INTEGRATED SYSTEMS OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION INTHE ASIAN REGION

Proceeding of a Simposium Held in Conjunction with

8th AAAP Animal Science Congress

Chiba, Japan, October 13-18, 1996

Edited by

H.

Hayakaw

a

M.Sasaki

K.

Kimura

Co-sponsored by

Japanese Society of Zootechnical Science

and

Food and Agriculture Organization

This pubication was made possible through support provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations.

Hirofumi Hayakawa, Masao Sasaki and Kiyoshi Kimura. 1997, Integrated Systems of Animal Production in

the Asian Region. Proceedings of a Symposium held in conjunction with 8th Asian Australasian Association

of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) Animal Science Comgress, Chiba (Tokyo Metropolitan), Japan,

October 13-18, 1996.

111 pp.

ISBN4-99005 87-1-2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On behalf of the organizing committee of joint symposium of the Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO)/ Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production (AAAP), I wish to thank

FAO for the support and collaboration to the organization of the symposium on Integrated Systems of Animal

Production in the Asian Region held at Makuhari, Chiba City in Japan on October 17th in conjunction with the

8th Animal Science Congress of AAAP.

Thanks are also extended to the several scientists, and their institutions for their contribution in presenting

their experiences gained over the years. The personal support of Dr. J. Maki-Hokkonen, Senior Officer,

Livestock Production Group of Animal Production and Health Division, FAO is also gratefully acknowledged.

In the developing regions, especially in the Asian region, it is essential to produce a stable and constant

supply of food to meet the requirements of a growing population. The developing region accounts for nearly

two-thirds of the world's livestock population, while production efficiency is only about a quarter of that of

the developed region. In this regards, sustainable increases of livestock production should be achieved

through the improvement of conservation and management of natural resources, in particular in Asia where

new arable land for the production of feed resources is limited.

From this viewpoint, it was really timely to hold the symposium on the current theme. Through the active

discussion among the participants the symposium provided a new opportunity to exchange views and ideas on

these important issues in the region.

Hirofumi Hayakawa

Director of Animal Production and Grassland Division,

Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences

'CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

1. Integrated systems of animal production in Asian region FAO's studies into the

Asian livestock production systems; FAO's programme priorities

J. M1ki Hokkonen .............................................................................................................................1

2. Overview of integrated animals-crops-fish production systems: achievements and

future potential

C. Devendra .......................................................................................................................................9

3. FAO Regional Project on "better use of locally available feed resources in sustainable

agriculture system"

K. Sato, R. Sansoucy and T.R. Preston .....................- ....... ..................................- ........................23

4. Work animal in rain-fed mixed farming systems in India (ABSTRACT)

D. Rangnekar ............................................................................................................................31

5. Preliminary results of a case study on integrated rice-fish-azolla-ducks production system

in the Philippines

A.G. Cagauan, C. Van Hove, E.A. Orden, N.M. Ramilo and R.D. Branckaert . . . . . . . . . . 35

6. Rice-fish-duck-pig production system in Vietnam

Nguyen Thien, Nguyen Cong Quoc, Duong Xuan Tuyen and Massao Sasaski ........................... .63

7. Integration of livestock-fish farming system in China

Youchun Chen ...................................................................................................................................77

8. Community-based animal health and production in Afghanistan-a delivery

system

A.B. Mehraban, T. Baker and D.E. Ward ................................................ - ....................................83

9. Integrated farming system of crossbred duck meat-rice production on paddy

fields utilizing

azola

Y. Kishida ............................................................................................................ .............93

10. Contribution of NGOs to livestock development

D.Rangnekar ...................................................................................................... ...........103

Integrated systems of animal production in Asian regionFAO's studies into the Asian livestock production systems;

FAO's programme priorities

J. Maki-Hokkonen

Animal Production ServiceAnimal Production & Health Division

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Viale delle Terme di Caracalla

00100 Rome, Italy

IntroductionFrom the 1996-97 biennium FAO's Livestock Programme is based on an integrated systems

approach instead of the previous programme which was structured on independent technical disciplinesrelated to animal production, animal health and the products and their processing and marketing. The

move to a new, more holistic programme has necessitated a series of global studies which aim toprovide an insight into the importance of livestock systems across the major world regions and agro-ecological zones (AEZ), and related trends associated with them in order to facilitate the new

programme orientation and to guide decision-makers involved in livestock development. The first suchstudy is now completed and contains statistics and description of the major systems and was publishedas APHP, FAO publication World Livestock Production Systems. A similar purpose served by the

staff paper of the Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) entitled Livestock - a driving force.for food security and sustainable development. Its author, R.Sansoucy, made an assessment of fullcontribution of livestock to the agricultural economy which goes beyond direct food production to

include multipurpose uses , such as skins, fertilizer and fuel as well as capital accumulation. The on-going studies are on Livestock Geography which applies GIS techniques to mapping of globalinformation on livestock systems and populations with the objective to arrive at geo-referenced

livestock distribution data-base. With specific reference to the Asia, AGA invited Dr C.Devendra towrite a full genesis of the Region's livestock production systems and suggest developmentopportunities and highlight those which could be best adopted by FAO. Also, a number of location

specific case studies have been initiated to find indicators which could best be used to define theproductive state of a system, the pressures imposed on it and, finally, opportunities exist for positivestrategic technological or socio-economic interventions. The presentation during the Symposium in

Tokyo will be illustrated with a number of overhead graphs, figures, tables, histograms and mapswhich due to shortage of space could not be included in the paper.

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Major findings with specific reference to Asia RegionThe FAO livestock systems classification study identifies that the livestock production

systems in Asia are dominantly associated with the irrigated, mixed farming systems or systems where

more than 10 percent of the on-livestock farm production comes from irrigated land use. A furtherimportant feature is that in the terms of product output these systems are continuously demonstrating thephenomenal annual growth rates. Between 1981-83 and 1991-93 the following annual percentage

growths by animal product were achieved:

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Annual growth percentage1983 - 1993Product

MIH Systems MIA Systems MIT SystemsBeef 10,8 7,3 15,1Buffalo meat 6,4 6,3 19,1Sheep Goat 7,5 7,6 9,2Dairy milk 7,3 6,5 3,0Other milk 4,2 5,0 3,9Pig meat 4,8 4,6 4,4Poultry meat 5,4 6,1 3,7Eggs 4,8 5,4 3,2

These are highest growth figures for any land based systems in the world and could be exceeded onlyin the Asian landless livestock systems as will be seen later.

The irrigated humid and subhumid tropical and subtropical mixed system (MM with a growingseason of more than 180 days is particularly important in Asia. This AEZ is related to the largest populationgroup, nearly one billion people, of whom 97 percent are in Asia. Pigs and poultry, including ducks, do well

on abundant crop residues. In addition, since mechanization of cultivation and transport work has reduced theneed for draught animal power, the use of large ruminants (buffaloes and cattle) for marketed milk and meatoutput can be increased and intensified. Animals and intensive crop production in this AEZ offer a prospective

future for a successful and sustainable agricultural production system.The irrigated arid and semi-arid tropical and subtropical mixed system (MIA) is the second

most important farming system in Asia and support to a human population of about 500 million, which is

two-thirds of all people associated with this system globally. Year-round intensive crop production is feasiblein this system and fodder crops naturally integrate into the annual crop rotation. The feed base is furthersupplemented from crop by-products and often by access to adjoining natural grazing areas. In the traditional

Asian MIA system livestock still play a secondary role which is reflected in a more extensive system oflivestock management. Cattle and buffaloes kept for milk, meat and animal traction are the main ruminantresources e.g in Pakistan, although sheep and goats also have an important complementary role together with

rural back-yard poultry. In the MIA system pigs are nonexistent in West Asia for cultural reasons but are animportant species in the Far East MIA systems.

Compared to Asia, where the intensification and commercialization of livestock production has

progressed relatively little, in some other parts of the world like in California, Mexico and Israel the MIAsystem has demonstrated some of the highest productivities e.g in dairy production of any livestock system.The prospects to exploit more fully the livestock potential of this AEZ are therefore very good in Asia

especially in areas with high demand and good access to markets. Most of the required technologies also existand have been proven but the problem remains in finding the right socio-economic strategy to apply them intodifferent situations.

The mixed irrigated temperate zones and tropical highlands (MIT) is a relatively high investmentfarming system which in Asia, particularly in the Koreas, Japan and parts of China, are primarily targeted atirrigated rice production. In the Far East like in the southern Europe, this system is highly intensive and

associated with a high human population density. Intensive dairy production is the typical livestock subsystem.Due to the limited geographical coverage, however, and mainly in the more developed countries FAOlivestock programme obviously will have less interest to develop the livestock resource except for common

issues.

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The three mixed rainfed systems in Asia support an estimated 850 million people (c.50 percent of

that in the irrigated AEZs). The meat output from these systems totals an estimated 4660 thousand tonscompared with 29600 thousand tons produced from the irrigated AEZs. These figures clearly demonstrate theserious limitations in feed supply which livestock production faces seasonally under these rainfed systems in

Asia, and the challenge it gives to farmers and livestock specialists.The rainfed humid and sub-humid tropical and sub-tropical system in Asia, as in the other

continents, includes regions of highly difficult climatic conditions for livestock. The Asian smallholder still

mostly use local breeds since adaptation of more productive temperate breeds to these conditions has beenpoor. Due to relatively high land pressure in Asia, straw has become the most important feed resource. Themultiple functions of livestock favour traditional technologies which have been difficult to change to give

livestock a more prominent market role. Market incentives have not been generally enough to persuadeproducers to go into more specialised production systems using purchased inputs to supplement of localresources. There are certainly potentials to improve livestock systems in MRH but, equally so are the great

challenges.The rainfed arid and semi-arid tropical and sub-tropical system (MRI) is important in West Asia

and in large parts of India. Livestock output is mainly restricted due to low rainfall and consequently shortage

of feed supply which is based on grazing and supported by strategic use of crop stubbles and straw. In terms oflivestock, the major future concerns relate to overgrazing and land degradation. The outlook is ratherconservative as the resource base puts clear limits to expansion and intensification unless supplementary

resources can be brought from outside.Landless systems. Although this Symposium is mainly to discuss integrated systems of animal

production I cannot avoid making also reference to the explosive growth of animal production in Asia in

systems which FAO defines as landless monogastric or ruminant production systems. In Asia the total meatoutput from these landless systems reached 12800 thousand tons in 1993 (more than double of the total meatfrom all rainfed mixed systems) and the growth rates during the preceding 10 year period reached in Asia 17.8

% and 17.3 % per annum for pigment and poultry meat, respectively, and the growth rate in egg productionwas 18.5%. The landless systems' expansion can be expected to continue to be driven by an ever increasingurban growth and disposal family incomes in the booming economies of many of the Asian nations. As the

resource base, particularly for feed but also for animals and labour, are in the mixed farming systems it wouldbe very desirable to know more precisely the resource and income flows between the two systems and theinter-linkages which actually exist. There are important, mainly private and informal, small enterprise

networks facilitating reciprocal service functions. They are still largely unknown and untapped target groupsfor improvement of feed and animal resource utilisation, disease prevention as well as handling anddistribution of animal products.

The recent AGA initiated on Livestock Geography study takes as its point of departure several studieson anthropogenic and environmental correlates which have demonstrated that human habitation patterns,cropping intensity as well as rainfall, are the key factors influencing the distribution of livestock.

Earlier this year AGA decided to pursue this path since because many of AGA current activitiesrequire at least continental, but preferably global, assessment of livestock distribution in relation to AEZs aswells as to human demographic patterns. The Division hired a consultant (W. Wint) to explore and

demonstrate the possibilities of using the techniques inherent in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) toproduce a first data base containing information on global livestock distribution, human demographic data andagro-ecological information, to generate maps derived from this data, and to investigate the possible avenue

for future development using GIS techniques.The preliminary results show that GIS techniques can be used to derive livestock populations from

the human population distribution and that useful insights can be produced into livestock system defined AEZ

and human population data. In practice livestock densities were expressed in this study

3

as kg/kml and were derived through livestock numbers and weights using specific (Tropical Livestock Unit)

TLU equation.They were further extrapolated to AEZ level. WAICENT data was used to calculate rates ofchange for the years 1962, 72, 82, 92 and 94. The AEZ in this study were classified according to LGP -Length of Growing Period.

The results were then presented as a series of demonstration maps (a sample is shown during thepresentation). Another map show a global representation in which the high density areas in India, Nigeria,China and Europe appear strikingly as do appear the low density areas. Two histograms were developed to

show human population density for each LGP/AEZ globally and for Asia which both look very similar,obviously since most of the world population lives in Asia. The above calculated densities were also comparedwith 1994 distribution derived from WAICENT national data. Overall patterns are similar but within country

variations come out more clearly from the calculated data. The histograms of total livestock weight per LGP,as expected, generally reflect the distribution of humans as mentioned above. Several figures were produced toexpress total livestock weight in relation to human population density.

The figure giving the global pattern suggest that two thirds of the world's livestock population arefound in areas supporting more than 150 people per square km. This is the overwhelming influence of theasian livestock when the land area was compared to different categories of human population density

categories. For example, the high human population density in Asia occupies about 9 million squarekilometres or some 6 % the total land area - yet it is estimated to support two thirds of the Region's' livestock.In general, there is a tendency towards aggregations of people, crops and livestock. For example cattle

densities are highest in the moister sub-humid areas, except where tsetse flies exist. This finding contradictsthe conventional belief that livestock are generally kept in dry lands, away from the moister cropping areas.

One of the most striking findings, with major implications, of the study is that animal distributions

are highly correlated to human population and that over the past twenty years there has developed anincreasing concentration of livestock in wetter and high population regions. This trend suggests an increasingintensification of livestock production, leading eventually to domination of the livestock sector by specialised

production systems. Furthermore the study suggests that future livestock strategies and policies will need torecognize the eventual relative domination and dependence of animal food supply systems from more andmore intensive livestock production systems. The traditional extensive grazing and mixed rainfed livestock

systems will become increasingly marginalised but will, nevertheless, maintain their importance for householdand local food supply and livelihood.

The AGA Livestock Geography work is part of the overal objective to define a global quantitative

analysis framework for livestock systems. Although in its infancy, the study has already yielded a number ofnew perspectives which associate livestock production to sustainable land management and to food security.The trends described are particularly pronounced in Asia where land pressures are highest. Concurrently, it is

important to note that the collective animal production growth figures for dairy, ruminant and pig meat arealso the highest of all world regions at around 7 percent, and the growth of poultry meat and eggs is evenhigher, at around 10 percent per annum. With the shift of animal production towards more humid, and more

densely populated areas, there is a growing prominence of monogastric species, poultry and pig productionbased on feed grains and by-products. It is estimated that by the year 2010, 70 % of the total meat productionin the developing countries will be either poultry or pork. Per capita, numbers of ruminants large and small,

will continue to decrease. Associated with these trends will be the move of animal production towards moreand more land-detached or stand-alone systems. Even at household level where both livestock production andcrop cultivation are present, the relationship between livestock and crops is becoming weaker as a result of

increased specialisation. Again this trend is most prominent in South and South East Asia.

4

In the next phase in this process AGA will make a more detailed analysis of the species distribution

and trends at AEZ and country level and we consider that it might be necessary to readdress the livestocksystems definition,'as well as look into livestock environment interaction and disease mapping and riskassessment etc..

In line with FAO global studies and assessments, a recent CEC research project with the Instituteof Continuing Education (ICE), Pasadena, Sri Lanka has been involved in studies to identify the householdswhich are involved in livestock production, the relationships between livestock rearing and crop cultivation.

The studies were carried out in three Asian countries: Sri-Lanka, Indonesia and India.The main conclusions are that:

(i) crop and livestock are two largely independent sub-systems of a farming system;

(ii) existence of numerous landless livestock farmers is an undeniable fact;(iii) even on mixed farms the crop/livestock relation was found weak due to the following

reasons:

* crop residues are a result of crop cycle, but not correlated to livestock requirement;* other feed fodder resources are more important than crop residues;* farmers regularly use outside feed/fodder resources.

The results of these studies show that farmers make use of different fodder resources in addition totheir own, such as: neighbours, relatives, estates and communal. Many farmers share part with labourers,neighbours and even sell. Weeds and crop residues can form a payment in kind to labourers. In other words

the fodder produced in a farm is not necessarily used by the livestock at the farm and the fodder that is useddoes not necessarily originate from the land in use by the farmer.

This is an important observation as it has been conventionally and commonly been assumed that on a

mixed farm livestock potential is limited by the carrying capacity of the farmer's land area. This assumption isnot correct, as farmers have regular access to and often even control of off-farm feed/fodder resources. Partlythis misinterpretation might be explained in that the FSR research is mainly developed and led by agronomists

who necessarily have to plan crop production based on land area available to a farmers. This traditionalapproach is inadequate to determine opportunities and constraints for livestock production, even atsmallholder farms. Access to market (people) and to fodder/feed are the main determining factors in limiting

the scale of a livestock operation. Within a livestock system the competition for, and share of feed and fodderbetween farmers is the main determinant of opportunities for greater livestock output. In order to realise thepotential and to develop appropriate technical and technological interventions it is obvious that the future

research and studies should be addressed to understand the socio-economies of the various production inputsand resource origins, the mechanism of their flows to production units, as well as, the mechanisms of productdelivery to the market. Therefore there is need to strengthen the:

* potential of the feed and fodder base and its distribution at community/regional level;* utilisation of available fodder over the year;* mechanisms and traditional rules to share feed and fodder resources;

* relations of livestock producer with fellow crop producers or owners controlling fodderproducing lands;

* potential of the animal resource base and traditional selection methods for replacement;

* access to breeding animals and mechanisms of trading of breeding stock.

AGA PrioritiesFAO's role as an international development agency in food and agriculture has radically changed

over past few years. The field projects which provided a mechanism to introduce and validate new

technologies at household and community level have practically been phased out due to shortage

5

of funds which mainly originated from the UNDP or trust funds arrangements with many developed

countries. The new situation gives the Organisation less opportunities to work on practical farm levelproduction constraints and the normative nature of the newly adapted Regular Programme emphasizes thatthe highest priority in the future will be given to activities which address issues with a geographic coverage at

a region and a sub-region level, rather than a single nation.FAO's Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) still remains a powerful tool to address specific

country level requests which have the objective of giving strategic inputs into a government's livestock

planning and programming. This kind of FAO support could include:- review and analysis of the national livestock sector. and advise on strategic options available

for development;

- plan and develop the initial technical facility and capacity of public or private institutions toadopt new technologies, or methods to enhance production and productivity (e.g. animalrecording for breeding and management, feed laboratories and fodder treatment, diagnostic

facilities or vaccine production, methods for rural processing, quality standards and controlmechanisms etc.).

In future the responsibility for the development of new technologies will be increasingly placed on

the NARS and the international research institutes by emphasizing adaptive and applied research ascontinuum between research and development. FAO will be able to facilitate technology transfer mostlythough continuous monitoring and analysis of experiences, by reporting of them, and by supporting the

capacity development of key technical institutions with the funding from TCP as mentioned above.Under the new programme orientation increased efforts will be placed on the development of

techniques and methodologies for livestock systems definition and analysis (globally, regionally and

nationally). For AGA the specific objectives will be to:- produce an integrated set of indicators and maps which would assist in monitoring of

the systems;

- describe, quantify, qualify and analyse the major trends and shifts within and betweenthe three systems groups (mixed, pastoral, peri-urban) concerning resources and theirmanagement;

- identify linkages between social, economic and policy issues and the production systems i.e.the human activities affecting resource utilization; and, identify opportunities for practicalinterventions internationally.

Expert panels, electronic conferences and global and regional networks will be the ways to maintainclose contact with fellow animal scientists and the reporting speed can be improved and costs reduced byusing the electronic media now accessible nearly everywhere.

Asian region will attain perhaps the highest priority in the early implementation of AGA's systemsfocus due to the particularly dynamic evolutions taking place in its livestock development.

References

C. Devendra, 1996. Mixed Farming Systems in Asia. Written at the invitation of the Animal Production andHealth Division, FAO. Rome.

R. Sansoucy, 1995. Livestock - a driving force for food security and sustainable development. WorldAnimal Review 84/85, 1995/3-4.

Carlos Sere and Henning Steinfeld, 1996. World livestock production systems: current status, issuesand trends. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper, 127.

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William Wint, 1996. Livestock Geography: A Demonstration of GIS techniques applied to Global Livestock

Systems and Population. FAO Consultant Report.

GZemmelink, P.H. Leegwater, M.N.M. Ibrahim, J. van Bruchen, 1994. Constraints and opportunities forincreasing the productivity of cattle in small-scale crop-livestock systems. The Institute of Continuing

Education (ICE; CEC research project TS3 - CT 92-0120.

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Overview of integrated animals-crops-fish production systems:

achievements and future potential

C. Devendra

International Livestock Research Institute

P. 0. Box 30709

Nairobi, Kenya

Contact address: 8, Jalan 9/5, 46000

Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

SummaryAn overview of integrated animals-crops-fish production systems is discussed with reference to

the relevance, achievements and future potential of these systems. The relevance of these systems is

reflected in the nature of traditional mixed farming systems in Asia, from where over 90% of the meat andmilk is produced in these situations. Two broad categories of integrated systems are identified: systemscombining animals and annual cropping, and systems combining animals and perennial cropping. The

positive environmental and economic impacts that result from the interactions of the individualcomponents (animals, crops, land and water) are enumerated. Major achievements in respect of each ofthese systems are highlighted and also the impact of integrated crop-animal systems in 10 long term case

studies. The need for further research and development direction in the future is emphasised withreference to key aspects within the effects of primary crop management on animals, and effects of animalintegration on the parent crop, economic analysis, sustainability, institutional issues, and policy support.

The expansion and intensification of integrated systems is also associated with the concurrent intensiveuse of available agro-industrial by-products in situ as in the case of oil palm. The future for developinglargescale integrated systems is linked with the need to extend research and development to the rainfed

lowland and upland areas, where also is found large concentrations of cattle, goats and sheep. Thepotential benefits are directly associated with a more concerted role for animals, increased productivityfrom these zones, and demonstration of environmentally sustainable integrated production systems.

IntroductionIntegrated systems involving the available natural resources (crops, animal, land and water) are

potentially very important in the future. This is because they are characteristic of agriculture in Asia andthroughout the developing countries wherever mixed farming is practiced (Devendra, 1983; Devendra,

1995).The potential importance of these advantages is associated with three principal considerations.

Firstly, improvements to animals-crops-fish production systems through strategic interventions are

directly associated with increased productivity from the preponderance of small farm systems in Asiawhich currently produce over 90% of the meat and milk supply to urban markets. Secondly, promotingincreased attention to these systems is consistent with the search for efficiency in the integrated

management and use of natural resources. Thirdly, integrated natural resource use and integratedproduction systems are possibly the only way to demonstrate sustainable agriculture, to address thedifferent elements of sustainability to include nutrient recycling, food security, poverty alleviation and

environmental integrity.Integrated systems are therefore the most important way forward and represent particularly

9

important research and development thrusts in the future. For animal production, these systems also I provide

enormous opportunities to go beyond a narrow commodity focus, and explore their tangible contribution tosustainable agriculture. This paper provides an overview of integrated systems, the achievements andadvances that have been made, and alludes to emphasise the need for continuing future research and

development direction.

Relevance of Integrated SystemsThe relevance of integrated systems is reflected in their wide and traditional practice across all

agroecological zones (AEZ), involving several thousand small farms in all countries, small size of holdings,

low input use, low level of efficiency, diversification of agriculture, and the involvement of several millionsof resource-poor farmers. In these small farms, both ruminants (buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep) andnon-ruminants (chickens, ducks and pigs) are found.

It is important to stress that the individual components like animals, crops and fish have variableinteractions depending on how they are managed. The objective however is to promote synergisticinteractions, such that these have a greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects (Edwards, Pullin

and Gartner, 1988). Thus the system enables ecological and economic sustainability when the naturalresources (animals, crops, land and water) are utilised in a mutually , reinforcing manner.

The positive economic and environmental impacts resulting from interactions of the components

are numerous. These include inter alia:- Diverse and efficient resource use.- Reduced risk.

- Better use of farm labour for higher productivity and increased income.- Efficient use of biological and chemical energy in the system and less dependence on

external inputs.

- Improved tillage and soil conservation through the use of animal draught powercompared to mechanical power.

- The supply of dung and urine to improve soil fertility.

- Use of animals for draught power reduces carbon dioxide and carbon monoxideemissions from non-renewable fossil fuels used by tractors.

- Development of sustainable systems that use recycling, involve no pollution and are

consistent with environmental protection.- Development of food-feed systems results in increased feeds for animals for longer

periods, increased crop yields and soil fertility.

- Increased economic output, and,- Development of stable farm households.

Types of Integrated SystemsTwo broad categories of integrated systems are identified:

1. Systems combining animals and annual cropping. Within these, two further types aredistinguishable:

(i) Systems involving non-ruminants, ponds and fish.(ii) Systems involving ruminants

2. Systems combining animals and perennial cropping. Again, two types are identifiable:-

(i) Systems involving non-ruminants.(ii) Systems involving ruminants.Together, these systems are found across all prevailing AEZ, involving the three main

agroecosystems (highlands, semi-arid and arid tropics, and the sub-humid and humid tropics). Table 1summarises the various types of integrated farming systems in the different AEZ in Asia, the kind

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of animals and crops used, and the benefits of mixed farming. The reference to the different AEZ is

demarcated by the length of the growing period (LGP), which is indicative of the combined effects of rainfedsoil moisture and temperature. LGP is defined as the period of days in the year when rainfed available soilmoisture supply is grater that half the potential evapotranspiration.

AchievementsThere has been good progress and considerable achievements in research and development of integrated

systems. For purposes of this paper, these can be grouped into two categories: (i) research and development

advances, and (ii) the contribution of animals to sustainable agriculture.

Research and development advances

It is not intended in this section to review in detail all the advances that have been made in the area ofintegrated systems, as this is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, the review will highlight the moreimportant advances that have been achieved concerning both the different species of animals, fish, annual and

perennial crops. In this way it will then be possible to allude and identify the need for continuing research anddevelopment and priorities for the future.

(a) Systems combining animals and annual cropping

In general, two broad categories of efforts have been undertaken. One concerns the development offood - feed systems within cereal crops like rice. The objective here is to increase the supply of feeds to meetthe all-year round needs of animals. The second objective rice production and also the sustainability of the

system. Thus in the Philippines, rice-fallow has been replace by ricemungbean, and intercropping with siratroand incorporation of the herbage as green manure from the last cutting two weeks before replanting into thesoil, resulted in higher yields of the succeeding crop. The benefits of the system included:

Increased yield of rice and farm income.50 - 70% reduced dependence on the cost of fertilisers.Increased forage biomass.

