometimes natural mating The level of conception rate report ranged from 30% - 100%; the average being 40-55% This is a very high rate for village based AI with considerable time and effort was taken to verify this figure The true conception rate is likely to be in the 40-50% range and reflect well on the local animal extension officer (Mr Li)

About 1/3 of farmers have moved to a cut and carry system Sugar cane top is a large source

of food from November – April Wild grass is plentiful during May, June & July Maize stover (yellow stem corn) is the main source of fibre, 2-3 crops of maize can be harvested each year 10% of farmers interviewed reported using green feed maize (the smaller plants)

as cattle feed

The wealthier farmers are moving to cut and carry and are prepared to buy some cattle food and bi-product The poor farmers rely totally on self produced feed and grazing