Increased carrying capacity of cattle.Siratro provided valuable feed during droughts.Development of all year round feeding systems, and

Increased output from animals.(b) Rice-fish systems

The integration of fish into rice cultivation is one of the most successful developments within the last

two decades. The specific focus on fish is historical and also commonplace since Asian farmers have beenraising this commodity since time immemorial. Wild fish have been known to have floodded rice fieldsnaturally, but this situation has been depleted due to reduced stocks of wild fish, fish diseases, toxic effects of

chemical inputs and also degeneration of water resources.In recent years, these circumstances have shifted increased attention to research on the natural

association between rice and fish, with much success and impact. The advantages associated with this type of

farming systems are:- Reduced cost of cultivation through the removal of weeds, insects and pests that are

consumed by the fish.

- Increased fertilization of the rice plants.- Provision of feeds, including the pollen from rice flowers to fish.- Increased productivity (rice and fish), and

- Efficiency in the management and use of natural resources.The integration of fish with rice cultivation in Indonesia and elsewhere has gained considerable

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economic importance and the area involving this integrated system has been steadily expanding. Between

1977 to 1984, the area in Indonesia expanded annually by about 19 % (ICLARM, 1987), and now involves ofproduction in Java (69 % ), Sumatra (15 % ), and Bali-Nusa Tenggara is lands (14 % ). The yields of rice-fishare very variable (304-886 kg/ha), giving a national average of 670 kg/ha (Directorate of Fisheries, 1985),

which is increasing at about 5.5 %/yr.In view of the consistent success and economic benefits of rice-fish integration, efforts are now also

being made to include another sub-system which fits in very well within the rice ecosystem: ducks. This is also

justified in Indonesia by the fact that ducks are commonly raised by the farmer to generate additional incomeas well as food (meat and eggs) for the households.

Table 2 provides preliminary data on the results of this integration and especially the economic

benefits. Rice-fish-ducks integration gave net returns of US$ 2060/yr while rice monoculture along producedUS$ 950/yr. Also, fish production of 185 kg/ha was higher than in traditional systems. Similar work has alsobeen undertaken in Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and also China. Recent work in Thailand has been reviewed

(Edwards and Little, 1995).Additionally, Yunus et al. (1992) have reported valuable information on rates of return, which for the

rice-rice-fish and (rice +fish)-(rice+fish)-fish systems averaged 127 % and 173 % respectively. The ratio of net

returns on inputs per year in the rice-rice-fallow, rice-rice-fish, and (rice+fish)(rice+fish)-fish patternsaveraged 115, 125 and 173 % respectively. They also reported that on average income from fish was able tocover 20-59 % of total rice production costs in the rice-rice-fish, and (rice+fish)- (rice+ fish)-fish patterns.

These data further confirm the impact on productivity of integrating fish with rice cultivation. The highest itemof cost was labour (68%), followed by fertilizers and tax (24 % ), chemicals (5 %) and fingerlings (3 %).

Similar economic benefits in integrated fish-duck-goat systems have been reported from the

Philippines (Cruz and Shehadeh, 1990), Malaysia (Mukherjee et al, 1992), China (Chen, 1992), Vietnam (LeHong Man, 1992), Thailand (Little, Khalil and Taibaikaew, 1992), and Bangaladesh (Huque, 1992).

There exist a number of constraints to rice-fish production and these are as follows:-

- Poor soils.- Water availability and management for both rice and fish.- Good quality fingerlings.

- Fish parasites and diseases.- Toxic insecticides and pesticides.Of these, the timely availability of good quality fingerlings, together with water availability are major

constraints for the expansion of rice-fish farming. However, the fact remains that rice-fish integration hasconsiderable future potential, including its development in coastal and water-logged areas in many developingcountries.

(b) Systems combining animals and perennial croppingBy comparison with systems combining animals and annual cropping, considerably more research has

been done in systems involving tree crops. Additionally, the work concerns mainly cattle, goats and sheep.Several countries have been active in this regard and include notably Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia,

Philippines and also the South Pacific Islands. Attention is drawn to key reviews on the subject notably that ofsmall ruminants with several tree crops (Sivaraj, Agamuthu and Mukherjee, 1993) and the integration of cattlespecifically with coconuts (Reynolds, 1995).

The major advances that have been made concern the following areas:• Herbage and by-product availability and quality, and seasonality of production.• Forage evaluation and increased forage production (grasses and legumes).

• Ecological environment.• Animal production data.

12

• Soil compaction.

• Damage to tree crops.• Yield of tree crops (coconuts, oilpalm and rubber).• Management of animals.

• Economic analyses (savings in weeding costs, contribution by animals to total income.Of these, native herbage availability and quality, forage evaluation of new varieties, and ecological

environment appear to have been especially well researched. This is less so with animal production data

involving various ruminants, effects of integrating animals on the parent tree crop, especially yield. Theeconomic analysis is an area that has been consistently inadequately addressed in most of the studies.

These conclusions are reflected for example in the results of work done in Malaysia (Table 3)

comparing the ranching system with integration with cattle or sheep. Much lower performance data of about16-60 % of the ranching system was recorded for the integrated system. There were savings in weeding costsdue top integration, but the extent of this, as also the impact of integration on the overall economic output is

not clear. In this context, Chen et al. (1996) have very recently reviewed the subject based on the efforts overthe past 20 years and concluded that enough information exists that can allay concerns about damage to treecrops. The review indicates that there exists considerable opportunities to extend the results and experiences

available on-farm to the large areas under tree crops in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.Economic analyses is extremely important to provide a convincing case to promote wider adoption of

integrated systems, and is an area that merits more emphasis in the future. Reynolds (1995) has reported that

with cattle integrated with coconuts, the relative net return from cattle is about 50 - 75 % of the total returns.

Impact of Integrated Crop-animal Systemsi) Demonstrable evidence

Demonstrable evidence of the benefits from crop-animal interactions and the contribution to

sustainable agriculture of such systems is limited. However, the available evidence clearly indicates that thesesystems have considerable merit. It is not proposed to discuss the available information as this has alreadybeen reviewed (Devendra, 1993; 1995). Ten long term case studies have been cited which are:

A. Systems Combining Animals and Annual Cropping

(i) Three-strata forage system (Indonesia)(ii) Rice-beef cattle system (Philippines)(iii) Rice-beef cattle system (China)

(iv) Rice-fish-duck systems (Indonesia)(v) Pig-fish integration (China)

B. Systems Integrating Animals and Perennial Crops(vi) Integrated oil palm-ruminants systems (Malaysia)(vii) Rubber-animal systems (Indonesia)

(viii) Coconuts-dairy system (India)(ix) Coconuts-animal systems (Sri Lanka)(x) Sloping agricultural land technology (Philippines)

The following were the major conclusions:(a) In all cases without exception, mixed farming systems involving crops (annual and

perennial) and animals (ruminants and non-ruminants) and their interactions were positive

and beneficial.

13

(b) The benefits resulting from positive crop-animal interactions were directly associated

with increased productivity from the integration, increased income and demonstrationof sustainable system's involving ecological and environmental attributes.

(c) The main parameters used as indicators of sustainability were yield and net returns, simply

because these are the main ones used by farmers and others in farming system performance.In one case, soil fertility and soil erosion indicators were also used. Future projects will needto include in the methodologies, more rigorous indicators of sustainability such as total factor

productivity as well as assessment of environmental impacts. The latter include bothenvironmental (e.g. soil status) and economic (eg. food security and farm income) impacts.

(d) Exciting opportunities exist for extending wider use of a variety of technology development

initiatives in both the rainfed, lowland and upland agroecological zones. Priorities need toestablished to focus on the development of these agroecological zones in tandem withnational goals, appropriate use of animal species and available natural resources.

(e) An overriding constraint in the rainfed lowlands and uplands concerns feed resources. Theproblems involved firstly increased feed production to alleviate existing deficits, andsecondly, improved efficiency in feed utilisation. Animals in these systems subsist on very

low planes of nutrition and annual droughts. Meeting their nutrient needs through thedevelopment of all year round feeding is therefore a most important strategy.

(f) Application of the potentially important technologies and the development of others has the

distinct possibility of expanding the use of underutilised rainfed lowlands and uplands,increase food production from more efficient use of the natural resources, and alsoconcurrently demonstrate the important role of animals in sustainable agriculture.

(g) A major shift of development activities to the more complex rained lowland and uplandsystems will need strong policy and institutional support to deal with issues such as landtenure, common property rights and marketing.

ii) Summary of benefitsIn cognisance of the case studies presented and the data therein, Table 4 presents a summary of the

positive impacts resulting from the available technologies that contribute to sustainable agriculture. Theserelate to both socio-economic and environmental benefits.

Future Research and Development DirectionIn the light of the advances that have been made hitherto, it is appropriate to focus on those aspects

that merit emphasis in the future. These are of two categories:

(i) Effects of Primary Crop Management on AnimalsSeveral issues are involved and include inter a_lia:

Percentage of light transmission relative to age of tree crop on herbage production, quality,and introduction of new grass and legume varieties.

Introduction of persistent shade tolerant species (grasses and legumes) that have highproductivity and forage quality for varying light transmission levels.Control of stocking rate, adjustment of grazing rotations to cultural and harvesting

practices.Effects of toxic compounds in forage plants when effluents from oil palm or rubber aredischarged.

Metabolic disorders and nutrition imbalances are likely in the ingestion of fruitless of

14

oil palm fruit bunches, rubber leaves and seeds.

• Mineral imbalances or toxicities are also likely to be a problem. A case in point concernscopper toxicity, which can be as high as 30-35ppm.

(ii) Effects of animal integration on the parent crop� Possible damage to leaves and bark of the parent tree by grazing ruminants.

� Beneficial effects of browsing and grazing on weed control, soil fertility (dung and� urine) and nutrient recycling.� Effects on yield of parent crop and economic benefits.

� Effects of grazing on rodent control (important in coconut and oil palm plantations).

(iii) Intensive utilisation of agro-industrial by-productsAssociated with above is the need for concurrent use of available agro-industrial by-products in situ.

The case in point concerns oil palm by-products (fronds, palm press fibre, palm kernel cake and palm oil milleffluent). Intensification of land use through the integration of oil palm with ruminants can simultaneouslyinvolve the intensive use of by-products from the crop in situ. Preliminary work on this aspect has been

encouraging (Dalzell, 1977), and expanded efforts justified by the availability presently of a large body ofinformation on these feeds which await wider application (Abe et al., 1990).

(iv) Economic analysisAssociated with above, is the need for more critical information on the economic implications of

developing integrated systems involving ruminants and tree crops. This aspect is consistently neglected inmost project formulations involving integrated systems and needs to be corrected, as wider adoption of these

is very much dependent on demonstrable economic benefits.

(v) SustainabilityAnother issue that also needs to be increasingly addressed is sustainability. The success and viability

of integrated systems needs to be finally demonstrated in terms of sustainable production systems, in whichnutrient recycling, efficiency in the use of natural resources, food security, poverty alleviation, environmental

integrity and economic impact are important elements.

(vi) Institutional issuesTwo key institutional issues are necessary to further wider application and development of integrated

systems:

(a) Commitment to inter-disciplinarity, a systems approach and sustainable agriculture.Community-based participation is essential.

(b) Establishment of effective inter-institutional collaboration to deal with all aspects of project

formulation, implementation, monitoring, and resolution of feedback.

(vii) Policy support

Policy support is extremely essential. Currently, most large plantations are reluctant to implementintegrated systems. Policy intervention is clearly necessary to explain the rationale and encourage wideadoption, economic benefits, and the national and regional importance of developing such systems.

Increased research in the rainfed lowlands and uplandsAgricultural development has hitherto overemphasised the use of essentially lowland irrigated areas

to the limits of productivity. Attention now needs to shift therefore to the rainfed ecosystems

15

mainly because of inadequate arable land. This is justified by three main reasons. Firstly, the demand for food

outstrips agricultural growth in irrigated areas in the face of increased human needs and also food security.Secondly, the amourit of arable land is rapidly decreasing and is projected to decrease even further from 0.17to 0.10 Ha/person and 0.05 ato 0.03 Ha/person between 1988/90 and year 2010 in East Asia and South Asia

respectively (FAO, 1993). Thirdly, these rain-fed areas have large concentrations of livestock whoseproductive potential have not been adequately addressed (Table 5).

The animal populations are large and account for as much as 96.8% and 83.0% of the total

populations of cattle and small ruminants in Asia. In the rainfed lowland areas, cattle for beef, milk anddraught power, and also goats and sheep are considerable. These sizeable populations depend exclusively onthe available feed resources which result from mainly crop production. In the more humid and high rainfall

areas of South East Asia, both forage availability and crop residues are generally more abundant and adequateto meet dietary needs. The problem however, is the seasonality of production and drought periods of variablelengths which seriously hamper productivity. In many situations strategic supplementation to ensure

productivity form animals is essential.Associated with the need to develop the rainfed lowland and upland areas is the fact that there exists

in South East and East Asia about 370 million hectares of land under forests and woodland (FAO, 1993)

some of which can be used for developing integrated systems. Even if only a portion of this land area is usedfor integration, the potential benefits and the economic impact are quite considerable.

The rainfed ecosystems have considerable agroclimatic diversity compared to the irrigated areas, are

generally more fragile, and subject to resource degration. Resource-poor farmers in the upland areas areassociated with a complex web of interactions between poverty, agricultural growth and survival in whichthey perceive that their short term needs are far more important than environmental protection, which if

unchecked, drives poverty to deplete the capacity of the natural resources. Research and developmentattention must therefore recognise the complexity of the issues, and the need for strong interdisciplinary andholistic programmes that can focus on these priority agroecological zones.

References

Abe, A., Oshio, S., Mohd. Jaffar, D., and Abu Hassan (1990). Processing and utilisation of oil palmby-products for ruminants.

MARDI-TAC Collaborative Study, Serdang, Malaysia, p. 37-44.Chen, C.P., Tajuddin, I. and Chong, D.T. (1996). Strategies for the entrepreneurship oflivestock integration in plantation systems. Proc. New Perspectives in Animal Production. 25th. Ann. Conf.

Anim. Prod. (Eds. H. Sharif, Wong, C.C., Liang, J.B., Wan Khadijah, W. E. and I.Zulkifli), Serdang, Malaysia, p.101-117.

Cruz, E.M., and Shehadeh, Z.H. (1990). Preliminary results of integrated pig-fish and duck-

fish production tests. ICLARM Conf. Proc. No. 4 : 225-238.Chen, Y.C. (1992). Integrated livestock-fish production in China. In Proc. FAO/IPT Int.Workshop on Integrated livestock-fish production. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy,

p.103-106. Dalzell, R. (1977). A case study on the utilisation of palm oil mill effluent by cattle andbuffaloes. In Proc. SVMD. Feedingstuffs for Livestock in South East Asia (Eds. C. Devendra and R.I.Hutagalung), K. Lumpur, Malaysia, p. 132-141 Devendra, C. (1983). Small farm systems combining crops

and animals.Proc. V World. Conf.Anim. Prod. Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 1 : 173-191.

16

Devendra, C. (1993). Sustainable animal production from small farm systems in South East Asia. FAO

Anim. Prod. and Health Paper No: 106, Rome, Italy, 143 pp.

Devendra, C. (1995). Mixed farming and intensification of animal production in Asia. Proc.` ILRI/FAO Rountable on Livestock Development in Low income countries, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,

p. 133-144.

Directorate of Fisheries. (1985). Prospects for the development of aquaculture in Indonesia -DirectorateGeneral of Fisheries, Jakarta, Indonesia. (In Indonesian).

Edwards, P., Pullin, R.S.V and Gartner, J.A. (1988). Research and education for the development of

crop-livestock-fish farming systems in the tropics. International Centre for Land Use and ResourceManagement Studies and Reviews No. 16, Manila, Philippines, 53 pp.

Edwards, P. and Little, D.C. (1995). Integrated crop-fish-livestock improvements in South East Asia.

Global Agenda for Livestock Research. Proc. Consultation for the South East Asia Region. (Eds. C.Devendra and P. Gardiner), ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya, p. 65-75.

Haque, Q.M.E. (1992). Integrated livestock-fish farming : Bangadesh perspective. In Proc. FAO/IPT Int.

Workshop on Integrated livestock-fish production. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome,Italy, p.101-102.

F.A.O. (1993). Production Yearbook. Vol. 43, Rome, Italy, 343pp.

Huque, Q.M.E. (1992). Integrated livestock-fish farming : Bangladesh perspective. In Proc. FAO/IPT Int.Workshop on Integrated livestock-fish production. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome,Italy, p. 118-121.

ICLARM (1987) In Rpt.. 8th. Asian Rice Farming Systems Working Group Meeting, IRRI, Los Banos,Philippines, p. 127-136.

Mukherjee, T.K., Geeta, S. Rohani, A. and Phang, S.M. (1992). A study on integrated duckfish and

goat-fish production systems. In Proc. FAO/IPT Int. Workshop on Integrated livestock-fishproduction. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy, p.41-48

Le Hong Man. (1992). Duck-fish integration in Vietnam. In Proc. FAO/IPT Int. Workshop on Integrated

livestock-fish production. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy, p.101102.Little, DA., Khalil, M. and Taibaikaew, P. (1992). Development of duck-fish integrated systems in north

East Thailand. Proc. VI Asian-Australasian Anim. Sci. Congr. 2 : 93-106

Reynolds, S.G. (1995). Pasture-cattle-coconuts systems. FAO/RAPA Publ. No. 1995/7, FAO, Bangkok,Thailand, 668pp.

Satari, G. (1962). Wet rice cultivation with fish culture : a study of some agronomic aspects. Ph. D. Thesis,

Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia.Sivaraj, S., Agamuthu, P. and Mukherjee, T.K. (Eds.) (1993). Advances in sustainable small ruminant-tree

cropping integrated systems. Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia, 243pp.Suriapermana, S., Syamsiah, I., Fagi, A.M. and Atmadja (1988). Optamasi daya dukung lahan dengan

sistem minapadi-itik pada lahan sawah beririgasi. Simposium Tanaman Pangan. Vol. _l l : 21-23.

TAC/CGIAR. (1992). Review of CGIAR priorities and strategies. Part 1. TAC Secretariat, Food andAgriculture Organization, Rome, Italy (Mimeograph, 250 pp).

Yunus, M., Hardjamulia, A., Symsiah, I. and Suriapermana, S. (1992). Evaluation of rice-fish production

systems in Indonesia., Proc. Rice-fish farming research and development Workshop, (Eds. DelaCruz, C.R., Lightfoot, C., Costa-pierce, B. A., Carangal, V.R. and Bimbao, M.A.P.), ICLARM,Manila, Philippines, p. 131-138.

17

Table 1. Types of Mixed Farming Systems in the Different Agroecological Zones in Asia

System and Length of Crops Animals Mixed farmingAgroecological zone Growing benefits

Period(days)

.Rain fed temperate < 110 Barley, millet, potatoes Yak, cattle, sheep Traction, transport,and tropical highlands fruits, mustard manure reduced risk,

survival

Rainfed humid and 180-270 Maize, rice, wheat, root Cattle, pigs , chickens Traction, transport,sub-humid uplands crops, plantation crops income, manure, crop

residues

Rainfed humid and 180-300 Maize, rice, wheat, root Buffalo, cattle, Traction, transport,sub-humid lowlands crops, sugar cane, pigs, chickens, ducks income, manure,crop

mungbean residues

Irrigated humid/sub- 180-365 Maize, rice, cassava, Buffalo, cattle, pigs, Traction, transport,

humid lowlands sweet potatoes chickens, ducks income, manure, crop

residues

Rainfed arid and semi- 60-120 Sorghum, millet, Camels, donkeys, Traction, transport,

arid1ow1ands , groundnut, soya beans, cattle, goats, sheep, income, manure, reduced

unirrigated pigeon pea, cotton chickens risk, survival

Irrigated arid/semi-arid 75-180 Millet, groundnut,

pigeon

Cattle, pigs, chickens Income, manure, reduced

lowlands pea, cotton risk, survival

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Table 2: Comparative economics between a rice-fish-duck system and rice monocultureper hectare for a one year operation at the Sukamandi experement station,

1986-1987, Indonesia (Suriapermana et al., 1988)

ProductionCroppingSystem

Rice(kg)

Duck(No. ofEgg)

Fish(kg)

ProductionCosts(US$)

Value ofOutput(US$)

NetReturns(US$)

Rice-rice fallow 11,268 - - 815.50 1,762.56 949.75(Rice-fish-duck)- 11,708 27,031 185 1,632.56 3,692.29 2,059.73(rice-duck-fish)-duck

Note: Original values in Indonesian Rupiah were converted to US$ at the rate ofUS$ 1 =RP 1,100 as of 1985

19

Table 3. Animal production from forages under different production systems (FromChen, Tajuddin and Chong, 1996)

%integrated system overranchingProduction system Stocking rate ADG

(g/hea/day)LWG

(kg/ha/hrN-based Legume-based

(a)Ranching System:N-based Guinea

6 cattle 403 789 - -

Legume-based Guinea 4 cattle 218 410 52(b) Integrated system:

Native forage - oil palm1 cattle2 cattle

320380

214128

2716

5231

Native forage - rubber8 sheep4 sheep

86106

251155

3219

6138

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Table 4. Benefits of some technological options in crop-animal systems and demonstrable sustainable agriculture in Asia

Technology SoilConservation

Soilfertility

Increasedanimal

performance

Increasedcrop

yields

Increasedfood

security

Increasedincome!stable

households1. Supplementation + + +

2. animal power + + + + +

3. Legumes (feed, green manure,hedges and in rice bunds)

+ + + + +

4. Food-feed systems + + + + + +

5. Three strata forage system + + + + + +

6. Alley cropping + + + + +

7. Sloping agricultureland technology (SALT)

+ + + +

8. Manure availability + + + +

9. Rice-fish integration + + + + +

10 Ruminants-tree cropintegration

+ + + + + +

21

Table 5. Relative size of cattle and small ruminant (goat and sheep)populations in the lowland and upland areas of Asia (TAC, 1992)

Ecoregion Cattle Small ruminants(goats and sheep)

Rainfed arid and semi-aridtropics and subtropics

179 221

Rainfed humid and sub-humidtropics and subtropics 186 265

Total 365 486

As % of total population in Asia 96.8 83.0

22

FAO Regional Project on "better use of locally available feed resources insustainable agriculture system"

K. Sato', R. Sansoucyb and T. R. Preston°

'Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations c% University of Agriculture and Forestry Thu Duc, HoChi Minh City, VIETNAM b Senior Officer (Feed Resource), Animal Production and Health Division,

Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations Vale delle Term e di Caracallc,00100, Rome, ITALY

University of Agriculture and ForestryThu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM

Introduction

The world population is projected by the United Nations to increase from 5.4 billion today to 9.8 billionin 2050. To feed this additional population, a tripling of food production is estimated to be required(FAO/UNFPA, 1996). The pressure on land use for food crops will lead to a decrease of land for animals.Furthermore, the economic development imposes additional pressure for land use. Industries and commercerequire the land near to the urban area which is usually fertile agriculture land. Enlargement of cities drivesagriculture to marginal, ecologically fragile zones.

Increase of income has been significant in all urban cities in South-East Asia and there has been aconsequent increase of demand for meat, milk and eggs. This trend is likely to continue for the next severaldecades. The immediate solutions to meet this demand are the importation of the products, followed by theintensive poultry, dairy and feedlot productions in surrounding areas of these cities. In many cases, theseintensive productions are supported by importing exotic high yield animals and concentrate feeds. Butfollowing on these immediate gains, there is loss of biodiversity, pollution with untreated excreta, increaseddependency on imported feed resources and inefficient use of local resources. The immediate solution seemsnot to be sustainable. An alternative for supporting the increase of animal production without competing forhuman food is required.

The traditional animal production in South-East Asia has been an integral part of farming and rural life.Livestock provide draught power, meat, milk and eggs, fuel and fertilizer. Animal raising has been animportant mean of savings in rural area. The majority of animals in South-East Asia are kept by the smallfarmers, who have difficulty to access the imported balanced feed or improved pastures. The growing foreignexchange difficulties and the debt servicing needs of many developing countries have constrained them andforced cuts in feed imports. They have to rely on their own resources. Therefore the development and adoptionof technologies of better use of locally available resource is the alternative to meet the rising food demand andto improve the well being of rural families.

However, the maize-soya bean system was successfully adopted in most industrial countries and themajority of animal scientists regard it as the only goal for the developing countries to attain. Consequently,very little research efforts have been made in order to find alternative feeds. The thrust of agribusiness and thestrong industrial lobby are likely to have negative effects on developing low external input systems or smallscale livestock production. If they do not receive a strong support from their Governments and from externalassistance, there is every likelihood of small farmers being marginalised as

23

has been seen in other countries. The understanding and extension of knowledge on the function of animals inmixed farming system in South East Asia will reduce the risk of mono-purpose agriculture.' For the welfare ofsmall scale farmers who are the majority in the region and for sustainable crop and animal production, theresearch and development of alternative feed resources should be encouraged.

Project Background

The Animal Production Service of FAO has been promoting the development of nonconventional localfeeds with several TCP programmes (TCP/VIE/8954, TCP/PHI/8954, TCP/PHI/2254, TCP/CMB/2254) and aUNDP funded project (CPR/88/057) in the region. These projects show the excellent potential of crop residuesand sugar cane derivatives as animal feed in these countries. The use of these locally available resources hasproved to be highly productive in terms of efficiency of biomass utilization and protection of the environment.In 1994 a FAO regional project funded by the government of Japan was started in five countries: Vietnam,Cambodia, Laos, China and Philippines to encourage the exchange of information and experiences on theutilization of local resources.

There are three development objectives of the regional project.

1. Establishment of the livestock production system with locally available feed resources and without theimport of cereal grains and protein feeds in the region.

2. Increase of feed production available to resource poor farmers who have no access to conventional feedsdue to economical and/or physical reasons.

3. Protection of the environment through better use of feed resources in terms of a sink for carbon dioxide,fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and oxidation of methane.

The self-reliance:The population pressure and industrial development would not allow a sharp increase of grain production

or land for animal production in these countries. The rate of increase in grain production was much lower inthe last decade than in 1974-1984. Optimists assert there is an ample reserve of potential arable land in manydeveloping countries and that: "Wide application of green revolution technology, upgraded rural infrastructure(transportation, irrigation) and investment in human resources could make much larger harvests possible". Itmay be true, but it will require a huge investment and time consuming efforts. The foreign private investmentwould never go to the small scale agriculture which is predominant in the region. The farmers rely onthemselves or their government to upgrade rural infrastructure for a better harvest. The total amount of grain inthe world might be sufficient, on average, for the present population; however, the free economy does notnecessarily ensure the adequate supply to those who are in the poorest countries. The self-reliance of foodsupply should be promoted especially for the vulnerable groups.

The target, group:The resource-poor farmer is the target group of our project. The farmer adjacent to big cities has access

to balanced feed. Usually the high opportunity cost prevents them from using labour-intensive animalproduction with local feed resources. They also tend not to have so much crop residues or alternative resourcesdue to relatively small arable land or communal area. However, the recent upsurge of balanced feed price hasforced many of them to introduce the crop residue technologies in the peri-urban area of Ho Chi Minh City.Farmers in remote areas with less opportunities are enthusiastic to adopt these technologies. Because there is alack of land and often the land is of low fertility, farmers need to make the best use of this resource. The slashand burn cultivation is still

24

a big problem in Philippines and Indochina region. Families who rely on this system often suffer malnutritionor even starvation towards the end of the dry season. Introduction of livestock fed with Available localresources can alleviate the malnutrition and give them an additional income.

With this target group, following factors should be considered.1) There is limited capital to invest; The resource-poor farmers do not have enough capital to invest inanimals. This is especially difficult as very few institutions will accept to give them a loan. Cattle are often tooexpensive. High yield animals demanding high nutrition level are not adequate for farmers in this group, sincethese breeds cannot tolerate low inputs and poor environmental conditions.

2) Little training; The training required to raise high yield animals cannot be expected from resource-poorfarmers. The smallholder do not dedicate their time to learn sophisticated animal husbandry techniques.However, their capacity to understand the problem should not be under- estimated. There exists a lot oftraditional knowledge appropriate to social and ecological conditions which has been developed over years andeven centuries.

3) Multipurpose use; The role of animals in the rural area goes far beyond food production. The major reasonsof keeping animals are for draught power, capital accumulation or means of security and a source of fertilizerand fuel. The sum of each of these components makes livestock highly valuable in rural life. Even when thesale of animals for meat is not so profitable due to the market price, farmers in north Vietnam continue to raisepigs, because the manure is the only available source of fertilizer for their crops. In this case, high intake oflow quality feed is more important than the efficient conversion rate. The draught power and tolerance for poorenvironmental conditions are of significant value for poor farmers. These criteria are often forgotten orneglected by the people from industrial countries.

Environmental issues:Increased agro-industrial production results in increased amounts of by-products and residues which often aredifficult to process naturally. Feeding cereal straws and stovers to ruminants avoids atmospheric pollutioncaused by burning. Many factories involved in agro-industry in developing countries do not treat the wasteproducts which produce sanitary and environmental problems. Utilizing agro- industrial by-products andwastes as animal feed prevents the immediate pollution and becomes a good feed resources. Shrimp headsprocessed by simple ensiling with molasses has become a protein-rich supplement in Vietnam, otherwisepollution is created in the surroundings of processing factories. Animal excreta in intensive animal productionis a big problem in the peri-urban area. It leads to a deterioration in living conditions with bad odour andinsects. With the introduction of biodigesters, this problem can be solved and the waste is turned intorenewable energy.

Land degradation is another concern in the region. Introduction of legume trees, and the cut and carrysystem with confined ruminants, prevent overgrazing and subsequent land degradation in hilly areas.

Project Activities

1. Infrastructure of projectThe department of Animal Husbandry in the Ministry of Agriculture is the traditional counterpart of the

animal production projects of FAO. Vietnam was selected as the focal point for the five countries and theUniversity of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Minh

25

City became the host institution with responsibility for regional coordination. The recipient institute in eachparticipating country is responsible for the project execution in their own country. The Director of thedepartment assigns a "National Coordinator" who is requested to make a national work plan based on theavailable resources and local conditions. It was recommended to invite other interested groups such as WomenUnions, International NGOs and Agricultural Universities to join the project activities. The Women's Unionplays an important role in Vietnam in extending the technologies. They have organized training courses forwomen and control the credit for each member.

Communities in Cambodia are tightly connected to the agriculture extension service. The heads of thesecommunities organize the installation of biodigesters, under the supervision of the National Coordinator.

2. TechnologiesThe major activity of the project is related to "on-farm research" combined with demonstration and

training of farmers. The project provides materials or animals on partial credit basis to enable farmers toevaluate the technologies. The FAO Feed Resources Group, with the help of qualified consultants, scientistsand farmers, has developed and disseminated a portfolio of technologies and feeding systems. The followingtechnologies have been introduced:

- Pig raising with juice from sugar cane and sugar palm: Sugar cane juice is fed to pigs as the basal diet.With adequate protein supplementation, farmers easily obtain good growth rates (Preston, 1995). Where thetransportation of cane is difficult (in mountainous region), this technology can be more profitable than makingsugar. It is very appropriate also for the use of canes which are broken or damaged (eg: by rain and strongwinds) making them unsuitable for manufacturing sugar. In Philippines, brown sugar (muscovado sugar)feeding has gained popularity, as it can be preserved over several months, contrarily to fresh sugarcanes juice.The sugar palm juice feeding in Cambodia uses the same principle (Khieu Borin, 1996). Since the market ofpalm sugar is limited, abundant sugar palms tend to be under-utilised and even cut down for fuel. Also thedirect feeding of palm juice to pigs saves the fuel wood, which is a very serious problem in Cambodia. Thistechnology give farmers a profitable alternative.

- Urea treated fibrous crop residue: The technology was first developed with Danish bilateral assistance inBangladesh and disseminated widely in China with help from the FAO/UNDP project (CPR/88/057) (Dolbergand Finlayson, 1995). By 1994, eleven million tonnes were treated annually on more than 5 million smallfarms in China. Strong government support, plenty of crop residues with practically no market value and astrong extension service enabled the technology to become a common practice in China. This simpletechnology has been demonstrated in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, however the uptake by farmers is stilllimited. The main factor is the high price of urea and low price of beef in these countries.

- Urea Molasses Block: Anew technology has been developed using cold process and cement, calcium oxideor even clay as binder. The technology enables farmers to make the block by hand without any sophisticatedequipment. Many formulae have been used based on availability of materials and prices. Limited availabilityand high cost of molasses to the target group, accompanied with low market price of beef and milk prevent thetechnology to be spread in the region. However, new formulae have recently been developed which allow formaking blocks without molasses (Sansoucy, 1995).

- Use of fodder trees: Fodder trees have been used for ruminants traditionally in the region (Devendra, 1992).In Philippines it is well known the use of "Ipil Ipil" for cattle.

26

Other trees, such as Gliricidia, Trichantera gigantea and Jack Fruit are being evaluated for feeding ruminantsand pigs. Fodder tree for pigs is a new concept, but is gaining a popularity in Vietnam. Jack fruit leaves formilking goat appears to be an interesting new option. The fodder tree has .excellent opportunities inmountainous region with sloping agricultural land technology (SALT), especially in slash and burn regions.

- Use of water plants: Many water plants are of high protein content and are excellent supplements in theMekong delta. Duck weed (Lemna spp.) were evaluated as a supplement for pigs (Rodriguez and Preston,1996) and ducks (Men, 1996). A small pond or a ditch fertilized by biodigester effluent can produce sufficientduck weed for continuous feed for pigs. Azolla had been used as a feed and fertilizer in China, but wasabandoned mainly due to the labour required. The applicable area of the technology is rather limited.

- Fish/Shrimp waste-molasses silage: As a simple and cheap way of preserving a valuable source of proteinfor monogastric animals, the technology is being tested in Philippines and Vietnam (Le Viet Ly et al, 1995).The technology effectively prevents environmental pollution and improves animal production both ineconomic and biological terms. Semi-industrial framework is required to sustain the technology to be used byfarmers, since molasses and wastes are coming out from factories and not easily accessible by individualfarmers. Other sources of carbohydrates (cassava flour, rice bran etc ...) should be tested.

- Duck rasing in paddy field: Introducing ducks into the paddy field after harvesting is a traditional practicein South-East Asia. Ducks scavenge on the fallen grains, insects and weeds from one paddy field to another. Anew technology which introduces ducklings after the transplantation of rice to control weeds and insects in therice field was suggested by a Japanese NGO in 1994. The technology has gained popularity in Laos, since theycan control the damage to rice from golden snails. The IPM (Integrated Pest Management) programme hasbeen evaluating this technology in Vietnam. This technology is appropriate where chemical insecticides,herbicides or fertilizer are difficult to purchase or apply.

- Simple biodigester: The methane production from animal excreta is not new and concrete and brickbiodigesters are popular in China and India. The system we are promoting is quite unique in terms of it'ssimplicity. About 10 m long of Polyethylene tube is used as the fermenter and it costs only $40 and just requirea few hours for the installation (An, 1996). Moreover, considering high water table conditions in many parts ofthe region this model is well suited. This technology had a great impact in Vietnam and Cambodia, followedby Philippines. Many farmers, agriculture extension centres, NGOs, women's unions, the sanitary departmentand communities uptake the technology. Over 1,000 biodigesters were installed in Vietnam only. In Cambodia,over 90% of the biodigesters are in operation.

All the technologies mentioned have been developed in developing countries with the participation oflocal scientists and farmers. Not all the technologies are applicable everywhere. Their adoption is heavilydependent on availability of resources and socioeconomic conditions. However, the simplicity of thetechnologies enable the farmers to innovate in developing the system to suit the local conditions. For example,in case of sugar cane juice feeding, farmers select broken canes before the harvest season, or use low qualitysugar for feeding when the sugar price is not attractive. Many types of urea treatment of fibrous residues, suchas wheat and rice straws, maize stover and sugarcanes tops have been developed by farmers in China.

27

-E-mail:One of the main problems encountered in developing countries is the lack of information on availableappropriate technologies and the difficulty to exchange information between developing countries. FAOconsiders the solution of this problem is one of its main missions (Sansoucy, 1993).

A lot of feed materials used by farmers in developing countries are scarcely chosen as a research targetin industrialized countries. The lack of scientific information is often experienced in the field of tropicalagriculture. The information published in the scientific journals of developed countries increasingly becomesless relevant to readers in developing countries. The information from similar ecological and sociologicalconditions is more useful for animal production in developing countries. Moreover, it is difficult to subscribeto international journals, since the subscription fee is not affordable for individuals, universities or institutes.

An electronic journal "Livestock Research for Rural Development" was first published in 1989 by anNGO in Colombia "CIPAV". The FAO Feed Resources group has been supporting the activity because itpromotes the exchange of information for rural developments by providing an international forum for reportingthe results of livestock research in a way that is easier, faster and less costly. A computerized version of"Tropical Feeds" is another good example of applying the computer technology for the benefit of developingcountries. An original hard copy has 530 pages and weighs over 1 kg. A diskette can contain the whole book.Apart from the reduction of the weight and distribution cost, it is much easy to consult than the book and it canbe distributed through the E-mail network.

Electronic mail is the cheapest and fastest communication method at present. In industrialized countriesthe use of the InterNet is becoming very common and almost indispensable for research and communications.However, it is not always available in the least developed countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos thatdo not have dedicated lines for the InterNet or service providers. To give them a link with InterNet, the supportfrom abroad was required. We get the support from Oxford University in England and IFS (InternationalFoundation for Science) to connect our proprietary network in Vietnam and Laos to the InterNet. Fewequipments are required for the connection. A computer, a modem and a ordinary telephone line are enough.This equipment is at present affordable by most scientists in developing countries. The access to the electronichighway alleviates the difficulty of communication and imbalance of the information accessibility indeveloping countries.

All the agriculture universities and some national institutes in Vietnam have the email connectionthrough our network and they can easily communicate with other researchers domestically and internationally.They can also obtain the electronic journal "LRRD" periodically from the host computer. One of the nodes inthe network is the "Information Centre for Agriculture and Food Industry", which has a CD-ROM referencesearch ability. The researchers on the net can request a reference search to the centre and the results are sentback to them by e-mail. It functions as an important infrastructure of the project, as well. Over 100 scientistshave benefitted from the network in Vietnam.

3. A core of suitably trained personnelOne of the most important parts of the programme for "sustainable" development is to form a core of

suitably trained local people. People at various levels have to be trained for planning, research, and transfer ofsustainable agriculture systems. The officers and advisers for the government were invited to workshops, fielddays and demonstration

28

sites to be exposed to the technologies and the idea of the better use of local resources. Students and lecturersof agriculture universities were invited to get involved directly in the project activities.

IFS (International Fund for Science) and SAREC (Swedish Research Cooperation Programme) haveplayed an important role to train the scientists in Vietnam. They provide grants and facilitate access toadvisers, also opportunities to participate in "Master of Science courses" to promote research to improveexisting technologies, and/or design new ones applicable at farm level, for using more efficiently local tropicalbiomass resources. At the field level, agriculture extension centres, women's unions and other NGOs areinvolved in technological implementation. The rapport that the project staff has built up with the participatingorganizations and the farmers is excellent, and is possible only if the interventions are beneficial and theapproach is truly participatory. Annual national workshops and regional meetings are held to facilitate theinformation exchange and develop the rapport of core personnel.

The mass media, such as television, radio and newspaper were also invited for the public acquaintance ofthe idea. Biogas is an excellent subject for broadcasting by radio and television. Philippines and Vietnam havehad several TV programmes on the low-cost biodigester.

ConclusionsGovernment policies in the South-East Asian region favour the approach taken by the project, viz

-targeting small farmers, promoting mixed farming, controlling pollution and environmental damage and useof non-grain local feed resources for livestock. Most countries have promulgated laws for pollution control,have special schemes for integrated farming and given thrust to help small farmer in remote areas andsocioeconomic upliftment of women. The approach of the project provides an alternative for maintainingincreased animal productivity without competing for human food. Active participation of various groups showthat the idea is well accepted and many of the demonstrated technologies have proved to be valuable at farmlevel. It is hoped that the concept of the better use of available resources for sustainable agriculturedevelopment will be accepted by increasing numbers of people involved in rural development.

ReferencesFAO/UNFPA, 1996. Expert Group Meeting on Food Production and Population Growth, Rome, 3-5 July

1996.Preston, T. R., 1995.Sugar cane for feed and fuel: Recent development, World animal Review, 82:84-89.Borin, K., 1996. A study on the use of the sugar palm tree (Borassus flabellifer) for different purposes inCambodia, MSc thesis, Swedish University of Agriculture, Department of Animal Nutrition and Management,Uppsala 1996. Dolberg, F. and Finlayson, P., 1995. Treated straw for beef production in China, World animalReview,82:14-24. Sansoucy, R., 1995. New developments in the manufacture and utilization of multi nutrient blocks,World Animal Review, 82:78-83. Devendra, C. 1992. Non-conventional feed resources in Asia and the pacific:Strategies for Expanding Utilisation At the Small Farm Level (Fourth Edition), FAO-APHCA, p.77.Rodriguez, L. and Preston, T. R., 1996. Comparative parameters of digestion and N metabolism in Mong Caiand Mong Cai*Large White cross piglets having free access to sugar cane juice and duck weed, LivestockResearch for Rural Development, Vol 8. No. 1, 72-81. Men, B. X., 1996. Improvement of Local DuckProduction system in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, MSc thesis, Swedish University of Agriculture,Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Uppsala 1996. Ly L. V., et al. 1995. Processing ShrimpHead with Molasses for Use as Animal Feed and Preventing

29

sites to be exposed to the technologies and the idea of the better use of local resources. Students and lecturersof agriculture universities were invited to get involved directly in the project activities.

IFS (International Fund for Science) and SAREC (Swedish Research Cooperation Programme) haveplayed an important role to train the scientists in Vietnam. They provide grants and facilitate access toadvisers, also opportunities to participate in "Master of Science courses" to promote research to improveexisting technologies, and/or design new ones applicable at farm level, for using more efficiently local tropicalbiomass resources. At the field level, agriculture extension centres, women's unions and other NGOs areinvolved in technological implementation. The rapport that the project staff has built up with the participatingorganizations and the farmers is excellent, and is possible only if the interventions are beneficial and theapproach is truly participatory. Annual national workshops and regional meetings are held to facilitate theinformation exchange and develop the rapport of core personnel.

The mass media, such as television, radio and newspaper were also invited for the public acquaintance ofthe idea. Biogas is an excellent subject for broadcasting by radio and television. Philippines and Vietnam havehad several TV programmes on the low-cost biodigester.

ConclusionsGovernment policies in the South-East Asian region favour the approach taken by the project, viz

-targeting small farmers, promoting mixed farming, controlling pollution and environmental damage and useof non-grain local feed resources for livestock. Most countries have promulgated laws for pollution control,have special schemes for integrated farming and given thrust to help small farmer in remote areas andsocioeconomic upliftment of women. The approach of the project provides an alternative for maintainingincreased animal productivity without competing for human food. Active participation of various groups showthat the idea is well accepted and many of the demonstrated technologies have proved to be valuable at farmlevel. It is hoped that the concept of the better use of available resources for sustainable agriculturedevelopment will be accepted by increasing numbers of people involved in rural development.

ReferencesFAO/UNFPA, 1996. Expert Group Meeting on Food Production and Population Growth, Rome, 3-5 July

1996.Preston, T. R., 1995.Sugar cane for feed and fuel: Recent development, World animal Review, 82:84-89.Borin, K., 1996. A study on the use of the sugar palm tree (Borassus flabellifer) for different purposes inCambodia, MSc thesis, Swedish University of Agriculture, Department of Animal Nutrition and Management,Uppsala 1996. Dolberg, F. and Finlayson, P., 1995. Treated straw for beef production in China, World animalReview,82:14-24. Sansoucy, R., 1995. New developments in the manufacture and utilization of multi nutrient blocks,World Animal Review, 82:78-83. Devendra, C. 1992. Non-conventional feed resources in Asia and thepacific: Strategies for Expanding Utilisation At the Small Farm Level (Fourth Edition), FAO-APHCA, p.77.Rodriguez, L. and Preston, T. R., 1996. Comparative parameters of digestion and N metabolism in Mong Caiand Mong Cai*Large White cross piglets having free access to sugar cane juice and duck weed, LivestockResearch for Rural Development, Vol 8. No. 1, 72-81. Men, B. X., 1996. Improvement of Local DuckProduction system in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, MSc thesis, Swedish University of Agriculture,Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Uppsala 1996. Ly L. V., et al. 1995. Processing ShrimpHead with Molasses for Use as Animal Feed and Preventing

29

Pollution in Thanh Hoa Province in Vietnam, Proceedings of the National Workshop in Thanh Hoa. An,B. X., 1996. The impact of low-cost polyethylene tube biodigesters on small farmers in Vietnam, MScthesis, Swedish University of Agriculture, Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Uppsala1996.

Sansoucy, R., 1993. The FAO Strategy for sustainable use of locally available feed resources, A paperpresented at the First International Conference on Increasing Livestock Production through Utilization ofLocal Resources in Beijing, China, 18-22 October 1993.

30

Work animals in rain-fed mixed farming systems in India

(ABSTRACT)

Dattatrya Rangnekar

Baif Development Research Foundation

P. O. Box 2030Asarwa, Ahmedabad 380016 1NDIA

The role and contribution of work animals to agriculture production and rural economy in general has not

been well studied and it is now a subject of controversies and long drawn debates. In countries like India,

where rainfed mixed farming is common, work animals are an integral part of the rural system. In most case,

they have been visualized as source of draught power for farming operations and collated with agriculture.

The paper attempts to draw attention to the fact that work animals have multiple role, a strong socio-cultural

linkage and for some communities these are not only a source of livelihood but also a way of life. Thus in

order to improve output from work animals concerted and integrated efforts are needed and some of these

aspects are discussed.

The recent review taken by Govt. of India, on aspects related to livestock, indicates that there are 70 million

bullocks, 7 million male buffalos, one million camel, 0.3 million Yak and about 2 million equines. These

animals constitute the main work force and also contribute substantially towards meat, hair, manure, besides

their use for sports, cultural religious occasion. There are many festivals/fairs and sports in which the work

animals are decorated, taken out in procession and some are worshipped.

One of the controversial and highly debated issue is comparison between work animals and the machines.

Majority of the publications by economists describe keeping bullocks is uneconomic. There are a few who

pointed out that tractors used fossil fuel, spares and mechanics for repair are not easily available, in interior

areas. Decrease in size of family land holdings makes it difficult to maintain a tractor. In many cases the

holdings are so small that even maintaining a pair of bullocks is difficult. Nevertheless drastic reduction in

share of animal energy, out of total energy for farm work, from 77% in 1961 to 23% in 1991 is reported.

Decrease in male bovine population is reported from states like Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Kerala,

although according to 1986 and 1991 censuses there are about 70 million working bovines in India indicating

that the population is static. Studies by BAIF indicates that about 75% tractor owners keep bullocks and

consider them

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essential for some operations.

Very limited studies have been carried out on work animals like camels, donkeys and Yak. However with

establishment of camel research centre, this species is receiving some attention. The camel, which was always

considered a "Ship of the Desert" is no longer restricted to desert. It is a widely accepted work animal for

transportation in Rajasthan and five adjoining states. It is preferred over bullocks since it, is easier to

maintain, generates more Horse Power has better stamina and speed. It is a common sight to see camel carts

operating between villages and the adjoining cities, transporting agriculture produce. The donkeys constitute a

major work force for small construction operations, be it rural roads, housing, small tank construction etc.

Their work output is surprisingly high, since they can work continuously for several hours and are easy to

manage.

Some intriguing and interesting observations, traditional practices were recorded during rural systems studies

in project areas of the BAIF. Farmer preference for work animals and their perceptions were found to vary

from region to region. In the northern state of U.P. buffalos are preferred for transporting agriculture produce

like sugarcane, grains etc. and bullocks are not considered strong enough. While in most other parts of India

use of buffalo for transportation is a rare sight. The indigenous bullock is generally preferred to cross bred.

Many farmers reject cross bred male, since it looks ugly to them, a perception which cannot be ignored. While

purchasing bullocks or camel or donkey, the rural people have evolved a system of looking for some

phenotypic characters which are indicative of their working ability. There are some communities which

specialize in breeding different species of livestock. They sell breeding bulls and working males. majority of

them are pastoralists. Most breeds of cattle developed in India are draught type and by pastoralists.

The efforts at improving situations regarding work animals is based on presumption that considering total

cropped areas in India the number is very large. There is need to study this aspect more critically.

Nevertheless there is scope to improve the output through efforts involving engineering, animal health control

and management, collective utilization of animals and breed improvement. While engineering institutes have

done some work on improving implement the efforts on other aspects are rather limited. Improving harness in

another area needing attention and would be beneficial.

Leasing of animals has been a traditional practice but it can be more efficient if properly planned collective

effort is made. BAIF along with a few other NGOs and farmers'

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Cooperatives have started extension efforts amongst farmers to propagate sharing/leasing of working animals

and improving the management, particularly health control and feeding. There is considerable loss of work

force due to diseases like Foot & Mouth Diseases in bovines and Trypanosomiasis in camels. In collaboration

with farmers cooperatives, the BAIF has demonstrated effective control of Foot & Mouth Disease through

regular vaccination. More than 10000 pairs of bullocks arc vaccinated every year in some districts of Western

Maharashtra and South . Guajrat. Based on traditional practices efforts are being made to improve the feeding

practices. The programme of upgradation of local nondescript cattle with indigenous, wherever the situation

warrants such approach, has been taken up in various programmes. In many pockets, the cross bred bullocks

have become popular with realization of their potential as work animals, given proper management.

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Preliminary results of a case study on integrated rice-fish-azolla

ducks production system in the Philippines

Cagauan, A. G., C. Van Hove, E. A. Ordend, N. M. Ramilo"and R. D. Branckaert'

1 Freshwater Aquaculture Center, Central Luzon State University,Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120

k'Laboratory of Plant Biology, Catholique University of Louvain,B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

`Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Central LuzonState University, Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120;

'Food andAgricultural Organization, Via delle Terme di Caracalla,00100 Rome, Italy

IntroductionIntegrated farming of crop-fish-livestock has a long history in Asia. This type of diversified farming

intensifies food production and increases income of farmers in developing countries. The environmentalbenefits of such mixed enterprises have been widely reported (e.g. Edwards, 1986; Pullin 1995; Pullin 1989) .

Rice-fish farming in the rice growing areas of Southeast Asia, plays an important role in the economiclives of some small-scale farmers. This farming system, however, has its drawbacks. One of these is low fishproduction due to limited natural food production in the ricefield caused by the heavy rice canopy towards theend of the culture period. Fish production in ricefields requires adaption of the management practices for rice.Pesticide application for rice is one of the major constraints for fish production in ricefields (Koesoemadinata,1980; Cagauan, 1995a). There are, however, potential ecological benefits, however, of pisciculture inricefields. Cagauan (1995b) summarized some of the potential roles of pisciculture on pests and disease controland nutrient management in ricefields.

A rice-fish-azolla-duck farming system was conceived to enhance the productivity of the rice-fishfarming system and improve ricefield ecology. Nutrient enhancement of the ricefield ecosystem in anintegrated rice-fish-azolla-ducks farming system should be possible, thus increase the carrying capacity of therice ecosystem to produce more fish and rice (Figure 1). A schematic presentation of the roles of fish, azollaand ducks in integration with rice farming (Figure 2) summarizes four major points: nutrients enhancement,pest control, feed supplementation and biological control. Pests (weeds, insects and golden snails) control areone of the major problems for rice farming. Golden snails (Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck) have beenconsidered by farmers to be a serious rice pest, second to tungro disease (Atienza and Adalla 1989). Fish,azolla and ducks may serve as biological control agents for weeds and snails. Azolla can serve as food for fish(Liu 1987; Van Hove 1989; Micha et al. 1989; Cagauan and Pullin 1994;) and for other animals (Van Hove1989; Alcantara and Querubin 1985); can ameliorate soil fertility after continuous use (Ventura and Watanabe1993); can decrease N losses from ammonia volatilization ( Vlek et al. 1995; Roger et al. 1987; Villegas andSan Valentin 1989 as cited in Watanabe and Liu 1992); and can suppress the growth of weeds (Janiya andMoody 1984; Lumpkin and Plucknett 1982; Krock et al. 1988). Azolla may also serve as a biological attractantfor golden snails away from rice. Fish has been studied as biological control agent for golden snails (Slootweget al. 1993; Slootweg et al. 1994; Halwart 1994).

The traditional practice for raising ducks in the Philippines is to pasture them in ricefields after riceharvests. In this way, ducks raisers save on feed costs and the ducks

35

Figure 1. Biological models for nutrient cycles in integrated rice-fish culture (A) andintegrated rice-fish-azolla-duck farming system (B).

35

Figure2.Schematic presentation of the roles of fish, azolla and ducks in an integrated rice-fish-azolla-duckfarming system. (P refers to production.)

37

help to control golden snails. Under this herding method of raising ducks their main feed consists of fallen ricegrains, snails, grasses and insects (Lambio and Alejar 1993). The predominant type of ducks used for eggproduction is the Philippine Mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos) locally known as "Itik" or Pateros duck(PCARRD 1991).The ducks are mainly used for the production of "balut" (fertile egg with developed embryo)and salted eggs. Philippine farmers find this breed very adaptable to local environmental conditions (PCARRD1991;Lambio and Alejar 1993). Some of the advantages of duck raising on rice farms is that ducks needsimple, less expensive, and non-elaborate housing facilities; require little attention and less space for rearing;they are hardy and resistant to common avian diseases; they feed on a variety of foods; they live longer thanchickens; and their products offer a variety of opportunities e. g. fresh table eggs, boiled incubated eggs andsalted eggs (PCARRD 1991; Lambio and Alejar 1993). Mallard ducks could be integrated with rice-fish-azollafarming system. Studies showed that azolla can be a potential food or feed supplement for mallard ducks(Joome 1996; Escobin 1987). Ducks grazing in ricefields before rice transplanting control golden snail(Pomacea canaliculata Lamark) and possibly eat some weed seeds during grazing, which may contribute toweed control. Duck houses constructed over a pond refuge adjacent to the ricefield would be beneficial for fishproduction because of the organic manuring effects of duck feces and spilled duck feed. There are. however,some human health concerns. Duck raising has been implicated in paddy-field dermatitis (Hu et al 1994; Vega1991).

This paper presents some of the preliminary results of a case study on an integratedrice-fish-azolla-duck farming system, conducted m on-station research in the Philippines The results focus onproduction and selected ecological effects such as snail control by ducks, primary productivity expressed aschlorophyll a and soil physicochemical characteristics.

MethodologyThe study was conducted in two trials, namely: trial 1 wet season (June - December 1995) and trial 2

dry season (January - May 1996). The experimental plots consisted of twenty four 300-m2 plots each having apond refuge with an area 10% of the total plot and a depth of 1 meter.

The treatments used in the study were as follows: I (Rice) (R), II (Rice-Fish) (RF), III (Rice-Azolla)(RA), IV (Rice-Ducks) (RD), V (Rice-Fish-Azolla) (RFA), VI (RiceFish-Ducks) (RFD), VII(Rice-Azolla-Ducks) (RAD), and VIII (Rice-Fish-Azolla-Ducks) (RFAD). Each treatment was replicatedthree times. A factorial complete random block design was employed.

Rice. The normal farming practices of the Philippines for lowland irrigated rice were employed. Ahigh yielding rice variety IR64 was planted in straight row planting at a distance of 20 cm x 20 cm.Fertilization rates were 60N-40P-40K kg/ha and 90N-40P-40K kg/ha for the wet and dry seasons, respectively.Chemical fertilizers were used except in treatments with azolla. Sources of N m treatments with Azolla were acombination of chemical and azolla fertilizers at 50:50 proportion. Chemical fertilizers used were urea (46-0-0), ammonium phosphate (16-20-0) and potash (0-0-60). Split application of chemical fertilizer wasemployed. Azolla fertilizer application was incorporated during the last harrowing before rice transplanting.For all treatments carbofuran granular insecticide was applied at the rate of 16.7 kg/ha of formulated product(3% active ingredient). No other pesticides were applied.The water depth maintained during the first week oftransplanting was less than 10 em and later increased between 10 - 20 cm after fish introduction into thericefields. Rice was harvested after 90 days and sundried (10-15% moisture). In trial 2, total missing hills perplot were determined by manual counting in three parts of the ricefield e.g. 5 m away from pond refuge,middle part, and near drainage at 14 days after transplanting (DAT). Number of tillers and panicles(productive and unproductive) were also determined at 84 DAT following the procedure prescribed in Yoshidaet al. (1976).

38

Rice data were analysed using anaysis of variance (ANOVA) in a 2 x 2 x 2 (A: fish; B: azolla; C:ducks) in a factorial complete randomized block design (Gomez and Gomez 1984). Comparison of means wasdone using Duncan's multiple range test and results were interpreted at 5% and 1% level of significance.

Azolla. An Azolla microphylla hybrid (A. microphylla 4028 x A. filiculoides 1001) obtained from theInternational Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna was used. These plants had been maintained at theFreshwater Aquaculture Center (FAC), Central Luzon State University, Philippines since January of 1993.Azolla plants were maintained in propagation plots using ammonium superphosphate (18-46-0) at the rate of 5- 10 g/m /week. Insect control management was done using combined techniques such as lowering waterdepth, thinning of plants, and insecticide application only when insect infestation is high.

The experimental plots were inoculated with sufficient azolla for propagation with a targetted biomassto meet half of the total N fertilizer requirement per plot. The propagation period was about 4 weeks.Fertilization rate was two times a week at the rate of 5 -10 g/mz. Average azolla biomass per m2 was multipliedby the total coverage area of azolla to get the total production per plot. Excess azolla production per plot wasremoved and discarded. One time application of the azolla fertilizer requirement was done. Plots were drainedand azolla was incorporated at final harrowing by means of hand tractor with a rotovator. Some of the azollaplants that floated were not incorporated, thus, they were allowed to grow in the floodwater and pond refuge toserve later as food for fish and ducks.

Fish. Geneticaly improved (GIFT) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were cultured at the rate of10,000 fingerlings/ha. Ranges of initial mean weights of fish used were 13.96 g - 17.26 g in trial 1 and 12.63 g- 15.00 gin trial 2. Tilapia were stocked 810 days after transplanting rice and cultured for 83 days. In trial 2,growth of fish was determined by sampling individual weights of 30 fish per plot initially, 20 days after fishstocking (DAFS), 50 DAFS and 83 DAFS. After 83 days, growth, yield and recovery rates were determined.Fingerlings were also observed.

Azolla management was done to allow the balance of plankton and azolla cover. In trial 1, a"breather" ( a clear area) was placed at the middle of the pond refuge to facilitate plankton growth. In trial 2,azolla cover was allowed over only one-third of the pond refuge. This place was bounded by a net to preventthe azolla from spreading. The net was low enough to allow ducks grazing of azolla. The second way ofmanaging the azolla was observed to be more suitable for plankton production because of a larger area of thepond refuge exposed to sunlight for photosynthesis.

Fish data were analysed uisng ANOVA in a factorial (2 x 2 ) (A: azolla; B: ducks) in completerandomized block design (Gomez and Gomez 1984). Least significant difference (LSD) was used to comparemeans and results were interpreted at the 5% and 1% level of significance.

Ducks. A Philippine mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos) were used for egg production. Ducklings (2months and 7 days old) were purchased from a farmer in a nearby village. Ducks houses made of bamboos,ipil-ipil and cogon grass for roofing were constructed over the pond refuges. Bamboo slats for the floor werespaced to allow fresh duck manure to fall directly to the pond refuge. The floor area of each house was 4 m2 or0.33 m2/animal. Eleven ducks and one drake were raised per house per plot. Recommended cultural andmanagement practices were based on PCARRD (1991). Each plot with ducks was bounded with nets (82 cmhigh from top of dike) to prevent movement to other plots. Aluminum tags were clipped to the wings of theducks for individual identification. Drakes were not tagged as they were easily identified.

Ducks were pastured in the ricefield 30 - 48 days in trial 1 and 36 days in trial 2 before ricetransplanting to control the golden snail. In trial 1, animals in treatments with azolla and ducks were pastured(48 days) earlier than those in treatments with ducks alone (30 days). This was to allow the production ofazolla without it being consumed by the

39

ducks. Ducks were confined 2 days before azolla production commenced. In trial 2, ducks pasturing intreatments with and without azolla was done at the same time.

A second ducks pasturing was done for 17 days at 38 - 54 DAT in trial 1 and 19 days at 30 - 48 DATin trial 2. The fish were 30 and 20-days old, in trials 1 and 2, respectively. Ducks were confined just before thepanicle initiation of rice until the rice harvest.

Ducks were fed with commercial feed at 10% of the body weight during confinement and adjustedcorrespondingly every month. During pasturing, the amount of feed given to the animals was reduced by 10 -30%. The animals point of lay was noted for each of the ducks houses. Monthly sampling was done of theindividual body weight of the ducks.

Eggs were collected daily and classified according to the following sizes: very small (VS)/pewee =<50 g; small=51-59 g; medium= 60-69 g; large=70-79g; and extra large=>80g. Eggs were processed as saltedand "balut" eggs. Eggs salting was done using clay soil-salt mixture at a proportion of 5:2 for period of 10-15days. The production of balut was done using a forced-draft incubator. The incubation period for balut was fora period of 17 days. Procedures for salting eggs and "balut" making and salting were based on PCARRD(1991)..

Snails Density Assessment. At the start of trial 1, different sizes of golden snails obtained fromnearby fish ponds were placed in the different plots to augment the snails already present. At least 2-3 weekswas allowed for the snail population to establish. After this period, an initial snail sampling was done beforeduck pasturing. Final sampling was done after rice and fish harvests i.e. after 90 days. This final sampling intrial 1 served as the initial sampling before.duck pasture in trial 2. After 36 days of duck pasturing, snails weresampled again. A third sampling of snails was done after the rice harvests.

Plots were drained just before snail sampling by opening the water outlet gates at the end of thericefield and by the use of a water pump. Snail sampling was done by quadrat sampling. Each quadratmeasured 1 m2. Sampling was done per plot in 20 random locations in the rice field and 2 locations in thepond refuge. All snails per quadrat were counted and classified according to shell height (cm) group e.g. <1; 1- <2; 2 - <3; 3 - <4; 4 - <5; and 5 - <6. Snail density was expressed in number per m2. Snails were returned tothe rice field or the pond refuge after sampling.

The statistical analysis of the effect of ducks on snails densities was done in two parts. In the firstpart, data on snails densities were analysed before and after ducks pasturing for treatments with ducksconsisting of 12 plots. In the second part, analysis was done on snail densities initially before duck pasturingand after rice harvest on treatments without ducks (12 plots) and with ducks (12 plots). Analysis of variance ina randomly complete block design was employed. Least significant difference (LSD) was used to comparemeans. Results were interpreted at 5% and 1% lelvel of significance.

Other Data Gathered. Primary productivity expressed as chlorophyll a (ug/1) was measuredbiweekly at 25, 35, 49, 63, 77 and 91 DAT using the procedure prescribed in Boyd and Tucker, (1992).Analysis was done separately in ricefields and pond refuges. Soil physicochemical characteristics (bulkdensity, pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, and potassium) were determined initiallybefore the last harrowing and finally after the rice harvest for each trial. Soil samples were collected from adepth of 0-10 cm. Soil samples were sent to the Bureau of Soils; Department of Agriculture, Philippines foranalyses.

Results and Discussion

A. Rice productionRice production in trial 1 was affected by tungro virus disease, thus, it will not be discussed in this

report. In trial 2, comparison of mean rice production in lowland irrigated

40

Figure 3. Effect of fish, azolla and duck on mean rice yields (kg/plot) during the dryseason 1996.

41

Table 1. Rice production ' in lowland irrigated ricefields in rice moculture and in integration withfish, azolla and duck during the dry season 1996, Philippines,

Culture system Rice Difference Rice Differenceproduction from control production from(kg/plot)" treatment (kg/ha) control

(kg/plot) treatment(kg/ha)

I Rice 79.23 ab 2934.57 bII Rice-fish 63.43 a -15.80 ns 2114.44 a -820.13 nsIII Rice-azolla 86.10 be 6.87 ns 3188.89 b 254.32 nsIV Rice-ducks 78.27 ab - 0.96 ns 2898.77 b -35.80 nsV Rice-fish-azolla 118.03 ab 38.80 * * 3934.44 cd 999.87VI Rice-fish-ducks 106.07 de 26.84 * * 3535.56 be 600.99VII Rice-azolla-ducks 114.53 cd 35.30 * * 4241.98 cd 1307.41VIII Rice-fish-azolla-ducks 131.37 a 52.14 * * 4378.89 d 1444.32

Average of three replicates per treatment.The LSD values for comparison are 8.69 kg/plot (P<0.05) and 10.63 kg/plot (P<0.01);and 307.54 kg/ha (P<0.05) and 376.22 kg/ha (P<0.01). Two asterisks mean highlysignificant at P<0.01. Data with the same suffix letters are not significantly different(P=0.05).

b~ Area planted to rice per plot = 270 m2.Computation of rice production in kg/ha for culture system with fish was based on 9000mz due to the fish refuge area i.e. 10% of 1 ha.

Table 2. Mean number of tillers and panicles per hill during the dry season 1996 (trial 2) intreatments with and without fish, azolla and mallard ducks.

A. No. of tillers er hill TREATMENTSWithout Ducks With Ducks

FishWithout Azolla With Azolla Without Azolla With Azolla

Without 16.24 a 17.12 ab 17.37 ab 20.01 beWith 14.84 a 20.58 be 18.19 abc 20.94 cB. No. of anicles per hill

Without Ducks With DucksFish

Without Azolla With Azolla Without Azolla With AzollaWithout 16.42 a 17.12 ab 17.26 ab 20.01 beWith 14.82 a 20.51 be 18.19 abc 21.03 cNote: Data with the same suffix letters are not significantly different (P=0.05).

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ricefields with rice monoculture and integrated farming systems with fish, azolla and ducks. Variations in riceproduction in kg/plot (area of plot planted to rice = 270m) were significantly contributed by the effects of fish,azolla and ducks and their interaction (P<0.01). Figure 3 shows the effects of fish, azolla and ducks on riceproduction in kg/plot. Treatments without fish gave a mean rice yield of 89.5 kg/plot compared to 104.7kg/plot in plots with fish (P<0.01). Treatments with azolla gave a significantly higher mean rice yield of 112.5kg/plot compared to 81.8 kg/plot in plots without (P<0.01). Ducks integrated with rice gave a mean rice yieldof 107.6 kg/plot significantly higher than the 86.7 kg/plot from plots without ducks (P<0.01). A highlysignificant interaction was found in fish x azolla x ducks (P<0.01) but not in the interaction of fish x azolla,fish x ducks, nor azolla x ducks. Mean rice yield in treatment with fish, azolla and ducks was 131.4 kg/plot.

There was a significant association found between the azolla and mean number of tillers/hill(r=0.5901; P<0.01) and mean number of productive panicles per hill (r=0.5879; P<0.01). More tillers andpanicles were observed in treatments with azolla and with ducks compared to treatments without (Table 2).The mean number of tillers and panicles in azolla treatments were 20 and 17 in non-azolla treatments.

In treatments with azolla, rice grains had a longer maturity period of about 10 days compared toriceplants in treatments with just chemical fertilizer alone. Some of the azolla was not completely incorporated(about 1-5% floated after rotovation). This grew and formed a cover which was maintained as much aspossible during the rice culture period, by replacing the azolla in the experimental plots with more from thepropagation plots. The azolla cover probably contributed significantly to conservation of nitrogen in thesystem, resulting in more vegetative growth and the longer period for the maturity of rice grains.

Analysis of variance for the rice production expressed as kg/ha showed a significant effect of azollaand ducks but not fish (P<0.01) . Fish effect was not significant possibly due to the reduction of the areaplanted to rice in the presence of fish. In integrated rice-fish culture, 10% of the ricefield area was allocated tofish refuge. The interaction effect of fish x azolla x ducks was highly significant (P<0.005).

Rice production in the different treatments were: R = 2, 935 kg/ha; RF = 2,114 kg/ha; RA= 3,189kg/ha; RD= 2, 899; RFA= 3, 934 kg/ha; RFD= 3536 kg/ha; RAD= 4, 242 kg/ha ; and RFAD= 4, 378 kg/ha. Acomparison of mean rice production of each of the seven culture systems and the control treatment (ricemonoculture) expressed as kg/plot and kg/ha showed that mean increases in RFA, RAD and RFAD to that ofthe control treatment were highly significant (P<0.01) (Table 1). Mean rice yield increase in RFD over thecontrol was 1000 kg/ha; RFA = 601 kg/ha; RAD = 1307 kg/ha; and RFAD = 1444 kg/ha. Differences in yieldsfrom RF, RA and RD over the control were not significant (P<0.05).

In trial 1, ducks pasture for 17 days at 38 - 54 DAT was observed to have caused damaged to thebooting riceplants particularly those plants near the pond refuge. Riceplants were uprooted or the upper part ofthe plants broken. Broken tillers had an effect on panicle initiation of the riceplants. However, there was noobservation made on the number of tillers and panicles during this trial. Moreover, tungro disease attacked thericeplants and there was no way to assess the damage by the ducks based on rice yield.

In trial 2, the ducks were pastured at 30-48 DAT for a period of 19 days 2 days longer than in trial 1.Moreover, the pasturing of ducks was earlier by 8 days compared to trial 1. It was observed that the missinghills near the pond refuge were associated with snails rather than ducks. Ducks treatment gave a mean numberof tillers and panicles of 19 and 17 in non-ducks treatments. Missing hills evaluated at 14 DAT was foundsignificantly higher near the fish refuge (5 m away) compared to middle part and near the drainage. Totalmissing hills per plot was significantly associated with the mean number of snails in the ricefield (r=0.53;P<0.01) and pond refuge (r=0.47; P<0.05) before rice transplanting.

Fang et al. (1983) showed that the suitable time to pasture ducks in the ricefield is at 20 DAT whenthe riceplants are just at active tillering stage.

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In our study, ducks pasturing was done at least 30 DAT rice to allow the tilapia to grow to a largersize to escape duck predation. The fish were 30-day old in trial 1 and 20day old in trial 2, after fish stocking. Intrial 2, initial size of fish stocked was 12.6 -15 g and after 20 days fish grew to a size of 20.9 - 33.4 g. Fishrecovery after 90 days in treatments with ducks was 90% and 59% in treatments without ducks.

B. Fish growth and productionGrowth and production of genetically improved (GIFT) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in

lowland irrigated ricefields integrated with the aquatic fern azolla (Azolla microphylla) and mallard ducks(Anas platyrynchos) are presented in Table 3. Azolla andducks and their interaction contributed to variations in growth, yield and recovery rates as shown in Table 4.

ETect off azolla as.Fresh -Fodder. In both trials, larger fish were harvested after 83 days in treatmentswith azolla. Average final weights of fish in the azolla treatments were 66.4 g (± 21.0) and 58.4 g (±28.5),trials 1 and 2, respectively, higher than the 57.4 g (±21.5) and 47.8 g (±23.4), respectively. In the treatmentswith and without azolla, weight gains were 50.07 g (±20.2) and 42.9 g (±21.1) in trial 1(P>0.05), respectively,and 44.6 g (+29.8) and 33.9 g (±23. 0), in trial 2, respectively. Yields of harvestable fish from both trialsranged from 345 - 496 kg/ha in treatments with azolla and 284 - 348 kg/ha in treatments without azolla.Similar recovery rates occurred in trial 1 ranging from 61 - 66%. Fish predators (e.g., mudfish (Channastriata) and Thai catfish (Clarias batrachus)) occurred in trial 1 which affected recovery rates. In trial 2,higher recovery rates of 83% occurred in azolla treatments compared to 65% in non-azolla treatments.

Effect of mallard ducks. Final mean weights, weight gains and fish yield were significantly higher intreatments with ducks compared to treatments without (P<0.01) in both trials. Nile tilapia harvested intreatments with ducks were larger in size i. e. 77 g (±9.5) - 81 g (±7. 4) compared to 30 g (±4.2) - 43 g (±6. 0)in treatments without ducks. Daily weight gains ranged from 0.18 g/day (±0.04) - 0.34 g/day (±0.07) intreatments without ducks and significantly increased to 0.76 g/day (±0.12) - 0.78 g/day (±0.09) in treatmentswith ducks. Yields of harvestable fish were 172 - 191kg/ha in treatments without ducks and increased by 2-4folds in treatments with ducks i.e. 438 - 672 kg/ha.

Recovery rates in trial 1, ranged from 55 - 72 %. In trial 2, higher recovery rates of 90% in plots withducks was significantly higher compared to 55% in plots without ducks (P<0.01).

In both trials, number of fingerlings collected per plot ranged from 801 - 1962 in RF; 599 - 1692 inRFA; 1051 - 2258 in RFD; and 262 - 446 in RFAD. Mean fingerlings production per plot in plots with duckswas 1004 and 1264 in plots without ducks.

Interaction effect of azolla and ducks. Highly significant interaction effect (P<0.01) of azolla andducks were found in the final average weights, weight gains and recovery rates of Nile tilapia in trial 2.

Growth rates of Nile tilapia in trial 2. Figure 3 shows the growth rate of Nile tilapia at 20, 50 and83 DAFS as affected by azolla and duck. The azolla effect was significant at 83 DAFS while duck effect wassignificant consistently from 20, 50 and 83 DAPS.

Table 5 shows the comparison of mean differences from RFA, RFD and RFAD compared to thecontrol treatment (RF). In trial 1, fish yield increased by 52 % (P>0.05) in the presence of azolla (RFA), by174% (P<0.01) in the presence of ducks (RFD), by 203% (P<0.01) in the presence of both azolla and ducks(RFAD). In trial2, azolla resulted to a significant increase in fish yield by 2.23 times; ducks resulted to 2.54times; and the combination of both resulted in about 3 times the fish yield compared to the control treatment(RF).

Results of the study by Circa et al. 01994) showed that after 90 days of culture and a stocking densityof 0.5 fish/m2 in 200-m plots and without feeding, the fish final mean

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Table 3. Summary of mean fish growth, production and recovery data in ricefieldsintegrated with the aquatic fern azolla (Azolla microphylla) and mallard duck(Anas platyrynchos) from two trials.

I (RF) II (RFA) III (RFD) IV (READTrial I Trial 2 Trial I Trial 2 Trial I Trial 2 Trial I Trial 2

INITIAL1 Average Wt. (g) 13.96 13.66 15.29 15.00 15.34 14.23 17.26 12.63

2.Biomass stocked

(kg/plot) 5.04 3.68 3.93 4.03 4.91 4.08 4.73 4.08

3.Stocking density

(fingerlings/plot) 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300

B. FINAL1.Average Wt. (g) 38.00 26.73 48.02 32.62 77.13 68.89 84.67 84.24

2.Gain in wt. (g) 24.04 13.06 32.73 17.62 61.79 54.65 67.41 71.62

Day 0.29 0.16 0.39 0.21 0.74 0.66 0.81 0.86

3.Fish yield (kg/ha) 151.78 108.38 230.80 233.96 415.11 586.52 459.82 758.01

Net yield (kg/ha) -16.11 -14.17 99.72 99.51 251.44 450.82 302.15 621.91

4.Recovery (%) 49.56 42.89 60.67 74.00 72.78 87.67 71.00 92.67

Fingerlings (pcs) 801.00 1962.00 599.00 1692.00 1051.00 2258.00 262.00 446.00

Notes:

All figures above are means of three replicates per treatment. Area of one plot = 300 m2.RF=rice-fish; RFA=rice-fish-azolla; RFD= rice-fish-ducks; RFAD=rice-fish-azolla-ducks. Fish culture period = 83 days

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Table 4. Effects of the aquatic fern (Azolla microphylla) and mallard duck (Anas.platyrynchos) and their interaction on the growth, production and recoveryof the genetically improved (GIFT) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus )in integrated farming system in lowland irrigated ricefields in two trials.

TRIAL 1 (WET SEASON FACTOR A = AZOLLA FACTOR B = DUCKS A x B1995)

-Azolla +Azolla P -Ducks +Ducks P P

1. Average finalweight (g) 57.57 66.35 <0.05 43.01 80.9 < 0.001 ns(21.53) (21.04) (5.98) (7.43)

2. Gain in weight (g) 42.92 50.07 ns 28.39 64.6 < 0.001 ns(21.08) (20.22) (6.19) (7.68)

g/day 0.52 0.60 ns 0.34 0.78 < 0.001 ns(0.25) (0.25) ( 0.07) (0.09)

3. Fish yield (kg/ha) 283.45 345.31 ns 191.29 437.47 < 0.01 ns(156.81) (163.42) (103.75) (80.42)

. Net yield (kg/ha) 200.94 117.67 ns 41.93 276.78 < 0.001 ns(167.80) (156.93) (130.12) (83.01)

. Recovery((%) 60.89 65.83 ns 54.83 71.89 <0.01 ns(21.04) (25.29) (27.14) (13.78)

TRIAL 2 (DRY SEASON FACTOR A = AZOLLA FACTOR B = A x B1996) DUCKS

-Azolla +Azolla P -Ducks +Ducks P P

1. Average finalweight (9) 47.81 58.43 <0.001 29.67 76.57 < 0.001 < 0.001(23.36) (28.51) (4.16) (9. 47)

2. Gain in weight (g) 33.86 44.62 <0. 001 15.34 63.14 < 0.001 < 0.001

(23.02) (29.82) (3.62) (10.26)

g/day 0.54 0.41 <0.001 0.18 0.76 < 0.001 < 0.001(0.36) (0.28) (0.04) (0.12)

3. Fish yield (kg/ha) 347.45 495.98 <0.001 171.17 672.27 < 0.001 ns

(264.33) (289.18) (70.12) (105.64)

. Net yield (kg/ha) 6.55 10.82 <0.001 1.28 16.09 < 0.001 ns(7.72) (8.68) (1.92) (3.28)

. Recovery (%) 65.28 83.34 <0.01 58.45 90.17 < 0.001 < 0.05

(25. 67) (10.84) (18.37) (5.57)Note: Figures in parentheses are standard deviations.

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Figure 4. Effect of the aquatic fern azolla (Azolla microphylla) and mallard ducks(Anas platyrynchos) on the means weights of the genetically improved Niletilapia (Oreochromis niloticus ) at 20, 50 and 83 DAFS during the dryseason 1996 (trial2).

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Table 5. Mean fish yields (k/ha) in 83 culture days from four rice-fish culture systems inlowland irrgated ricefields conducted in two trials.

Culture system TRIAL 1 (wet season 1995) : TRIAL 2 (dry season)Fish yield Difference . Fish yield Difference(kg/ha) from control . (kg/ha) from control

(kg/ha) (kg/ha)Rice+Fish (RF) (control) 151.78 - 108.38 -Rice+Fish+Azolla (RFA) 230.80 79.02ns 233.96 125.58**Rice+Fish+Ducks (RFD) 415.11 263.33* * 586.52 478.14*Rice+Fish+Azolla+Ducks 459.82 308.04** 758.01 649.63**(RFAD)

Average of three replications per treatment. The LSD values for comparison in trial 1 are 159.41 kg/ha(P<0.05) and 241.49 kg/ha (P<0.01). In trial 2, LSD values are 64.70 kg/ha and 98.02 kg/ha ( P<0.05 andP<0.01, respectively). Two asterisks mean highly significant. ns = not significant.

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body weight was 36.5 g. With feeding and under communal rearing with Israel and Senegal strains of O.niloticu,s, final mean body weight obtained for GIFT was 80 g after 90 days. Survival rates were 46% and62%, in treatments without and with feeding, respectively.

The National Rice-Fish Culture Pilot Implementation Program during the period 1979 -1986showed that fish production from different rice-fish pilot projects in thePhilippines ranged from 115 - 208 kg/ha (average= 153 kg/ha) (Arevalo 1987). The fish used was an inferiorstrain of Nile tilapia which was reported to have slowed in growth due to inbreeding and intraspecifichybridization (Macaranas et al. 1986), hence, the reason for the genetic improvement of Nile tilapia resultingin the GIFT (Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) (Eknath et al., 1993). The LSD values for comparison intrial 1 are 159.41 kg/ha (P<0.05) and 241.49 kg/ha (P<0.01). In trial 2, LSD values are 64.70 kg/ha and 98.02kg/ha ( P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). Two asterisks mean highlysignificant. ns = not significant.

Results from on-station research showed that the yields (i. e., 108 - 152 kg/ha) we obtained for thegenetically improved (GIFT) Nile tilapia from the RF treatment (control) was comparable to the yields of theinbred strain of Nile tilapia reported from the National Rice-Fish Culture Pilot Implementation Program.Significantly greater yields were obtained when additional food was supplied in the system in the form ofazolla and spilled ducks feed. Barash et al (1982) as cited in Edwards (1986) reported that in ducks-fishintegrated farming system in ponds at least 10% of pelleted feed for ducks are spilled during feeding. Thegreater yields of GIFT tilapia found in this study are attributable to the manuring effect of ducks feces thataugmented plankton production. There was a highly significant correlation between the presence of duckstreatment and mean chlorophyll a (ug/1) concentrations in both ricefields and pond refuge (r=0.58 and r=0.59,respectively, P <0.01). Fish yield and ducks had a correlation coefficient of 0.95 (P<0.01).

C. DucksMean weights of the animals over 9 months of egg laying were 1.44 kg in RD, 1.43 kg in RFD, 1.45

kg RAD, and 1.46 kg in RFAD. At the start of the experiment, the weights ranged from 800 - 990 g. At thefirst month of egg laying, they weighed 1.39 kg in RD, 1.38 kg in RFD, 1.42 kg m RAD, and 1.53 kg inRFAD.

Tables 6 shows the laying percentages. Ducks started to lay eggs at 5 months old. The exact points oflay of the different treatments were as follows: 5.8 - 5.15 months in RF; 5.4 - 5.15 months in RFD; 5.9 - 5.18months in RAD; and 5.13 - 5.15 months in RFAD. Daily laying percentages of ducks were variable. Egglaying was greatly sensitive to change in weather and change in feeding rates from confinement and pasture.During confinement the feeding rate was 10% of the body weight whereas during pasturing feeding rate wasreduced from 10 - 30% of that given during confinement. Mean monthly laying percentages ranged from 27 -87% in treatment RD; 3- 87% in treatment RFD; 32 -81% in treatment RAD; and 28 - 75% in treatmentRFAD. Mean laying percentages during pasturing were higher in the treatments with azolla. During pasturingin December 1995, laying percentages ranged from 57- 76% in azolla treatments and 46- 51% in non-azollatreatments. In May 1996, laying percentages were 65- 72% in azolla treatments and 66 -70% in non-azollatreatments. During pasture, ducks fed on azolla growing in the field aside from the golden snails.

Overall mean monthly eggs production over a period of nine months (Table 7 ) totalled 1878 - 2024eggs in azolla treatments and 1886 - 1943 eggs in non-azolla treatments. Large (70 - 79 g.) and extra largeeggs (>80 g.) were more in azolla treatments whereas there were more medium size eggs (60 - 69 g.) innon-azolla treatments. Under traditional management practices, a duck can lay 200 eggs in 365 days of layingwith eggs relatively large in size (PCARRD 1991).

The percentage of eggs with embryo development ("balut") after 17 days of incubation ranged from27.33 - 88.57%. Low percentage of embryo development was

49

Table 6. Ranges and means of monthly laying percentages of mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos) in varioustreatments in integration with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the aquatic fern (Azollamicrophylla) in lowland irrigated ricefields.

Period RD RFD RAD RFADRanges Mean Ranges Mean Ranges Mean Ranges Mean

August 1995 3.03 - 3.03

September 1995 3.03- 51.52 26.63 3.03 - 39.39 18.48 3.03- 57.58 32.02 3.03- 57.58 27.67

October 1995 60.61 - 84.85 73.31 45.45 - 78.79 67.74 42.42- 93.94 74.58 48.48- 84.85 69.31

November 1995 42.42-75.76 61.31 39.39-90.91 71.92 33.33-81.82 62.63 30.30-84.85 65.20

December 1995* 12.12-90.91 46:04 30.30-84.85 51.22 9.09-84.85 57.28 54.55-93.94 75.66

anuary 1996 30.30-81.82 55.33 27.27-81.82 55.43 69.70-93.94 80.55 36.36-87.88 47.61

February 1996 72.73-100.00 86.73 75.76-96.97 86.94 60.61-90.91 75.86 48.48-84.85 66.35

March 1996 30.30-93.94 70.97 30.30- 100.00 81.92 36.60-93.94 76.25 36.36-90.91 70.38

pril 1996 60.61-90.91 80.61 63.64-87.88 77.21 63.64-100.00 80.61 60.61-93.94 77.17

May 1996* 48.48-84.85 65.88 0.00-87.88 69.50 51.52-84.85 71.75 39.39-87.88 65.20

Notes: Figures are means of three replicates per treatment. RD=rice-ducks; RFD=rice-fish-ducks; RAD=

rice-azolla-ducks; RFAD=rice- fish-azolla-ducks. *Pastured ducks in ricefields.

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Table 7. Summary of monthly eggs production of mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos) in integrationwith the aquatic fern (Azolla microphylla) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis hiloticus) mlowland irrigated ricefields.

RD RFD RAD RFADNo. of eggs produced (pcs)

August 1995 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00

September 1995 79.00 61.00 79.33 70.33

October 1995 250.00 230.67 254.33 236.33

November 1995 202.33 237.00 206.67 222.33

December 1995 * 157.00 173.33 195.33 258.00

January 1996 188.67 189.33 274.67 162.33

February 1996 276.67 277 67 242.00 211.67

March 1996 242.33 280.33 260.00 240.00

April 1996 266.67 253.67 266.00 254.67

May 1996* 223.67 239.00 245.33 222.33

Total 1886.33 1943.00 2023.67 1878.00

B. Eggs size (pes)

Very small/Pewee 1.67 6.33 3.00 3.67

Small 118.00 166.67 133.33 108.00

Medium 907.00 960.00 891.00 855.67

Large 835.33 785.00 953.00 871.67

Extra Large 24.33 25.00 43.33 39.00

Total 1886.33 1943.00 2023.67 1878.00

C. Eggs size percentage

Very small/Pewee 0.09 0.33 0.15 0.20

Small 6.33 8.58 6.59 5.76

Medium 48.47 49.41 44.03 45.61

Large 43.88 40.40 47.09 46.30

Extra Large 1.23 1.29 2.14 2.13

Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00Notes: Figures are means of three replicates per treatment. Mean number of animals pertreatment= 11 ducks. * Pastured ducks in ricefields.

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caused by setting eggs that were more than 5 days old and eggs that were wet. Salting percentages ranged from90- 98%.

D. Snail Control.Effect of ducks.A. Effect of ducks pasture on mean snails density before rice transplanting. Table 8 shows the mean

snail density in treatments with ducks consisting of 12 plots before and after ducks pasture. Mean snail densityafter ducks pasturing 30 -48 days in trial 1 and 36 days in trial 2 was significantly reduced (P<0.001). In trial 1,mean snail density in the ricefield before duck pasture was 8/m~ significantly reduced to 1/m2 after duckpasture. In trial 2, after duck pasturing the mean snail density in the ricefield was significantly reduced to lessthan 1/m' from an initial mean density of 17/m~ before ducks pasture. Higher densities of snail were observedin pond refuges compared to ricefields. Pond refuge snail density in trial 2 was also significantly decreased byducks from an initial mean level of 192/m~ to 18/m2. Duck pasturing for at least 30 days can effectivelyreduce the density of snails by 87 - 98%.

In both trials, the ducks seemed to be able to consume snails with shell height of less than 4 cm.However, ducks can also cause a reduction in snails with shell heights <5 and <6 cm, as shown in the resultsfor the trial 2 pond refuge. Large snails were pecked at by ducks and cracked leading to their eventual death.

Vincke (1991) reported that ducks are known to eliminate almost all snails in bodies of water likeponds with depth of 30 - 40 cm. In our study, the reduction rate of snails densities in pond refuge of more than90% clearly showed that ducks were able to eliminate snails even at 1-m depth. It was observed that somesnails also stayed along the sides of the pond refuge.

In summary, ducks effectively controlled the snails during pasturing before rice transplanting. Thereduction in snails densities using 12 ducks per 300 m2 plot ranged from 87 - 98% after at least 30 days ofducks pasture. Ducks pasturing during the rice culture period before rice panicle initiation did not reducedsnail abundance.Vega (1991) reported that 9 mallard ducks/100 m2 reduced snail production by 79 - 84% in 14 days of duckpasturing before rice transplanting. He added that the number of missing hills was lower by 35% comparedwith no-grazing treatment and it improved grain yield by 630 kg/ha.

Low snail density at rice transplanting is very important to ensure the good growth of newlytransplanted rice. Riceplants at 2 weeks after transplanting are most vulnerable to golden snail damage (Basilio1989).Young snails less than 1.5 to 1.6 cm in size are too small to feed on rice seedlings but larger snails( >5cm) can consume between 7 - 24 rice seedlings per day (Oya et al., 1986 and Yamanaka et al., 1988 as cited inHalwart 1994). Snails 2-3 cm at a density of 0.5 snail/m2 resulted to 6.5% missing hills whereas the highestdensity of 8 snails/m2 resulted in a 93% reduction (Basilio 1989).

From our study, mean densities of snails were significantly different between the ricefields and pondrefuges although there was a significant reduction in snail densities after duck pasturing for both. In ricefields,the mean snail density of all sizes after duck pasturing was 0.4 to 1.08/ m2 whereas in the pond refuge wasabout 18/m2. Snail from pond refuges may cause damage to newly transplanted rice. Pond refuges serve asplaces where snails congregate, because of their deeper water and food availability. Snails were also attractedto the azolla present in the pond refuge. In ricefields, snails also congregate where azolla is concentrated by thewind. These observations suggest that azolla may serve as a biological attractant for snails. This could beexplored as an aid to snail control

B. Effect of ducks on mean snails density after rice culture period. A comparison of mean snaildensities of various sizes in 24 plots (12 plots without ducks and

52

Table 8. Mean golden snail (Pomacea carualiculata) density (no./m2) in treatments wi th ducksconsisting of 1q plots before and after duck pasturing.

A. TRIAL 1 Snails density (no./m2) in ricefieldsShell height (cm) Before duck After duck Prob.

pasturing pasturing< 1 1.13a 0.08 b 0.00271- < 2 1.51 a 0.05 b 0.00052 - < 3 2.18 a 0.08 b 0.00043 - < 4 2.22 a 0.35 b 0.00054-<5 0.87 a 0.41 a 0.13785 - < 6 0.25 a 0.08 a 0.0923Total 8.23 a 1.08 b 0.0001

B. TRIAL 2 nails density (pcs/m²²)Shell height RICEFIELD POND REFUGE(cm) Before After Prob. Before After Prob.duck duck duck duck

pasturing pasturing pasturing pasturing< 1 4.05 a 0.01 b 0.0001 11.63 a 0.125 b 0.01991- < 2 7.40 a 0.05 b 0.0000 51.67 a 0.625 b 0.01092 - < 3 2.91 a 0.05 b 0.0001 60.58 a 0.290 b 0.00093 - < 4 0.97 a 0.12 b 0.0016 41.75 a 1.170 b 0.00064 - < 5 1.18 a 0.78 a 0.3501 25.38 a 10.33 b 0.03805 - < 6 0.57 a 0.53 a 0.5000 12.67 a 4.750 b 0.0199Total 17.08 a 0.37 b 0.0000 192.08 a 17.63 b 0.0005

Note: Figures are means of 12 replicates.

53

12 plots with ducks) initially before rice transplanting and ducks pasture and after rice culture period is shownin Table 9. At the start of the study (trial 1) mean snail densities of various sizes from ricefields were notsignificantly different and ranged from 8- 25/m2. After 90 days rice culture, plots without ducks had a meantotal density (all sizes) of 20/m2 which was not significantly different from 17/m2 from plots with ducks.However, a lower density of snails with shell heights 2 - < 3 and 3 - < 4 cm were observed in plots with ducksi.e. 3/m2 and 1/m2, respectively, compared to 8/m2 and 3/m2, respectively, in plots without ducks (P<0.05).All other sizes of snails were not significantly different in treatments without and with ducks.

After the rice culture period in trial 2, the total mean snail density of all sizes from the ricefields weregreater in treatments with ducks (24/m2) than in treatments with ducks (13/m2) (P<0.001). In pond refuge,mean snail densities were also greater in treatments with ducks (171/m2) compared to treatments withoutducks (75/m2) but lower in significance level (P<0.10). In both ricefields and pond refuges, snails (4 - < 5 cmand 5 -< 6 cm sizes) seemed to be greater in number in treatment with ducks than in without. Other sizes ofsnail were more abundant in treatments with ducks than in without but only the 1 - <2 cm snails in ricefieldand 3 - <4 cm snails in pond refuges were statistically different.

After 90 days of rice culture, treatments with ducks seemed to have no significant effect on the meansnail density, compared to treatments without ducks. The second pasturing of ducks for a period of 17 - 19days during rice culture did not seem to make any impact on the snail density observed after rice harvests.Snail densities increased then in both ricefields and pond refuges. Indeed, more snails were also observed intreatments with ducks than without. This may have been due to nutrient enhancement from duck feces in thepond refuge, which attracted more snails.

Effect of Nile tilapia.Mean snails densities (all sizes) after 83 days of fish culture were significantly, different. In trial 1,

treatments with fish had 10/m2 compared to 29/m2 in non-fish treatments. In trial 2, treatments with fish had18/m2 in the ricefield and 96 pcs/m2 in pond refuge, ricefield and pond refuge compared to 19 - 151 pcs/m2 intreatments without fish.

E. Primary productivity expressed as Chlorophyll aTable 10 shows the mean chlorophyll a concentrations from 6 biweekly sampling periods over a

90-day rice culture period in the various treatments. Mean chlorophyll a concentration in pond refuge was13.97 ug/1 compared to 9.32 ug/1 in ricefields. Mean chlorophyll a concentrations in pond refuge andricefields were highly positively correlated with ducks (r=0.59 and r=0.58, respectively; P<0.01). A highpositive correlation existed between the presence of duck and fish final size, weight gain and yield (r=0.93 -0.95;P<0.01). Chlorophyll a concentrations in the ricefield up to 35 DAT were highly associated with fish final sizeand weight gain (r=0.67; P<0.05). Azolla treatments did not seem tohave a significant effect on mean chlorophyll a concentrations.

F. Physicochemical characteristics of the soilTable 11 shows the preliminary results of the analysis of physico-chemical characteristics of the soil

collected from 0-10 cm depth in ricefields from various treatmentsin trial 1 only. The soil was clay consistingof 46% clay, 36% silt, and 18% sand. Initial soil pH ranged from 6.2 - 6.7; 2 - 2.4% organic matter (OM); 0.09- 0.12% total N; 14.7 - 32.3 ppm available phosphorous; and 103.3 - 137.3 ppm potassium . Initially, traceelements were as follows: 6 - 8 ppm Cu; 1.4 - 10.2 ppm Zn; 110. 8 - 178.9 ppm Fe; 52.2 - 105.2 ppm Mn. Theadequacy levels of N, P and K for rice growth are 2%, 5 ppm and 175 ppm, respectively (Recel 1990). Lowerlevels of K were found in the various treatments. After rice culture, soil pH ranged from 5.97 - 6.37; 0.93 -1.17%

54

Table 9. Mean density per m2 of various sizes of golden snails (Pomacea canaliculata) in trial1 arid 2 initially before duck pasture and after rice culture period in treatmentswithout and with mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos).

Shell height Treatment 1/ TRIAL I TRIAL 2(cm) Snails density Snails density

no./m2 no./m2Initial before After rice culture After rice culture periodduck pasturing period 2/

R i c e f i e 1 d Ricefield Pond refuge< 1 Without ducks 1.07 a 0.68 a 0.63 a 2.04 a

With ducks 1.13 a 1.05 a 2.92 b 13.08 a

Probability 0.9566 0.0015 0.0279 0.3687

1 - < 2 Without ducks 8.42 a 7.46 a 4.91 a 20.75 a

With ducks 1.51 a 7.40 a 10.13 b 59.04 a

Probability 0.212 0.9815 0.0209 0.3535

2 - < 3 Without ducks 9.67 a 7.73 a 4.17 a 30.92 aWith ducks 2.18 a 2.91 b 6.60 a 49.33 a

Probability 0.1928 0.0123 0.08 0.092

3 - < 4 Without ducks 4.70 a3.42 a 2.30 a 17.33 a

With ducks 2.22 a0.97 b 2.60 a 34.21 b

Probability 0.1848 0.023 0.6164 0.0101

4 - < 5 Without ducks 0.99 a0.80 a 0.66 a 4.21 a

With ducks 0.87 a1.18 a 1.33 b 12.63 b

Probability 0.8277 0.4192 0.0404 0.0008

5 - < 6 Without ducks 0.03 a0.01 a 0.01 a 0.17 a

With ducks 0.26 b 0.28 b 0.28 b 2.63 b

Probability 0.0122 0.005 0.0012 0.0003

Total Without ducks 24.88 a 20.13 a 12.68 a 75.42 aWith ducks 8.25 a 17.08 a 23.88 b 171.00 a

Probability 0.2428 0.4354 0.0005 0.1073

1/ Treatments without ducks = 12 plots; Treatments with ducks = 12 plots. 2/ Also thesnail density before duck pasture in trial 2. Rice culture period = 90 days.

55

Table 10 . Mean concentrations of chlorophyll a (ug/1) in ricefields and pond refuge

from various treatments with rice alone and in integration with Azolla

microphylla and mallard duck (Anal platyrynchos) during the

dry season 1996, Philippines.

Treatment ¹ Chlorophyll a (ug/1)²

Ricefield Pond RefugeI (R) 6.07(2.62) 5.19(1.43)II(RF) 9.72(4.04) 3.46(1.57)III (RA) 4.97(1.44) 7.75(2.68)IV(RD) 9.95(1.13) 13.50(2.04)V (RFA) 8.80 (3.24) 3.93 (1.69 )VI (RFD) 10.55 ( 2.86 ) 10.52 ( 5.04 )VII (RAD) 13.66 (4.19 ) 24.48 ( 16.24 )VIII (RFAD) 12.82 ( 4.39 ) 15.77 ( 5.84 )

¹ Three replicates per treatment.² Means of 6 sampling periods at biweekly interval over a 90-day rice culture period. Figures in

parentheses are standard deviations (±).

56

(OM); 0.08 -0.13% total N; 12 - 33.33 ppm available phosphorous; and 63 -90 ppm K. Trace elements were7.72 - 11.56 ppm Cu; 1.40 - 6.01 ppm Zn; 157.04 - 261.90 ppm Fe; 86.45 -139.86 ppm Mn.

Observed values of P and K contents of the soil in the treatments with azolla (28.8 ppm and 82.8ppm, respectively) were higher compared to non- azolla treatments (16.3 ppm and 71.4 ppm, respectively ).Concentrations of trace elements such as Zn, Fe and Mn were higher in treatments with azolla (3.5 ppm, 217.5ppm, 137.1 ppm, respectively) compared to non-azolla treatments (1.76 ppm, 205.7 ppm, 107.5 ppm,respectively).

SummaryRice yields were enhanced by fish, azolla and ducks and their interaction. Rice plants grown in the

treatments with combination of chemical and azolla fertilizers were observed to have more vegetative growth.The azolla cover that developed as a result of azolla that were not incorporated could have possibly minimizedammonia volatilization thereby conserving nitrogen in the ecosystem. This condition may have possiblycontributed to the development of more tillers and panicles. Higher rice grain yields were also observed intreatments with ducks. This was possibly contributed by the added nutrients from ducks feces. Ducks pastureduring the rice culture period in the first trial was observed to have caused some damage to the rice such asuprooting and broken tillers to the booting rice plants. This was not, however, observed in trial 2, when theducks were pastured earlier and confined before the panicle initiation. In the presence of fish in combinationwith azolla and/or ducks, rice yields were higher. Comparing the seven different culture systems with that ofthe control (rice monoculture), mean differences of rice yields were significant in the culture systems RFA,RFD, RAD and RFAD but not in RF, RA and RD.

Variations in the growth, yield and recovery of Nile tilapia were attributable to azolla and ducks.Larger fish were harvested after 83 days in, treatments with azolla and ducks compared to treatments without.It seemed that the effect of ducks on fish growth and production is greater than that of azolla. The interactionbetween azolla and ducks was, however, highly significant. From both trials, mean fish yield increase from thecontrol (RF) due to azolla (RFA) ranged from 79 - 126 kg/ha; due to ducks (RFD) ranged from 263 - 478kg/ha; and due to both azolla and ducks (RFAD) ranged from 308 - 650 kg/ha. Final mean weights of fish atharvest were: RFAD, about 84 ; RFD, 69 - 77 g; RFA, 33 -48 g; and RF, 27 - 38 g. Better growth andproduction of Nile tilapia was obtained in the presence of more food in the rice ecosystem:largely as azolla andspilled duck feed. Most notably, the manuring effect of ducks feces augmented plankton production. There wasa good positive correlation between the primary productivity expressed as chlorophyll a and ducks. However,the management of azolla growth in the rice-fish system, to have a good balance of natural food production inthe water column and azolla surface cover, was very important. Past studies have shown that azolla can beuseful to macrophytophagous fish like Nile tilapia not as a complete fish food but as a supplement to goodnatural feeds or as an ingredient in simple moist or dry feeds (Cagauan and Pullin 1994).

There was no clear effect of azolla and fish on duck eggs production. The mean laying percentagesduring duck pasturing were, however, higher in azolla treatments compared to non-azolla treatments. Morelarge and extra large eggs were observed in azolla treatments while more of the medium size eggs were foundin non-azolla treatments. Laying percentages of the ducks were affected by weather and the changes in feedingassociated with confinement and pasturing. Moreover, moulting ducks produced much less.

Pasturing ducks at least 30 days before rice transplanting clearly showed about an 87 - 98% reductionin mean snail densities in both ricefields and pond refuges. Generally, ducks seemed to be able to graze onsnails with shell height <4 cm. Snail densities were greater in pond refuges than in the ricefields. The meandensity of snails after duck pasturing was about 18/m2 in pond refuges and <1/m2 in ricefields. The pondrefuges,

57

Table 11. Mean physicochemical characteristics of the soil (0-10 cm depth) from ricefields integrated with Niletilapia(Oreochromis niloticus), Azolla microphylla and mallard duck (Anas platyrynchos) in trial 1(wet season 1995, Philippines).

Treatment Bulk density (g/cm3) pH Organic matter (%) Total N (%) Olsen P (ppm) K (ppm)Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final

I (R) 1.01 0.85 6.4 5.97 2.4 1.10 0.11 0.13 24.7 22.67 108.0 70.67II (RF) 0.98 0.97 6.7 6.37 2.1 1.00 0.09 0.10 14.7 12.00 109.3 77.33III(RA) 0.92 1.03 6.5 6.10 2.0 1.00 0.12 0.10 31.3 26.00 132.7 77.67IV(RD) 0.98 1.33 6.7 6.27 2.1 0.93 0.11 0.09 21.7 15.33 103.3 63.00V(RFD) 0.83 1.36 6.2 6.17 2.0 1.17 0.11 0.11 22.3 31.67 108.7 90.00VI(RFD) 0.96 1.04 6.5 6.27 2.2 1.00 0.09 0.08 24.3 15.33 106.3 74.67VII(RAD) 0.96 1.26 6.6 6.33 2.1 1.00 0.09 0.10 32.3 33.33 110.0 85.00VIII(RFAD) 0.90 1.11 6.3 6.23 2.0 1.00 0.11 0.11 26.0 24.33 107.0 78.33

Trace ElementsCU (ppm) Zn (ppm) Fe (ppm) Mn (ppm)

Treatment

Intital Final Initial Final Initial Final Initial FinalI (R) 7.9 9.14 1.4 1.98 178.9 261.90 75.5 104.42II (RF) 6.0 7.72 4.4 1.40 133.6 197.58 93.7 11027III(RA) 6.1 8.54 1.9 1.59 148.4 246.05 58.9 86.45IV(RD) 5.7 7.77 4.2 1.94 110.8 206.37 52.2 108.36V(RFD) 7.6 8.49 1.4 6.01 175.8 180.87 105.2 199.37VI(RFD) 6.8 11.56 5.5 1.72 116.7 157.04 66.3 106.93VII(RAD) 6.5 8.54 6.2 4.04 139.7 261.10 75.7 122.60VIII(RFAD) 8.0 9.66 10.2 2.16 168.7 182.00 92.8 139.86

58

particularly if azolla was present, seemed to be a suitable place for the snails to congregate because of morefood availability particularly. Higher snail density in a pond refuge than in a ricefield before rice transplantinghas implications for the use of ducks in snail control. Duck pasturing during rice culture, at least 30 DAT, forabout 17 - 19 days was not observed to be beneficial in snail control as the mean snail densities after riceculture period were enhanced, particularly in the pond refuge. The effect of fish on snail densities after the riceculture was not also statistically significant.

AcknowledgementsThe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, and the Catholique

University of Louvain, Belgium are greatly acknowledged for their funding supports without which theresearch project would not have materialized. The Freshwater Aquaculture Center, Central Luzon StateUniversity, Philippinnes is also aknowledged for giving its support in the form of facilities and repair costs ofequipment. Great appreciation is expressed to Dr. Roger S. V. Pullin who reviewed this paper. The authorsalso express their gratitude to the laborers who gave their best efforts and invaluable time to attain the goals ofthe research.

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Rice - fish - duck - pig production system in Vietnam

Nguyen ThienA, Nguyen Cong Quoc', Duong Xuan Tuyena andMassao Sasaskib

ª National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Thuy Phuong,Tu Liem, Ha Noi, Viet narn"Development Specialist (Livestock), FAO Bangkok, Thailand

Summary - Vietnam is an agricultural country with 12 million farm households that comprise $0% ofthe population. Farming is based on crops and animal production and although Vietnam has 6 million hectaresof' cultivated land and produces 24.5 million toncs of cereals, fanners' incomes are still low. This is partlybecause farmers do not yet know how to integrate rice and other food crops with ducks, fish with ducks andducks with rice, on lakes and ponds, in order to yield maximum benefit from each square metre of land. Withthe assistance of FAO, a trial investigation of different formulae for the duck with fish system have beencarried out in Vietnam. The results showed that integrated systems yielded three times the benefit obtainedwith non-integrated systems and from a rice field integrated with fish it was four times. With 11 ha of pondsand wet land, and by taking pig manure for fish culture, a harvest worth 35 to 40 million Vietnam dollars(VND) was obtained, as compared to only 10 million VND with rice cultivation only. It is clear that there isgreat benefit to be gained from the integration of fish cum duck, fish cum rice cum duck and pig cum fishsystems. There are, however, many problems to be solved: structure, the density of ducks per square metre ofpond, the number of fish and fish species per cubic metre of water, the depth of- the pond, the dimensions ofthe rice fields for integration with fish culture. The ecology of the duck-rice, fishduck, rice-fish andduck-fish-rice ecosystems has to be studied in order to fulfill the policy of transforming the structure ofagriculture production.

1. BackgroundVietnam is an agricultural country with 80% of the population engaged in crop and animal

production. Rice is the foremost crop and Vietnam has reached 24.5 million tones of' paddy cultivated on 6million hectares. Pigs are the most important livestock, followed by 128 million poultry, of which _50%n areducks. Despite this, the farmers' incomes (12 million households), based on rice and ducks, are still lowbecause the rice growing and duck rearing, ducks and fish, fish with ducks and rice and pig are not sufficientlyintegrated to make the greatest benefit from one hectare of land.

With the assistance of FAO (Rome), the National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH) has carriedout an investigation of an integrated system of ducks with fish used by 27 farm households in the region of HoChi Minh City and the VIGOVA Duck Breeding Fann which belongs to NIAH. The results of the research inthe above-mentioned 27 households show that the average area of land per capita on these 27 farms is only600-7M)m2 which could be cultivated with only one third of the labour available in the farm households. Thusthere are superfluous man-hours which is why the application of integrated systems with rice, fish and ducks isvery necessary for increasing living standards. This is also government policy for the agriculture sector at thepresent time.

Gardens and pondsVery few families have gardens of more than 10(X)mz and average is 400-500m2. These gardens arc

mainly used for the cultivation of fruit trees such as oranges, coconut, mandarins, etc. Similarly, pond of300-500M2.

Fish - duck integrated systernThe duck-rice integrated system is traditional in the area. Fish farming is also popular bur integration

of ducks and fish is a very new idea. Even in 1990 there was still the idea that such integration is not possiblebecause of' misapprehensions that ducks will eat the fish and/or

63

duck manure is poisonous and will kill the fish. For these reasons farmers keep fish and ducks separated.Since 1991, with the VAC (g4rden-pond-animal) movement, some farmers have kept ducks on their

fish pond and achieved results. The farmers have learned from each other and in certain areas the fish cumduck system is beconvng popular. Farmers are very happy with this integrated system and begin to realize thatit will increase their incomes. In the household surveyed, the income from fish comprised 20-22% of the total,the income from ducks 50% of the total.

In most of these fish cum duck systems the fish yield is in the region of 2. 5 -6.0 tones per hectare withvery few farms getting more than 7 tones per ha. Those which do achieve more than 7 tones per ha of waterarea have relatively favourable conditions such as being close to an animal products processing plant fromwhich they obtain such waste as shrimp heads, fish heads or cattle or pig manure with which to feed their fishand ducks.

In Taiwan the productivity of fish cum duck system has reached 15.5-18 tones per hectare of waterarea and in Thailand where it became popular, 9-10 tones per hectare.

The productivity of fish integrated farm system in Vietnam is still very low because such system arestill very new to the farmers. The farmers are implementing integration according to their present economiccircumstances, availability of pond and experience. Moreover, they have no scientific understanding of fishcum duck systems.

Moreover, information has not yet been collected which could be used to work out the most efficientways to implement these systems.

• Data is needed on:- Area, depth and pH of water that is suitable for an integrated fish-cum-duck pond;- The density of fish per unit volume of water;- Whether to harvest once or many time;- The density of laying ducks and meat ducks which can be kept per m2 of water;- What precautions to take against diseases which can occur when ducks and fish are integrated;

- The effects of the integrated duck cum fish system with vegetable crops and fruit trees.Some data is discussed below which derives from experiments aimed at providing some of the

information listed above.

2. Fish cum pig cum rice and vegetables at the NIAH, HanoiAt the National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Hanoi, an integrated system has been applied on an 11

ha area using fish with pigs (use of pig manure and waste water) and rice, vegetables and grasses for animalfeed.

2.1. Comparison of the pig herd arid the productivity of rice and fishThe data in Table 1 suggest that increasing the number of pigs not only increases the meat yield but

also that of fish and rice.

Table 1. Comparison of the pig herd and the productivity of rice and fish.

Pig Fish RuseNo Meat Area Yield Area YieldTime

(t) (ha) (t) (ha) (t/ha)1989 2340 160 10 90 2 71990 1850 124 10 75 2 71991 930 62 9 54 4 121992 450 28 9 54 4 12

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2.2. Comparison of the yield offish/depth o/' the water

Table 2. Comparison of economic efficiency between fish and depth of the water.

Depth Expr. Rate of different fish varieties (%)of water group Silver Grass Mud Common Tilapia

carp carp carp carp

Yield(t/ha)

1.2-1.5 1 60 5 20 5 10 101 20 5 10 5 60 12

0.8-1 1 40 5 15 5 35 62 20 5 15 5 55 8

From the data in Table 2 we can conclude that if only the manure and waste from the pigs is used thedeeper ponds have a higher productivity, that in the same area of cultivation the more tilapia we have thehigher the fish field, and that tilapia gave the highest yield followed by silver carp.

2.3. Comparison of the economic efficiency of fingerling and meat fish cultivation.Table 3 shows that in the same area of water, it is more economic to cultivate fingerlingsthan meat fish.

Table 3. Comparison of the economic efficiency of fingerling and meatfish cultivation.

Esp. group Fish product Productivity Value of product(VND)

Formula 1 Fingerlings 1.5 million 75 million VNDFormula 2 Meat 10t 50 million VND

2.4. Yield of a rice or vegetable crop combined with fishComparison of the economic efficiency of fish culture only with that of combining fish with one crop

of rice and one of vegetables on the same surface area (Table 4) suggests that the best value is obtained byintensive fish rearing alone but, because there is insufficient feed for the pigs and insufficient manure and feedfor intensive fish cultivation, it is best to use the system with formula 2 and/or 3.

Table 4. Comparison between different combinations of crops.

Value of productYield (t/ha)(VND)

Formula

CropSystem Rice Vegetable Fish

1 Rice only * 8 - - 9.6 million2 Rice and fish ** 3 - 3.5 21.1 million

3 Vegetable and fish *** - 70 4.5 29.5 million4 Fish only - - 8.0 40.0 million* All year round** one crop of rice and one crop of fish*** one crop of vegetable and one crop of fish.

2.5. Effect of cereal as supplementary feed on fish yieldTable 5 show that. if we add some cereal concentrate such as rice bran of maize meal as fish feed, the

productivity of the fish is increased.

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Table 5. The effect of cereal as supplementary feed on fish yield.

Form Feed Fish component % Fish yield(t/ha)

Silver Grass Mud Common Tilapiacarp carp carp carp

1 Pig manure 20 5 15 5 88 82 Pig manure + 10t 20 5 15 5 55 10

concentrate3 Pig manure + 15t 20 5 15 5 55 12

concentrate

2.6. General conclusions recommendationsAfter some years of experiments on 11 ha of ponds at AHRI, we can reach the

following conclusions:

1. The integrated system of pig cum fish and rice and vegetables is economic.

2. Of the various fish ratios tried we found that a higher proportion of tilapia and silver carp we obtained ahigher yield of fish. Grass eating carp, mud carp and common carp are needed in the system to make useof the food available in different levels of the pond but they need cereal concentrate on addition.

3. A study should be carried out to find the ratio and number of sows to fattening pigs suitable to particularare as of pond and low land for rice and vegetables for pig feed, in order to achieve the greatest efficiency.

4. The manure and waste from the piggery needs to be stored in a separate pond and then transferred to thefish ponds in order to avoid pollution and the problem of pollution needs more detailed study.

5. A search should be made for varieties of fish other than tilapia and silver carp because, although theirproductivity is high their quality is poor.

6. Study needs to be made of the most convenient layout for an integrated system of piggery, canal formanure and pig waste, water supply gate and drainage.

7. A proper plan should be made for fish rice in low lying areas because at the moment only rice is planted inthe lowest areas.

8. A study is needed on the use of mud and water from fish cum duck ponds as well as on the aquatic system,in order to increase recycling in these integrated systems.

3. Research at the VIGOVA duck breeding farm and small farm households3.1 Determining the economic efficiency offish cum duck system based on natural fish farmingLocation and timing:

- Location: Tu Binh Breeding farm, Gong Ong To, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.- Timing: 1/1/1993 to 31.7.1993 (7 months).

Animals for experiment:1. Duck: Crossbred laying duck (1/2 CV. Super M) in first month of laying.2. Fish: Kissing fish, mud fish, cat-fish and common carp.

Experimental arrangement; See table 6.The ponds were those normally used by the family having been deepened to more than

lm and a drainage system for changing the water installed. The pond water was analyzed in themorning when it was at its greenest.

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Table 6. The experimental pond arrangement at Tu Binh breeding farm

Fish species Pond 1 (area.°286 m²depth: 1m)

Pond 2 (area: 522m²depth: 1m)

Ftsh N° (head) Fish (%) Ftsh N°(head) Fish (%)Kissing fish 500 45.4 800 40Mud fish 500 45.4 1000 50Cat fish 50 4.6 100 5Common carp 50 4.6 100 5Total 1100 2000Density of fish (head/m³) 3.84 3.823Density of laying duck(head/m²) water surface)

0.4 No duck

The ducks were fed daily on the floor with shrimp heads and small shrimp (300 gr.), rice paddy (200gr. ), green vegetable (50 gr.) and premix (1 %), and the remainder was washed into the pond as fish feed.From 8 AM. to 10 P. M. the ducks were kept on the pond to provide excrement and at night they were kept ina dry clean shed so that the eggs were clean and easy to collect.

The fish in pond 1 supplemented the sweepings of the duck house with pond animals and waterplants. The fish in pond 2 had to rely entirely on natural food. At the end of the experiment the pond wasdrained and all the fish caught.

ResultsThe results of this experiment are shown in table 7, 8 and 9.

Table 7 . The growth and productivity of fish species in the ponds with andwithout ducks

Pond 1 - with ducks Pond 2 - without ducks

Average startingWeight at &hr)

5.79 5.62 17.3 18.1 40 40 27.1 28

Weight at 1 month 27.2 16.3 31.6 20.5 82 47.2 65.2 39.7Weight ht at 3 months 83.3 48.9 139.1 64.7 245.4 105 230 93.0Weight at harvest 210.0 87.9 560.0 120.0 420.0 150 690 180Survival rate % 42 45 34 30 69 59 19.2 17.0Productivity (kg) 44.1 31.6 95.2 36 14.5 8.8 6.6 3.1

Table 8 . Comparison of the productivity of the two ponds

Criteria Pond 1 Pond 2Productivity /m³ /7 months (kg) 0.56 0.15Total Production (kg) 160.4 79.5Tones/ha/year 9.6 2.5

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Table 9 . The reproduction performance of the laying ducks

Egg production in 7 months 14,555eggsAverage layiny rate (%) 60.8%Fertile rate % 80.6Hatching, rate/hatched egg (artisan methods) 59.8%Loss rate (%/month) 0.73

There is a significant difference between the body weights of the various fish in the two pond and itincreases with time. The productivity of the pond with ducks is 3.84 times as high as that of the pond withoutducks (9.6 tons/ha/year compared to 2.5 tons/ha/year). The survival rate of the fish in the two ponds is notsignificantly different which means that all kinds of fish considered organic matter (38.34 gr./litre in theexperimental pond compared with 1.37 gr./litre in the control). This organic matter is the main source of foodfor plankton and invertebrates in the bottom of the pond which are the main source of food for the fish. It isevident from the data in table 9 that the reproduction of the ducks is normal as was the growth of the fish(table 7).

Animals for experiment- Laying duck: Crossbred laying duck (1/2 CV. Super M) in the fourth month of laying).

- Fish: Kissing fish, silver carp, mud carp, common carp, cat fish.

Experimental arrangement: See table 10.Three ponds were stocked with five fish species and three densities of ducks. The feeding

arrangement for both fish and ducks were as in the previous experiment.

Table 10. Experimental arrangement to determine the most efficientdensity of ducks

Pond N Pond 7 (2157 m²; D:1,2 M) Pond 4 (2800 m²; D:1,4) Pond 5 (2085 'm², D:1 m)Fish den sit 3.96/ms 3.99/m' 3.96/msDuck densit 0.51/m 0.30/m 0.39/mFish species No % No % No %Kissing fish 1179 11.5 1900 12.1 978 11.9Silver carp 2640 25.7 4000 25.5 2120 25.6Mud carp 2877 28.0 4360 27.8 2310 27.9Common carp 1782 17.4 2700 17.3 1431 17.3Cat fish 1782 17.4 2700 17.3 1431 17.3Total 10260 100 15660 100 8270 100

ResultsThe results in terms of fish growth are shown in table 11 and the harvest in table 12.

Tables I 1 and 12 reveal that the growth rate of fish in pond 7, which has the highest density ofducks, is higher than ponds 4 and 5 and this results in a higher organic content than in ponds 4 and 5 (29.73mg O/litre, 23.47 mg/O litre and 20.8 mg O/litre respectively). This organic matter is the basis of the fish foodin the pond but the survival rate of the fish in pond 7 is lower than in pond 4 and 5 which may be a result ofexcess food in the ond. Pond 4, which has a duck density of 0.3/mz, has the highest fish productivity (0.62kg/m /7 months) although the body weight of the fish is smaller than in the other two ponds. At the time ofharvest the live weight of kissing fish is the highest (79% on average) while common carp and cat fish havethe lowest survival rates (7-19%).

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Table 1 1. The growth and survival of fish in three ponds of an integrated system with differentdensities of ducks

Criteria Kissing fish Silver carp Mud fish Common carp: Cat fish

Pond N° 7 4 5 7 4 5 7 4 5 7 426.3 5 7 4 5

Staring weight 5.8 5.9 5.8 12.0 13.4 15.2 18.3 21.2 19.72 29.2 157.2 30.1 44.2 46.0 43

Weight at 2

months

58.2 50.0 51.1 37.2 123.4 119.6 120.1 110.0 108.6 178.2 263.2 160.1 170.0 156.0 151

Weight at 4

months

133.2 120.1 118.2 190.2 188.1 174.1 150.3 141.2 146.6 281.3 630.0 260.0 260.1 263.2 250

Weight at harvest

(m)

220.0 190.0 200.0 437.0 399.0 405.0 590.0 520.0 550.0 700.0 17 680.0 480.0 440.0 430

Survival rate(%) 59 79 68 20 36 27 30 48 31 9 289 11 15 16 17

productivity (kg) 153 285 133 230 574 232 509 108.8 393 112 107 128 190 105

Table 12. The harvest of fish from three ponds supporting different densitiesof ducks

Pond N' Total fish harvested Fish harvested/m Fish productivity(kg) (7 months) (tons/ha/year)

7 1132 0.43 8.94 2426 0.62 14.85 970 0.46 7.9

The reproduction performance of the ducks is shown in table 13.

Table 13. The reproduction performance of ducks living at three different densities onintegtated fish pond.

Criteria Pond 7: pond 4 Pond5Egg productivity of 4 layingmonths (e la er)

75 85 78

Average laying rate (%) 62.5 71.0 65.0Fertile rate (%) 73.2 85.0 80.7Hatch rate/total egg %(artisan method)

52.4 63.2 62.0

Losing rate (%/moth) 1.3 0.97 1.0

Table 13 shows that the reproduction performance of the ducks in pond 4 (density 0.3/mZ) is thebest and of those in pond 7 the worst. This may be due to the greater amount of duck manure in pond 7providing an excess of organic matter which may have an unfavorable effect on reproduction of the ducks.The loss rate on this pond is 1.3 while on pond 4 it is only 0.97 %/month.

69

ConclusionThe highest fish productivity and the best reproduction performance of the ducks was obtained from

a pond with a depth of 1.4 m, a density of laying ducks of 0.3/m2 of pond surface and with a fish ratio of:Kissing fish : 12.1 %Silver carp :25.5 %Mud fish : 27.8 %

Common fish : 17.3 %

3.3. Determination of suitable fish density in ponds integrated with ducks.Location and timing

- Location: The Tran Tan Thuan duck. breeding farm, Giong Ong To, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.- Timing: 1/1993 to 31/5/ 1994 (5 months).

Animals for experiment- Duck: The laying crossbred ducks of (1/2 CV. Super M) in the second month of laying.

- Fish: Kissing fish, mud carp, common carp and cat fish.

Experimental arrangement: See table 14The feeding arrangements were as in the first experiment.

Table 14. Experimental arrangement to determine the most suitable density of fish

Pond N° (Pond 3 (2090m²; D:1m (Pond 9 (684m²; D:1,3m (Pond 10 (456m²; D:1,2mFish density 8.0/m³ 4.04/m³ 6.06/m³Duck density 0.43/m³ 0.41/m³ 0.43/m³Fish species Nº % Nº % Nº %Kissing fish 3191 18.9 700 19.4 682 18.9Mud fish 6828 40.5 1500 41.6 1343 40.4Common carp 5934 35.2 1200 33.4 1168 35.2Cat fish 878 5.4 200 5.6 181 5.5Total 16831 100 3600 100 3320 100

ResultsTables 15 and 16 show that the growth and production of fish from the ponds supporting different

densities of fish.

Table 15. The growth of fish and fish harvest from ponds containing different densities of fish

Pond Nº Kissing fish Mud carp Cat fish Common carp9 10 3 9 10 3 9 10 3 9 10 3

Starting weight(gr.) 5.75 5.88 5.81 19.1 19.8 20.3 43.2 41.1 42.2 25.8 24.3 26.2

Weight at 2 months(gr.)

77.9 50.3 35.9 120.3 106.3

71.1 169.2 143.2

101.3

183.2

155.3

107.2

Weight at harvest(5 months)

130 112 81 310 320 170 290 250 165 330 300 195

Survival rate (%) 45 53 39 30 37 31 71.2 58.5 57 21 27.2 18Fish production (kg) 40.9 37.2 100.7 139.5 159 395.7 741.3 26.5 558 83.1 95.1 30.

8

70

Table 16. Harvest and productivity of fish from three ponds supporting deferent densities of fish

Pond N Fish harvested(kg/m'/5 months)

Total production :(kg)

Estimatedproductivity

9 0.34 304.8 10.6910 0.59 317.8 16.723 0.50 1049.2 12.04

The productivity was highest in pond 10 with 6 fish/m3. The productivity in pond 3 was low becausethere was litte duck feed remaining, thus causing competition for food among the fish; survival rate in pond 3was only 18%v. In pond 9, although the body weight was larger than in the other two ponds, the survival ratewas lower than in pond 10 which may be due to the excess of food going into the pond.

Table 17 . The reproduction performance of ducks on three ponds at a density of 0.4m'

Criteria Pond 9 Pond 10 Pond 3Egg productivity of 5 layingmonths (e la er)

90 96.6 93

Average productivity 60.0 64.4 62Fertile rate-(male/female l%8) 78.6 82.1 83.3Hatch rate/hatched eggs (%)(artisan method

60.3 66.8 63.2

Loss rate (%/month) 1.32 1.11 0.91

Table 17 shows that the reproductive performance of the ducks was normal in all the ponds, but thatit was better in pond 10 than in pond 9 and 3.

Conclusions and recommendationsThe best results were obtained from the system which combined 0.4 laying ducks/m2 with an

intermediate fish density of'6/m3 consisting of kissing fish, mud fish, common carp and cat fish in a ratio of18.9%; 40.4%; 35.2% and 5.5% respectively.

Thus an experiment to determine the best combination of fish species should be carried out withdensities of 4 ducks/m2 and 6 fish/m2 which have proved to be most efficient.

3.4. Determination of optimum duck density for the production of meat on ponds integrated with fishLocation and timing

- Location: VIGOVA duck breeding farm, P 17 Go Vap, Ho Chi Minh City.- Timing: 1/1/1993 to 30/6/1993 (6 months).

Animals for experiment- Duck: The commercial CV. Super M duck from 1 day old.- Fish: Kissing fish, tilapia, mud carp, elephant ear fish, common carp.

Experiment arrangement; See table 18.The composition of the duck herd was: Duck of 7-20 days old 33.3%, 21-40 days old 33.3%, 41-60

days old 33.3%. The feed for duckling was: Paddy rice, shrimp heads and small shrimps, green vegetables,premix, mineral and some concentrate. Their water was changed every day. At the age of 1 week, the duckswere raised on a floor above the pond and all remaining duck food was washed into the pond as the onlyartificial fish food. The fish otherwise fed on pond fed and were harvested once at the end of the experimentwhen the pond was drained.

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Table 18. Experimental arrangement to determine the most suitable density of ducks rearedfor meat on ponds containing fish.

Pond N° Pond 1 (644m²; D: 1.4m) Pond 2 (546m²; D: 1.4m) Pond 3 (494m²; D:1.4m)Fish density 4.23/m³ 4.23/m³ 4.23/m³Duck density 0.40/m² 0.30/m² 0.20/m²Total duck numbers 2318 1471 889Tim of raising (days) 180 180 180Fish species Number % Number % Number %Kissing fish 1498 39.3 1280 39.5 1175 40.1Tilapia 467 12.3 402 12.4 362 12.3Mud carp 1485 38.9 1260 38.8 1117 38.1Elephant car fish 100 2.6 88 20.7 75 2.6Common carp 264 6.9 214 6.6 200 6.9Total 3814 100 3244 100 2929 100

ResultsThe results of this experiment are set out in tables 19, 20 and 21 for the fish and in table

22 for the ducks.

Table 19. The growth and survival of the fish species in ponds with deferent densities of' ducksgrown for meat

Pond N" Kissing fish Tilapia Mud carp Common carp Elephant eat fish1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Staring weight (g)

5.6 5.7 5.6 27.7 27.5 28.7 15.4 16.2 14.9 26.4 24.9 25.4 20.0 23.0 19.2

Wet at 1 month

33.9 38.5 3.6 3.16 67.2 84.6 50.0 58.5 3.1 - 39.0 57.3 87.5 90.7

Wet at 3 month

91.8 86.0 64.5 20.0 188.

2

190.

5

145.0 96.2 126.

6

- 77.2 - 198.

3

175.

0

210.

0

Wet at 6 month

125.

0

115

2

116

.6

335.

0

271

0

250.

0

166.7 143.3 135.

0

229.

0

262.

0

262.

0

500.

0

403.

0

400.

0

AfterexperimentSurvival rate (%)

96.1 100.

0

99.5 97.4 812

.8

64.0 81.6 92.5 97.6 25.3 32.7 35.0 32.0 42.0 13.3

Fish production (kg)

181.

1

147.

5

130

.6

152.

4

90.4 58.0 202.2 167.0 147.

3

15.4 7.0 16.1 16.0 13.0 4.0

Table 20. Comparison of the fish productivity in the three ponds

Criteria Pond I Pond 2 Pond 3Fish production/m /6 months (kg) 0.63 0.55 0.51Fish production at harvesting (kg) 567.1 424.9 356.0Fish production (tons/ha/year) 17.6 15.5 14.4

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Table 21. Comparison offish weight gain between the beginning and end of the experiment

Pond Kissing fish Tilapia Mud carp Common carp Elephant car fish1 22.5 12.09 10.8 9.01 25.02 20.3 9.78 8.8 10.50 17.53 21.0 9.71 9.0 9.92 20.8

Fish productivity was the highest in pond 1 which had a higher organic content than ponds 2 and 3providing food for the pond animals and plants on which the fish fed. The survival of kissing fish was thehighest 96.6-10n X70, those of common carp and elephant ear fish much lower. The growth rate of thekissing was also the highest (an increase of 20.3-22.5 times the staring weight).

Table 22. The growth performance of the ducks kept at different densities

Pond 1 (n = _5-54) Pond 2 (n = 370) Pond 3 (n = 3060X-MX CV% X-MX X-MX X-MX X-MX

GrowthNew born weight 54.2±0.82 8.3 55.1±0.87 8.7 55.5±0.84 9.3Weight at 15 days 334.7±18.2 23.1 341.5±19.7 20.5 323.8±10.9 18.4Weight at 30 days 954.0±19.8 18.1 1005.7±36.7 16.3 876.4±22.2 19.2Weight at 45 days 1974.6±19.8 12.6 1991.8±38.8 12.9 1710±49.9 15.7Weight at 60 days 258.4±44.2 12.2 2610.0±39.0 10.2 2580.0±38.2 9.1Survival rate (%)At 20 days oldAt 60 days ols1

98.197.4

98.098.1

99.098.0

The ducks in all ponds grew and developed normally and the differences in body weight at thedifferent time intervals were not significant. Ducks grown in fish pond have the highest survival rate(94.7-98.1%), which is a proof of their adaptability to integrated system.

Conclusions and recommendationsIt can thus be concluded that in a 1.4m deep pond, in which the water can be easily changed, and a

density of 4.23 fish/m' of water, with the species and ratio used in this experiment, a density of ducks at 0.4head/m' of water surface gave the highest productivity for meat and was more efficient than 0.2 or 0.3ducks/m2. A yield equivalent to 62 tons live weight of ducks/ha/year was obtained.

An experiment should be carried out with the same density of' fish and even higher densities of duckin order to determine the optimum stocking rate for obtaining the greatest efficiency and the highestproductivity of ducks.

3.5. Determination of the optimum fish ratio in a pond integrated with ducks Locationand liming

- Location: Sau Van duck breeding farm, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.-Timing: 1/1/1993 to30/7/1993 (7 months).

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Animal for experiment- Duck: The crossbred layer of CV. Super M in the first month of laying.- Fish: Kissing fish, mud Carp, Taiwan Tilapia, Common carp

Experimental arrangement: See table 23The arrangement of the fish stocks in three ponds was as shown in table 23.

Table 23. Deferent rations of fish species in the ponds

Pond No Pond Pond 2 Pond 3(4000 m²; D: lm) (4000 m²; D: lm) (4000 m²; D: lm)

Fish, density 5per m³ 5per m³ 5per m³Duck density 0.4 per m² 0.4 per m² 0.4 per m²Fish species Number % Number % Number %Kissing fish 8800 44 4800 24 2100 14Mud Carp 5200 26 9200 46 8400 56Taiwan tilapia 5200 26 3600 18 1500 10Common carp 800 4 2400 12 3000 20Total 20 000 100 20 000 100 15 000 100

The ducks were fed on the brick floor near the pond, receiving. a daily diet as in the firstexperiment and the remains of their food were washed into the pond to feed the fish which otherwise reliedon the animals and plants in the pond. The water of the ducks was changed every day. The fish wereharvested only once, at the end of the experiment when the pond was drained.

ResultsThe results of the experiment are out in tables 24, 25 and 26.Tables 24 and 25 show that:

- The fish productivity was highest in Pond 2 at 0.73 kg/m3 in seven months. The production of themost valuable fish (mud and common carp) was also highest in Pond 2. The price of mud carp, commoncarp, kissing fish and tilapia in August 1993 wws 8000, 12,000, 5000 and 5000 VND/kg respectively.

Table 24. Growth and production of' fish in an experiment to determine the optimum ration ofdifferent fish species in ponds integrated with ducks

Fish species Kissing fish Mud carp Tilapia Common carpPond No 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3Starting weight (g) 3.5

03.72

3.42

27.1

28.9

30.1

34.3

32.1

33.0

30.7

31.3

32.1

Harvest after 7months ofexperimentWeighHarvest (g)

150 180 213 480 490 410 212 232 300 320 210 170

Survival rate (%) 28 27 33 46 40 31.2

96 95 98 25 21 12

Fish production(kg)

258.7

233.3

3147.6

1148.0

1803.0

1074.2

1058.0

793.4

441 64 105.8

61.2

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Table 25_ Comparison of the dish productivity in the three ponds

Criteria Pond 1 Pond 2 Pond 3Fish production/m /7 months (kg) 0.63 0.73 0.43Total fish production (kg) 2528.7 2935.0 1724.0Fish Production (tonnes/ha/year) 12.6 14.6 8.6Tilapia .and Common_ carpProduction/W/7 months (kg) 0.30 0.47 0.28

-The higher the density of common carp the lower the survival rate and live weight. In Pond 3(density 20%) the average body weight was only 170g after seven months (although some had reached6(10-700g). In Pond 1 (density 4%) the average weight was 320g. This may be due to the competitiveability of common carp.

- Mud carp reached their highest body weights in the pond with the greatest quantity of organicmatter. For example, the mud carp gained 480 gin seven months in Sau Van Farm where the organic mattercontent is 20.93 - 23.478mg 0/l, whilst it reached only 147g in 6 months at VIGOVA Farm where theorganic matter content is 6-8 mg 0/ 1.

Table 26. The reproductive performance of ducks at a density of 0.4 per mZ

Criteria Pond 1 Pond 2 Pond 3Egg productivity of 7 laying months of'continuous laying (e g/female) 129 130 126Average laying rate (%) 65.0 65.3 61.1Fertile rate (male/female: 1/8) (%) 82.0 86.9 81.7Hatch rate/total hatched e s (%) (artisan method) 63.2 68.1 64.1Loss rate (9e month) 0.81 0.80 0.92

The data in table 26 indicate that the reproductive performance of the ducks 4vas normal but wasbetter in Pond 2 than in Pond 1 or Pond 3.

We can therefore conclude that with laying ducks at a density of 0.4 head per m' water surface andwith fish at a density of 5 per m3, then a fish ration following formula 2 as shown in table 27 will givehigher productivity than the formulae I or 3.

Table 27. Three combinations of fish species

Fish's species (%) Formula 1 Formula 2 Formula 3Kissing fish 44 24 14Mud carp 26 46 56Taiwan Tilapia 26 18 10Common carp 4 12 20

3.6. General conclusions and reconuneruiationsAlter seven months of the project on " fish cum duck in integrated system " at the VIGOVA

breeding farm and three farming households in the Ho Chi Minh city area we have con to the followingconclusions:

1. The fish cum duck system has clearly brought about economic efficiency.• Laying ducks grow normally and 500,000 pure and crossbred CV Super M can be produced

commercially on 1 ha per year. In this intensive farming system, 62 tonnes live weight of' ducks perhectare per year can be obtained with CV Super M breed.

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• From the fourteen ponds which integrated with ducks cum fish we obtained productivity equivalent to8-17 tonnes per year compared with only 2.5 tonnes/ha/year in ponds without i ntcgration.

2. Fish ponds integrated with ducks, such as the fourteen used in our experiments, which ranged from 286 to4000 m' in area and varied from 1 to 1.4 min depth, should carry from 0.3 to 0.4 ducks per mz of surface andfrom 4 to 6 head of various kinds of fish to give the best development and productivity of both ducks and fish.3. The different species of fish feeding in different layers of the water depth to obtain high productivity fromthe pond, their ration should be roughly:

Kissing fish : 24 %Tilapia (or Taiwan tilapia) 18%Mud carp : 46%Common carp : 12%

Of these species, the kissing fish, tilapias and mud carp gave the highest productivity. Other species,such as common carp, silver carp, elephant ear fish or cat-fish can be reared in integration with ducks but theirproductivity is still low.

Since this study lasted only seven months in a linuted area and the experiments have only been carriedout once, the above conclusions have to be preliminary and there is a need for further studies on:

4. Repetition of these five experiments over a larger area in the provinces west of the Mekong Delta.

5. Study in ponds and lakes of various depths of various densities of ducks and fish to achieve different scalesof production suitable for different farming households.

6. Studies of the growth performance of different species of fish and different harvest times in fish cum ducksystems.

7. Studies to improve the survival rates of valuable species of fish such as common carp and elephant ear fishso that they can be integrated into a fish cum duck system.

8. Studies on the hygiene of the pond or lake to prevent diseases of fish or ducks.

9. Studies on a pilot demonstration of duck cum fish cum rice and also duck cum fish cum fruit trees and greenfodder for animal feed.

10. From one hectare of rice we can get 5 tonnes of paddy rice x 1000 VND/kg = 5 million VND. If weintegrated this with fish or ducks we can get 500,000 commercial ducks or 62 tonnes live weight of ducks peryear.

Comparing the economic efficiency of this:- 1 ha rice gives: 500 kg x 1000 VND/kg = 5,000,000 YND which at 5% profit = 250,00

VND/ha/year.- 1 ha of duck cum fish integrated system gives 10 tonnes of fish/ha/year x 6000 VND/kg = 60,000,

VND, of which 50% is profit then we have 30,000,000 VND.If we raise laying ducks on 1 ha/year we will have:500,000 ducklings x 2500 VND/head = 12,500,000 VND, of which 10% is profit= 1,250,000

VND/ha/year.If we raise meat ducks (CV Super M breed) we will have:

62 tonnes of live weight x 9000 VND/kg = 558,000,000 VND, of which 5% is profit=28,000,000 VND/ha/year.

76

Integration of livestock-fish farming system in China

Youchun Chen

Institute o, f Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Haidian, Beijing 100094, China

IntroductionIntegrated farming system, started as livestock-fish integration, was recorded as early as beginning of

Ming dynasty about 800 years ago. When the population was going up the bi- or tri-commodity approach oflivestock-fish or livestock fish-crop integration was the agriculture systems of production at populationdensest area. In the early time this system also had big influences on agriculture systems in Southeast and

South Asian countries.The integrated approach boosting up agriculture yield per unit of land, which is economically

profitable and practically feasible, has been prevalent for long time and still has life today. China is famous for

its capacity of feeding more than 22% of world population on its one-seventh of world arable land, butChinese population is on its high growing rate, 1.3%, or more than 15 millions a year, the land for agricultureis decreased as much as 300 thousand of hectares a year. China faces a big challenge on continuing decreasing

arable land per capita. Nowadays the farmer system of production responsibility in rural area is main form offarming, the integrated systems are high in its favor. Various integrated systems of animal production aredeveloped, among them for example paddy-fish system takes 0.85 million of hectare in China, others, such as

pig-vegetable integration, are developing.One of the classical Chinese system of integration is duck-fish combination, the basic fish species for

polyculture are silver carp, bighead and grass carp etc., along with improving living standard last years in both

urban and rural places new species (catfish, river-eel and others) are introduced.Grain, including residuals of crops, is key biomass for integrated system, so manure of animals is

indispensable for efficient fertilization of soil. Methane productions become popular in rural area due to its

cheap cost of energy supply, in the integrated system it has great meaning. This paper presents information onsituation of integrated farming in China.

Variants in Plant-animal Farming Systems for Individual Farmers in ChinPaddy-fish integration

There is a hearsay that paddy-fish system has started in southern Shannxi province. It is now developed

where rice production is the main crop of grain. There are mainly two types of paddy constructions, one iswith fish ditch, other is without it. The average fish yield is 280 kg per hectare and maximum is 750 kg/ha forfirst type, and 225 kg/ha in average and 600 kg/ha in maximum for second type. If manure and slaughter

wastage are utilized for feeding the fish, fish production may be raised to 75 000 kg/ha. Incomes wereaccounted for 60 thousand yuan (7000 US $)/ha in average. An experiment in Neijiang county Sichuanprovince shown, that 15 000 fingerlings put in pond per hectare in March may crop 8 000 kg of market fishes

in July, 80 thousand yuan of incomes were gained. Paddy system is a traditional operation in China, easy topopularize among farmers. In average paddy fish's yield was 243 kg/ha in China. Key elements in this systemare fish species choose and appropriate feeding for either herbivorous or carnivorous species and at different

ages of life. It was accounted that among 20 million hectares of paddy field the paddy-fish system took 0.853million ha, form

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which 0.21 million tons of fishes were cropped in total in 1994. In comparison with figures in 1993 each of

these was increased for 54.3 thousand ha and 21.5 thousand tons, respectively.Duck-fish integrationDuck-fish integration is the most popular form of integrated farm system, in full meaning it is

duck-fish-rice integration. Emphasizing the duck production, fish is the products of subsystem. From some

empirical experiences in province Fujian ,utilizing river side the stocking rate of ducks is 1300 per hectare ofwater surface. Each duck supplies 30 kg of manure, in turn may yield 2 to 3.5 kg of fish, 2.8 kg in average.Jingdin duck is able to lay 180 eggs a year. Such a model allows farmers to get 702 thousand yuan from eggs

and 29 thousand yuan from fish per ha. If net income from eggs is half of the gross income, then the fishesgive full net income, which means 10% more increases of net income from fish crop. Emphasizing the fishproduction stratified fish rising in pond is popular. In China four types of carp: the silver carp

(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), herbivorous, the big head (Aristichthys nobilis), herbivorous, white amour(Ctenopharyngodon idella), carnivorous, the common carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), omniverous have beenpolycultured and traditionally integrated with livestock, namely ducks and pigs. Owing to the feeding habits of

these carps this type of farming to be adopted through out all country.'Duck manure directly benefits thebacteria and algae: Heavily wasted-fed rivers or ponds have higher phytoplanton and zooplanton counts andmore productivity in comparison with control water ponds.

Heavily manure-fed water ponds have poor light penetration, but supply more feed to the fishes of alleating habits. According to P. Edwards bacteria may constitute at least 1-5% of the dry weight and provideprotein rich feed to the fishes, Aggregates from 6-20 pm can be trapped by zooplanton, these from 21-60 pm

by silver carp and these from 61 pm and greater by big head carp. This food chain benefits the growth offishes, Reported that 12 to 20 tons per hectare of fish products were usually harvested. In addition to manurewasted duck feed are simultaneously rinsed and swept into water ponds, also grasses feeding for later phase of

fishery gave benefits to larger fishes, then productivity may be improved even better. Poor light penetration ofpond is associated with poor water environment, where the dissolved oxygen, free ammonia etc., is supposedto have a direct adverse effect on fish growth. But such an environment may be tolerable for fishes, scarcely

information is told on loss of fishes. Some times bighead is suffered from environment stress, all kinds ofoxidation may give benefit to later life stage of fishes. Duck-fish operation is suitable for family household andenterprise as well.

Modern market asks for better quality of fishes, that brings up a new question, requires new variety offish. Silver catfish, tilapia, river ells were popular to urban citizen and introduced soon.

Bottom soil, usually good fermented mud is cheap fertilizer for rice field. It would be digged out and

used each year from heavy loaded ponds, and two or three years for less heavily loaded and commonintegrated ponds.

Pig-fish or pig-duck-fish integrationPork in China takes more than 70% of meat consumption, in agriculture area it takes more than 80%. In

stead of duck, pig may fully or partially takes part in integration. From the experiences each hectare of watersurface needs 110 pigs and 320 ducks in order to have enough excrement to feed the fishes. Feeding rate of thefish is accounted for 480 to 640 pieces of fingerlings, among them big head and silver carp take 35%, common

carp takes 50%, crucian carp 10% and others' 5%, and pearl oysters are fed regarding to market demand. If so13 000 to 16 000 of oysters to be under floating feeding and 48 000 of them to be the

78

basket bottom feeding. The water penetration must be kept at 30 cm of depth, pH at 7-7.5. If it is not a river

pond then fresh water is necessary to add 3-4 times a month in summer .In this model input-output ratio is 1:3as usual and 1:5 at maximum. Each hectare of water surface gains 800 thousands of yuan of income with verygood ecological effect. This model is suitable for collective and state units, but is hard for private sectors.

Pig-vegetable integrationPig and vegetable are integrated through methane and green house operation. A 10 m width and 40 m

length green house need dung from a 4-5 person's family and 3 pig's feedlot, that can meet the cot supply andenergy for heating in winter. Mechanic ways of coz supply need big input that offsets the benefit and is

impossible at power shortage regions, a methane generating pit constructed by having 8 to 10 cubimeters isenough to operate a 400 square meters green house. And 4 to 6 ovens in a green house are necessary to warmthe house in winter, the same time this amount of cot gas is enough for photosynthesis of plants. It was

reported that 3 to 4 rotational crops of vegetable in this size of green house were capable to earn 12 000 yuan ayear. This kind of integration is developing in northern China, where vegetable products are under the batchprocesses. Again it is an empirical model, but very easy to learn by private farmers.

Chicken-pig integrationA traditional grain producer may have a pigstay with chicken coop at top, drooping and wasted feed is to

be fallen into pig manger. This is a self-sufficient or more than sufficient farming, which is reasonable atundeveloped area, but lack in meaning of commodity production. In other side large chicken enterprises try to

process droppings into feed for cattle, pigs and chicks. In a broad sense it is belonging to integrated farming,but out of the management of an enterprise operation. Today there is no research and observation to claim itsparameters for references. Even though it is necessary to say, that China, having 2692 millions of chickens, is

capable to process 80 million tons of droppings a year. In comparison with 103.5 million tons of feedproduced in whole China the dropping processing is quite meaningful.

Others

Beef industry is a new area that is boosting last ten years. Among 119 million cattle there are 30%developing into beef production system. Some designs are considered to have cattle integrated with fish andpoultry as well. Some big feedlots that have more than four thousand cattle need integration for increasing

benefits and for improving environmental protection. It is a welfare cause and undertaking being early or lateto be operated, so it's better to do it earlier, An estimation shown that from about one hundred millions ofcattle in China the potential manure production was 990 thousand tons. It equals to 14.52 million tons of

standard chemical fertilizers, but is under poor utilization.

Development of animal production and role of integrationLast ten years animal production got great achievement, in 1994 meat production reached 44.99

million tons, 213.0% as high as that in 1986, milk production reached 6.09 million tons, 183.3% as much as

that in 1986, aquatic production reached 21.46 million tons, 262.6% as much as in 1986, among which seaaquatic production was 12.41 million tons, and fresh aquatic products were 9.05 million tons, with paddy fishproduction in amount of 0.21

mHlion tons 4see Table 1).

79

Table 1 Animal production in China

1986 1989 1994

mil. Tons mil. Tons % mil. Tons %

Meat 21.12 26.28 24.4 44.99 213.0Milk 3.32 4.19 31.3 6.09 183.4Aquatic 8.3 11.5 39.8 21.46 262.6

sea aquatic 4.7 6.6 39.1 12.41 264.0

fres. aquatic 3.5 4.9 40.1 9.05 258.5paddy fish - - - 0.21 * -

* within fresh aquatic production.

The paddy fish products increased in 11.6% in 1994 compared with that in 1993, although the totalamount took only 1% (0.21/21.46 in million tons). The leading provinces in paddy-fish farming are provinces:Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou and Helongjiang as well.(see Table 2).

Table 2 Rice-fish integration in 1994

marketing fish seed fish kg/hafield (thous,ha) field (thous.ha)

China 853.15 199.38 243Sichuan 319.88 59.52 263

Hunan 150.41 76.31 168Guizhou 96.70 12.99 120Helongjiang 91.70 7.55 150

fish yield per unit of area in paddy integration was not high in above provinces, but high in the followingprovinces: Hainan, Jiangsu, Hubei and Tianjin. The fishes yield were 3950, 1899, 1319 and 1055 kg/ha,respectively in 1994.

Except rice-fish integration having statistical estimation of aquatic yields, no account is available forother systems of integration. Animal products from duck-fish and pig-fish integrated farming possess highposition in various kinds of integration. If land and water surfaces under jointed utilization are meaningful the

fish production must be integrated with pork at first, then poultry meat and beef production in China, Thesituation of meat production in 1994 may demonstrated this possibility(see Table 3).

Table 3. Chinese meat production in 1994 (million tons)

pork beef mutton poultry rabbit total

National 32.05 3.27 1.61 7.55 0.23 44.99Sichuan 4.81 0.15 0.06 0.62 0.04 5.69.Shandon 2.24 0.62 0.03 1.44 0.08 4.76Hunan 2.67 0.04 0.01 0.23 0.008 2.95

Guangdong 1.77 0.06 0.002 0.95 0.002 2.78Jiangsu 1.82 0.04 0.01 0.71 0.003 2.73

Pig farms tend to be of large scale today. A pig combination based on 200 and more sow needs big

manure processing system, fish integration is a way out, in this case river and canal network must be available.Methane generating is an other way out. Both are started with new

80

large pig combinations, but all of them are in area of grain production, Increasing grain productivity is things

important, where population grows fast, then pig-fish integ: ation is a turn for a favorable use of grain and itsbyproducts. The provinces mentioned at table 3 are just the populous area. Grain production and pig-fishintegration not come single but in pair. Both together are answering the challenge from population growth.

The necessity to strengthen integrated farming system studyIn spite of the fact that in China annual four-month training courses for integrated fish farming have

been organized by The Asia-Pacific Regional Research and Training Center for fish farming since 1981, basedon this field a textbook on the subject: " Integrated Fish Farming in China" was published in 1989, scientific

researches here in China are found out necessary, because all the practices are mostly empirical. If Chinesepractices supply data on management model and culture techniques well, then data on physic-chemicalenvironment and livestock-fishes nutritional recyclings are not worth mentioning. Element's pathways

including carbon, nitrogen and energy between livestock, aquatic organism and microorganism in both waterand manure are necessary to be studied, which are far from enough in China. International exchange onresearch materials must be placed on the agenda of Chinese integrated system research project that is not

emphasized enough. Publication of a monograph on this field may promote the level of operating Chineselivestock-fish integrated farming. It is a welfare favoring human beings.

From the technical point of view the following aspects are need to consider in research project, for

example the collection of waste, the environmental safe manure disposal, the methane generation facilities,economies and system analysis in integration, economies of size in livestock waste management, marketrequirement on new kinds of animal products from related species, and the new polyculture combinations etc.

ConclusionIntegrated farming has traditions in China. It boosts up in last two decades to meet the new market

requirement on different food products. Though a lot of empirical experiences were accumulated and proposed

for international training courses on integrated systems the researches on integrating mechanism would be stillnecessary. Information exchanges are very helpful and useful to improve the integrated farming in China.

References

Edwards. P., 1991. Integrated fish farming INFOFISH. International 5/91; pp.45-51.FAO. 1983. Freshwater aquaculture development in China, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 215,

FAO, Rome, Italy, p. 124

NACA, 1989. Integrated fish Farming in China. NACA Technical Manual 7. NACA, Bangkok,Thailand. p 278.

Wan Y.-H. 1996. Fish-oyster-pig duck integrated feeding technical. Rural farming technical. 1: 30 (in

Chinese).Wu Z.-W. 1996. Paddy-fish ecological system and technology for high productivity. National Symposium on

"Inquiring into Chinese agriculture development 2000 year. pp. 339-342.

(in Chinese).

81

Community-based animal health and production inAfghanistan -- a delivery system

A.B. Mehrabana, T. Barkers and D.E. Ward'

FAOIUNDP Integrated Animal Health and Livestock Production Programmein Afghanistan (AFG1931004), Islamabad, Pakistan

b Animal Health Service, Animal Production and Health Division,Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),

viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy

IntroductionThe keynote paper and others characterize Asian livestock production systems and policy in general

terms. Other papers describe research results from specific technologies in specific livestock systems. This

paper will only present initial results of specific interventions aimed at raising livestock production and foodsecurity. The paper will primarily describe the evolving repertoire of animal health and livestock productionimprovement services and how they are delivered in Afghanistan. This is an appropriate topic for this joint

seminar on integrated systems in the Asian region.It is self evident that new or improved technologies need to be extended -- or delivered -- to our clients

who are the livestock and crop farmers. Afghanistan today is in the fortunate situation, although some would

view the country as in a disastrous state, in two regards. The first is, that as long years of war have destroyedthe functional capacity of the central government, the opportunity arises to rebuild agricultural productionsystems using modern technology and along sustainable lines. The second is that, for both the livestock and

crop sectors, the concept of user-pays -- but tempered with subsidies for the public good -- is catching on andleading toward a sustainable system for delivery of services. No one would wish that countries replicate theagony suffered by the Afghans in order to follow the above path. This certainly is not required. However, the

establishment of a user-pays system of livestock services delivery is so unique in international developmentcircles that it is fully justified to present highlights to you during this seminar.

During the seminar a number of graphs, maps and tables will be presented which, because of

restrictions on space, cannot be included in the paper. Quantitative results will be published in the future.

Livestock Services Prior to 1978Afghanistan is a land-locked country with an area of 650,000 km'. It is a land of extreme climate

characterized by temperate higher elevations and lower dry to arid zones. Three quarters of the land area

supports only extensive grazing in mountains or deserts, while the 5 % of land area which is the irrigatedvalley floors produces 85 % of all agricultural output. In 1978, the last year of peace, the country was largelyself-sufficient in food for a population of 18 million people and was a significant exporter of agricultural

products, notably dried fruits, cotton and silk.Livestock raising represents a major component of the agricultural economy. The farming systems in

Afghanistan are mainly traditional, in most parts of the country oxen are used for traction, milk and meat. The

livestock owning population are divided into two main types: sedentary farmers and nomads or semi-nomads,known as Kuchies. Most sedentary farmers keep 1 to 3 milking cows for household milk supplies, and theygenerally own between 3 and 10 sheep. A large proportion of the national herd, particularly sheep, goats and

camels, are owned by the Kuchies who manage flocks of 200 sheep and upwards per family. Governmentestimates of

83

livestock numbers (1978) were 3.3 million cattle and buffaloes, 24.7 million sheep and goats and 5.7 million

poultry. In 1995 the FAO/LJNDP Animal Health and Livestock Production Programme (the Programme)completed a ground census in 169 (52%) of the districts in Afghanistan. Totals were 2.1 million cattle andbuffaloes (the vast majority being cattle), 18.9 sheep and goats and 6.7 million poultry.

Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform, livestock services were divided into twodepartments, Veterinary Services and Animal Husbandry. The main activities of the Veterinary ServicesDepartment were vaccine production, disease investigation and management of 79 veterinary clinics at

provincial and some district levels. Veterinary services, including vaccination of livestock, was provided freeof charge, although farmers frequently offered payment in order to gain priority. Artificial insemination, andstate poultry, dairy and Karakul sheep farms were financed by the government under the Animal Husbandry

Department, mainly for research and demonstration purposes.

Background of the Present Livestock ServicesIn 1989, after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United Nations and other international

organizations started emergency assistance in different sectors including agriculture. An animal health

component was started in the southeast which gradually expanded to the other parts of the country. Thespectrum of services offered was similar to that of the former government assistance to the farmers, i.e. freeveterinary services and supplies to livestock owners and full salary for the livestock workers who provided

these services. However, only services that could be construed as emergency were funded by the internationalcommunity. No development or support to infrastructure was envisaged under these early programmes.

In this climate of emergency aid, with the emphasis on increasing food production and providing a

livelihood for returnees, a community-based basic veterinary service was born in order to provide primaryhealth care to livestock through preventative vaccination, drenching against parasites and simple treatments. Atthe same time, as a result of reductions in funding which was foreseen, a system was developed in which

veterinarians and associated staff became more and more self-sustainable.

Veterinary ProgrammeBetween 1989 and mid-1994, two types of veterinary programmes were being developed, both funded

by UNDP primarily but also by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In northernAfghanistan old government clinics and laboratories were rehabilitated and vaccinators trained at provincialand district levels under FAO management and within the local government service. The farmers were,

however, expected to pay for medicines and vaccinations because even then funds were limited and self-sustainability was being sought. Village vaccinators derived their entire income through the sale of veterinaryremedies, vaccines and services. This was however a sustainability within the former government structure.

At the same time in the south, UNDP/Office for Project Services (OPS) was developing the concept ofveterinary field units (VFUs) based on administrative districts. International and Afghan NGOs, later calledImplementing Partners (IPs), were contracted to provide logistics and training. Afghan NGOs were staffed

largely by former employees of the government's technical ministries, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture.Ideally each VFU consisted of a veterinarian, two paraveterinarians and between 5 - 10 basic veterinaryworkers (BVWs). The VFUs were expected to become an autonomous system aiming toward eventual

self-sustaining veterinary private practices. This was slowly brought about by a user-pays policy that startedwith the progressive reduction in the subsidy on medicines and the introduction of a service charge forvaccinations and treatments. In mid-1994 subsidies on medicines were reduced to zero. This is now being

followed in 1996 by reduction of subsidies for selected vaccines.

84

In order to expand the outreach of clinical veterinary services to the more distant villages, literate

farmers were selected from those villages to be trained as BVWs. They were trained in basic livestock healthand management for one month and at the end of their course they were supplied with a start-up kit ofmedicines and equipment. The BVWs receive no direct financial support from the programme other than the

training, the start-up kit and a bicycle (as an incentive for the most active ones). They provided basic animalhealth care to farmers in villages and they generated income from profits on medicines and from fee forservices such as vaccinations and treatments.

Livestock ProductionReaching the farmer, trying to help the livestock production effort on the ground and trying to help the

veterinarians of all grades to develop a sympathetic approach to farmers led to the development of anextension arm within the Programme. Initially this took the form of a conventional Extension Agent funded

through the NGOs but this was changed to a detailed and focused training in participatory rural appraisaltechniques under a programme called Animal Health and Production Improvement Module: Afghanistan (seePIHAM below).

Poultry production support has taken the form of encouraging chicken rearing entrepreneurs to expandtheir farms to provide fertile eggs and then to support them in the training of village men and women,particularly widows, to run locally manufactured kerosine incubators, to incubate, raise and sell both chicks

and eggs in their villages where such commodities have, in many cases, completely disappeared. In this casethe entrepreneurs are the IPs.

PIHAM - Animal Health and Production Improvement Module: AfghanistanTwo factors have come together which led to the creation and support of PIHAM: the need for

extension to improve animal production on the farms, and the poor attitude of the veterinarians in theirapproach to farmers. It so happened that a generic module of what was known as AHPIM: Local was being

promoted by FAO using Regular Programme funds. This is now being adapted for Afghanistan.The PIHAM training is based on a seven-step monitoring cycle. Training consists of five modules of

about a three-week didactic training course in each module followed by supervised and unsupervised, but

monitored, field work lasting about six weeks. The full course therefore takes about nine months. Initiators aretrained in carefully directed participatory methods and will focus on key indicators -- birth rates, mortality andchange in herd/flock size -- which were selected after an analysis of livestock systems in Afghanistan. PIHAMtechniques will help farmers and VFU staff communicate better and allow the Programme to assess the impactof health care delivery and production improvements at the village level. Initially production improvementswill come from within the community through the transfer of knowledge from the more successful to the less

successful farmers.The Programme is now training 12 initiators who make up six pairs -- a livestock production graduate

paired with a veterinarian. Two of the initiators are women who are also a professionally trained pair. As yet it

is too early to say exactly what impact this is likely to have on Programme results but the initial response ofboth the initiators and the farmers with whom they have been in contact has been extremely positive. Weexpect that in years two and three, the PIHAM training will make significant advances and improvements in

the VFUs and the rapprochement between vets and farmers. Once the initiators are trained in the field they willbe trainers who will then train the VFU staff. This will change the attitude of the veterinarians toward farmers,it will improve the confidence of the farmers in the vets and it should generate improved business and incomes

for both parties.

85

The Present Animal Health and Livestock Production ProgrammeProgramme policy is to spread clinical and preventative veterinary health care as widely as possible. In

order to do this NGOs were recruited to help manage an ever increasing number of VFUs. The NGOs wereextremely valuable in that their freedom of movement in war-torn Afghanistan was greater than that of theinternational organisations. However useful the NGOs were, they also had to be controlled and they themselves

had to be monitored in order to ensure the proper use of international funds. As a result the current FAOProgramme, and the OPS Programme before it, developed a system of 5 Regional Offices which monitoredboth the NGOs and the VFUs. The Head Office is based in Islamabad, Pakistan, primarily for ease of banking

and communications which are not available inside Afghanistan. The Regional Office bases are taking on moreresponsibility as security permits and essential services are restored.

In addition to this management system, the Programme is now contracting Veterinary Committees as

IPs. These conunittees include local civil servants from the Veterinary Department in order to create links withgovernment and to reach an understanding with the government on the new mode and policy for delivery ofveterinary services to the farmers. Together with the evolution of these management structures, policies and

objectives have also evolved.Objectives and Policies of the Integrated Livestock ProgrammeThe present Programme has grown out of the need to improve food production to help alleviate the

emergency needs and the needs of the refugees in Afghanistan. The perceived objectives are therefore to:

establish a sustainable animal health and livestock production programme for Afghanistan; expand animalhealth care and production activities to as many districts as possible; create a self-sustaining field veterinaryservice; and improve the quality of service delivery.

These objectives have led to the development of the user-pays policy mentioned earlier. The end resultof this was to create a system whereby the 'public' purse would pay for work undertaken by veterinarians forthe 'public good' whilst the individual livestock owner pays for the treatments of value to his own animals, i.e.

for the 'private good'. The mechanisms to bring this about are:1) a grading system for the remuneration of veterinarians which progressively reduced salaries

to zero -- there are four grades, Grade IV being zero salary;

2) reduction in the subsidy on medicines to zero moving to full cost recovery (achieved in early1994) and the same reductions to be brought about for vaccines in due course;

3) the provision of a small fee from the Programme (to be taken over by government when

possible) to provide for the needs of the 'public good'; and 4) provision of start-upveterinary equipment which in some cases included a clinic.

The final stage will probably be to contract directly with VFUs on a stand-alone basis. That is to say,

they will no longer need outside management under an NGO but will be fully selfsustainable, and able to lookafter their own affairs. They will be answerable to their farmer-clients, to the veterinary department forreporting and other public good functions, and to professional veterinary associations for continuing education

and discipline.It is recognized that some VFUs will probably never be fully self-sustainable because the livestock base

may be insufficient, distances too great or because of various unfavourable socioeconomic factors. Currently

VFUs in this category are supported under the Programme but in the future they will have to be supported bygovernment.

The near term goals of the Programme are to improve the veterinary-farmer-client relationship and

through this to improve livestock production at village and farm level. Veterinarians are even now becominginvolved in the distribution of feed supplements, albeit for modest financial rewards. The results of otherlivestock improvement ideas, in fodder crop production and in improved breeding practices, for instance, will

be conveyed to farmers by the veterinarians acting in their own interests as extensionists with the help of thePIHAM trainers.

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Government and Community Responsibilities for Delivery of a Veterinary ServiceCertain aspects of veterinary services delivery cannot be undertaken without centralized government

control. Border protection, animal inspection and quarantine, research and extension are examples of activitiesunder the responsibility of governments. In September 1995 an outbreak of rinderpest occurred in the southeastbecause animal quarantine and border inspection controls were lacking.

As the clinical veterinary services are developed toward privatization and in ways totally different fromthe past, freedom from the government's participation has allowed some flexibility in establishing the newsystem. The arms length view by the country's remaining civil servants allows them to observe the changes

without having to take responsibility for any failures. We sincerely hope that a policy of organizationalflexibility will be fostered when the new Afghan central and provincial governments are fully in place. Aclimate which encourages experimentation in government functions and structures needs to be encouraged in

all countries, just as research experimentation is encouraged in other institutions.Community involvement is an important requirement that runs parallel to development toward

privatized veterinary practices. Initially there is a direct VFU link with the district administration which is

expected to provide space for a clinic and security. Secondly, communities are involved in the selection ofBVWs and paravets to be trained in basic animal health care. These initial links are being extended under thePIHAM concept where VFU staff will receive specific training in participatory techniques to learn how to

communicate effectively with empowered farmers. As these links mature the sustainable delivery of clinicalveterinary services on a cost recovery basis can emerge. Thus the development of the VFU is closely linkedwith each community and where it is not, clearly the services are difficult to deliver.

Achievements of the Integrated Livestock ProgrammeVeterinary Services Delivery

The bulk of the funding under the Programme is earmarked for the support of the clinical andpreventative veterinary services at the community level. Over the years these NGO sub-contracts havesupported an increasing number of VFUs. From modest beginnings in 1989 when the UN system only funded

20 VFUs until this year where FAO, with UNDP funds, is supporting 244 district VFUs, which is about 75 %of the districts in the country.

The VFUs are staffed by veterinarians and assistant veterinarians (approximately 200),

paraveterinarians (400) and active BVWs (1,000 or more) under management contracts with 12 IPs. All aresupervised from five regional offices, staffed with two Veterinary Monitors each. The Head Office is staffedby 5 professionals, all veterinarians because qualified animal husbandry graduates were not available. Job titles

for the 5 headquarters professionals include national and assistant managers for animal health, diseaseinvestigation, livestock production, and training and evaluation. These jobs increasingly look at the technicalside of VFU operations, i.e. delivery of effective clinical and preventative services, and to try and improve

VFU staff capabilities rather than to just monitor physical and financial inputs. A component for trainingwomen BVWs and to develop womens' poultry projects is staffed by an Afghan women veterinarian andwoman international expert.

Medicines are bought by the veterinarians themselves -- supplied by the private sector -through theNGOs, and local traders and pharmacies. Vaccines are generally supplied by the Programme but the policy isto encourage importations by the private sector. In 1995, 27.3 million doses of various vaccines were imported

directly or indirectly by the Programme. Of this total, 23.4 were imported on behalf of the Programme by anNGO, Dutch Committee for Afghanistan, using European Union funds.

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Delivery of animal health care is currently measured by the treatment and vaccination statistics reported

by each VFU. Annual delivery is well above the targets and the targets increase a little each year as a result ofthe increasing number of animals and increasing outreach of individual VFUs. In future, the Programme aimsto actually measure outputs in terms of improved livestock productivity at the community level. This will be

done through changes in key indicators in villages where PIHAM methods are introduced.

Training and MonitoringUnder the previous government's livestock programme almost no attempts were made to provide

refresher training or upgrading of knowledge for agriculture graduates, with the exception of the award of

some scholarships given to a small number of the veterinarians and animal husbandry specialists. Veterinarypublications in local languages were and still are extremely limited. Only lecture notes taken during theircollege studies may have been kept by some of the graduates.

The Programme is attempting to redress the lack of continuing education and to provide training to vetsand paravets through:1) continuous training and monitoring by the Regional Veterinary Monitors of the VFUs,

including a detailed review of the VFU casebook records and joint field visits for consultationand training in diagnosis and treatment of livestock diseases;

2) provision of two-week refresher t raining courses at provincial level for vets and paravets

based on various common problems reported by the VFUs and identified by FAO technical staff; and 3)production of a practical manual for VFUs in local languages.

A five month course for paraveterinarian training is provided by some NGOs. Trainees must be at leasthigh-school graduates to be selected for these courses. Paravet graduates assist veterinarians in the VFUs,often in the more remote areas. A manual entitled "Training Package: Basic Veterinary Worker Programme"

was written and translated by the Programme into Pushto and Dari. Training and refresher training of BVWs iscarried out by each VFU veterinarian. In addition the Programme is currently refining a training scheme forwomen BVWs conducted by two female veterinarians in various parts of the country. Fifty women have so far

been trained.

Disease InvestigationA VFU clinical case reporting system was initiated in late 1995 based on a disease grouping by body

systems affected. Body systems diagnosis separates the diseases registered by VFUs into ten categories based

on body system primarily and secondarily affected. The purpose is to accurately identify the major livestockhealth and production problems, taking into account the limited diagnostic laboratory capacity and lack ofgovernment-mandated disease investigation. Although this exercise is still at an early stage, it has identified

that in selected regions animals frequently have cachexia in addition to a primarily affected body system suchas reproductive (anoestrus, long calving intervals) or digestive systems (diarrhoea, anaemia and death in younganimals, coughing). The common occurrence of cachexia helps explain long birthing intervals, which in turn

signals that poor feeding and nutrition are important constraints to production by themselves. Diseases of thedigestive and reproductive systems are identified as the first and second most common constraints,respectively.

In the main laboratory in Mazar, a parasitic diseases survey is under way to identify the seasonaldistribution of various parasite species in sedentary sheep flocks. The initial survey -- the monthly collectionand analysis of samples from eight farms in four districts -- will be finished in October 1996 and the seasonal

variation in worm types and worm burdens will be determined. In

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late 1996, field trials will be initiated for internal parasite control in these same flocks. The results will allow

the Programme to promote appropriate extension messages for internal parasite control in northernAfghanistan.

The laboratory also carries out routine diagnostic work on samples brought from VFUs for confirmation

of diagnoses. This service is paid for, as are export licenses for traders in hides, skins, wool, etc., as these testsare demanded in some places.

Disease surveillance is one of the major preoccupations of the VFUs. Disease outbreaks are reported to

the Assistant Manager, Disease Investigation, through Regional Offices. The capacity of the Prograrnme forconfirmation of suspected diseases is limited to clinical and postmortem examinations, except for theproximity of the labs mentioned above. A few VFUs are equipped with microscopes but not all are used.

Sample collecting kits have been distributed to the Regional Offices. Specimens from diseased animals will beforwarded to the Programme Head Office for onward shipment and analysis in international laboratories toconfirm the existence of various contagious diseases as well as trying to establish etiologic strain and types. To

date FMD virus Type O has been isolated in northern Afghanistan and identified at the FMD World ReferenceLaboratory, the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, U.K.

Livestock ProductionInitially a number of field surveys were carried out with the primary findings that under nutrition,

particularly winter feeding, and the lack of breeding bulls were the main concerns of the farmers and amongthe major constraints to increasing production. Demonstrations using feed supplements based on urea-molassesblocks were set up for improved nutrition in the winter and proved to be very popular with farmers who

reported much improved health, performance, reduced mortality and abortions amongst their livestock. Theseblocks will be sold through the VFUs for the coming winter. Urea treatment of straw was also demonstrated toabout 200 farmers with a variable amount of acceptance.

However, to make an even wider impact, the Programme aims to increase the availability of fodders,both quality and quantity, for the winter. Little extra farmland could be made available and thereforeimprovement in seed varieties and farming practices were to be investigated. Four fodder crop demonstrations

were set up to compare the yields of local and improved fodder legumes and preliminary results suggest thatyields per unit of land from improved varieties were up to three times greater than the local varieties. This wasparticularly so with berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) grown under a cover crop of fodder mustard. Planting

was late last year, however, so new demonstrations are being set up for 1996-1997.Some financial support has been given to two veterinarians for starting their own artificial insemination

businesses by importing semen from Pakistan and selling their services to farmers. These interventions are

well received by farmers and they may well have a significant impact on livestock production.Under the Programme, village level poultry hatcheries were promoted by training villagers at major

chicken farms in regional centres. These entrepreneurs were paid by the Programme to train farmers and to

manufacture the locally made, 400 egg capacity, kerosine incubators. Training was given to farmers, especiallywomen, selected from villages to operate the incubators and manage rearing of day old chicks. About 500private village hatcheries have been established.

Impact of the Integrated Livestock ProgrammeMore detailed impact studies will be carried out within the PIHAM programme, but for the time being,

Programme impact can be measured in a number of ways. First, Schreuder, et al. (1996) carried out a

comparative study in VFU-covered districts and neighbouring districts which did not have animal healthcoverage. Annual mortality rates for adult cattle, sheep and goats, in districts with animal health care averaged57% lower that in districts without animal health care

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coverage. The corresponding figure for young stock in the same districts was 74 % . When mortality alone was

compared, the results showed a benefit-cost ratio of about 5 for the provision of a preventative vaccinationpackage, deworming and miscellaneous treatment services. Secondly, the veterinary services formerlyprovided by the government were limited in the number of districts covered and number of clinics operated.

Therefore, the increased availability of veterinary services to most farmers is a new phenomenon. At thebeginning, many farmers were not prepared to vaccinate their animals, treat them against worms or any otherdiseases. The Programme started delivering free veterinary services until farmers appreciated the benefits. The

charging policy was then introduced and farmers gradually became accustomed to paying for services,vaccinations and medicines. In 1995, a total of approximately 22.6 million livestock received veterinaryservices. Vaccinations (15.1 million), dewormings (4.5 million) and other treatments (3.0 million) were paid

for by farmers and administered by VFU staff covering about 75 % of the districts in Afghanistan. Thirdly,with the reduction in VFU remuneration from the Programme many veterinarians receive very little incomefrom sources other than the fees for services from farmers. In spite of the annual reduction in salaries, virtually

no vets have left the Programme for other jobs or businesses. They have "voted with their feet" to stay which isa tribute to their dedication and ability to provide their families with a livelihood. It should be realized thatmany of the paravets and BVWs in this position were ex-Mujaheddin and fighters for one faction or another

and they have not only exchanged their guns for syringes but they have also elected to stay on.

The Ongoing Situation and the Future

FinancingUNDP has been and is the major funder of the agriculture and other rural rehabilitation programmes in

Afghanistan. Total funds for agriculture rehabilitation have remained constant. At the same time, the livestockProgramme continued to expand its geographical coverage into as many areas as possible. Expansiongeographically and, to some extent, in technical scope has been possible through a policy of step-wise

reductions in field veterinarians' direct remuneration and a increasing contribution from the farmers. Farmerpayment for goods and services is now the major source of support to staff in each VFU.

Critical financial support has been received from the European Union and other UN Agencies for

procurement of quality vaccines, womens' training and expansion of poultry production by the private sector.International NGOs from Europe and North America continue to be supported in part by privately collectedfunds mainly aimed at emergency assistance.

Privatized Veterinary ServicesThe greatest obstacle to the privatisation of veterinary services seems to be the attitudes of Afghan

veterinarians themselves. Three major mental blocks have had to be surmounted, including: the veterinarian'sattitude toward private practice, the conventional wisdom that farmers either will not or cannot pay for

services, and the poor communications between veterinarians (and other professionals) and farmers.Clinic-based veterinarians generally prefer to remain in their clinics and wait for the farmers to bringfarmer-identified animal health problems. The idea that a vet should go to the farmer, and go regularly, is

difficult to instill. Changing this habit is nevertheless necessary in order to establish a financially successfulprivatised system. Veterinarians also seem to think that payment for their services is a major burden for thefarmers. Yet it has been shown in Afghanistan and many other countries that if farmers are approached with a

sympathetic and professional attitude, then money is not an issue at all and the farmer will pay whatever isasked, within reason, for the ready availability of good quality services. Service availability, and the vet-farmer-client relationship, may well be more important than even the quality of services (FAO, 1993). Because

of their education and technical knowledge, veterinarians and others often display

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an attitude of superiority toward farmers. This attitude inhibits the vet-farmer-client relationship which is so

critical for the delivery of effective veterinary and livestock improvement services.

The mechanisms to overcome these problems are regular consultation with the vets to heighten theirawareness of these socio-cultural misconceptions, continuing education to improve skills, and widening the

repertoire of services on offer. The Programme introduced PIHAM to primarily provide the attitude changes.PIHAM will instill a questioning, sympathetic, participatory approach rather that an attitude that assumesproblems and tells farmers what to do and, with which the farmer often will not agree nor be able to comply.

Medicines and VaccinesAs described above, medicines are now on full cost recovery but supplies fluctuate in quality and

quantity. The Programme and the field veterinarians are now in the process of setting up Veterinary Service

Associations (VSAs) in order to redress this situation through the importation of quality medicines in bulk toreduce cost. These VSAs may in time evolve into the forum for registration of veterinarians andparaveterinarians and for providing discipline.

In the absence of local vaccine production, Afghanistan depends upon the importation of vaccinesfinanced by donors. The Programme is studying the possibility of supporting a newly renovated vaccineproduction laboratory established by Kabul Government authorities for production of simple bacterial

vaccines.

The Veterinary Field UnitVeterinary field unit location and their command area are defined by administrative boundaries and the

location of the district centres. There are big differences in the sizes of districts and a district administrative

centre is not always at the geographic centre. Present VFUs are not necessarily conducive for an economicallyviable veterinary practice. In addition, privatization should create a unified 'practice' out of the VFU staffincluding the BVWs. In order to do this, the VFU must be manageable in terms of geography and

accessability. Members of the VFU must be able to communicate easily and work together. Therefore a reviewof the situation of each VFU organisationally, geographically and its relation to the community in which itoperates will be undertaken.

Incentives and VFU Grading SystemA differential remuneration system is used to provide incentives for vets to establish practices in the

less desirable (from a socio-cultural view) or areas with a lower economic potential. Currently the Programme

operates four grades with decreasing direct salary remuneration, Grade IV being a 'nil salary' grade. Thegrading system is under review with the aim to move most VFUs to Grade IV but continue to financiallysupport VFUs in less viable districts but where the Program determines that it is in the public interest to do so.

Similar subsidized veterinary programmes, particularly in Morocco, Sweden and Scotland, are being examinedas models.

The grading system may well be simplified into a two-grade system. We may create new contracts

directly with individual VFUs rather than through IPs where VFUs will be responsible for their ownmanagement but answerable to the government, when it comes (or the funding agency in the meantime), forthe public good. Some VFUs may not be fully self-sustainable in the foreseeable future and these will continue

to be subsidized. Each VFU will operate as a self contained practice and it will compete at the edges withneighbouring VFUs. In this way fees for services should be maintained at reasonable levels through marketcompetition and the farmers will have a choice when purchasing goods such as medicines, feed supplements

and vaccines.

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The Government and the Privatized Veterinary ServicesFrom the point of view of the Programme, we are very keen that our operations should not only be

transparent but that they should be understood and approved by government personnel in the ministries. As aresult Veterinary Committees were established as IPs. These veterinary committees are made up ofexperienced monitors from NGOs, VFU staff and senior civil servants. By being involved directly with the

development of the system in this way, civil servants have very quickly come to understand the user-payssystem and the motives prompting the drive towards privatization. They can also better understand thechanging role of government and their position as guardians of the public good.

ConclusionsThe FAO/UNDP Integrated Animal Health and Livestock Production Programme in Afghanistan, in

cooperation with other institutions, is laying the foundation for an innovative and financially more sustainabledelivery of both animal health and livestock production services in rural areas. Its basis is technical support to

privatized veterinary field units and their personnel who deliver basic clinical and preventative animal healthservices to farmer-clients on a user-pays basis. At the same time, public good activities are subsidized, for thetime being by the Programme, as the need is determined and economic conditions dictate.

Elements of the foundation must, of necessity, be assumed by the future government because of itsunique responsibilities as a nation state. Such elements include, in particular, the Regional Office VeterinaryMonitors, PIHAM extension teams and the regional animal disease diagnostic laboratories. Likewise, as

demonstrated by the introduction of rinderpest into the country, border control through animal inspection andquarantine need the authority of a central government. The central or provincial governments may well want toreassert their responsibility for agricultural research, particularly as it might relate to developing export

industries. Agricultural research does not, however, preclude government-industry partnerships.The newly emerging private clinical veterinary sector also demonstrates the need for veterinary

professional societies to assert their lead in continuing education and discipline of members. These are areas

directly affecting the welfare of the profession as well as the public who may be involved in discipline as'public members' of various boards. The need for liberalized distribution of veterinary remedies and vaccines isclearly evident. Although, here also, the central government has a responsibility to assure quality and proper

labelling in order to protect the public.The activities to be undertaken by both the private and government sectors to discharge their

responsibilities and obligations require money. The livestock owning public has demonstrated its willingness

to take on costs for delivery of effective private goods and services. Financing the public sector in order that itmay discharge its responsibilities is expected to come largely from its ability to tax. However, like all othercountries, its ability to collect taxes will depend on its wise use of funds, avoidance of abuse and corruption

and its ability to deliver value for money.

ReferencesSchreuder, B.E.C., H.A.J. Moll, N. Noorman, C. Halimi, A.H. Kroese and G. Wassink, 1996.

A benefit-cost analysis of veterinary intervention in Afghanistan based on a livestockmortality study. Prev. Vet. Med., 26: 303-314.

FAO, 1993. Application of effective herd health and production programmes to increase

livestock productivity in developing countries, Expert Consultation held 30 March - 1 April,Rome Italy.

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Integrated Farming System of Crossbred Duck Meat-Rice Productionin Paddy Fields Utilizing Azolla

Yoshiro Kishida

Faouly of Agriiwlture, Okayarna 0ravasiay, Okayama shi 700, Japan

IntroductionThere is a type of agricultural technology that has been gaining popularity very rapidly in Japan since 1988. It is a method

that involves cultivating rice while simultaneously raising Aigamo ducks (crossbred of wild and domestic ducks) in thepaddy fields. While modern methods for cultivating rice have relied on the use of chemicals for controlling weeds and

insects, this new method regards weeds, insects and even uncultivated areas as agricultural resources, and recognizes theroles played by Aigamo ducks in weeding and fertilizing the paddy field, as well as their role as livestock. Until now a paddyfield has been nothing more than a place for raising rice, but with this new technology for raising Aigamo ducks in the paddy

fields, the two processes complement each other, resulting in improved production both of Aigamo duck meat and rice.The reports of recent research, however, have shown that difficulties in ensuring sufficient feed in the paddy field have

resulted in difficulties in maintaining same numbers of Aigamo ducks (Manda et al.,1993, Kishida et al.,1995), and the

fertilization effect of their feces to the rice plants has been less than sufficient (Manda.,1992 ). Furthermore the labor andspace required to relocate and fatten Aigamo ducks is also a problem. For example, on grassland farms in New Zealand, yearround grazing that utilized the nitrogen in the atmosphere produced improvement in similar technical problems, resulting in

the establishment of a sustainable nutrient circulation type agricultural method with improved productivity for both pastureand livestock production (Kishida.,1987,1990,1994).

This led to the idea of substituting other hydrophytes for the clover in the paddy fields, thereby enabling Aigamo ducks to

be fattened in the paddy fields, and solving these problems. Thus, this is an attempt to create an overall productiontechnology that utilizes plants which can function as both forage and green manure crops, thereby supplying nutrients to therice plants, as well as nutritious and palatable feed to Aigamo ducks. Given these conditions, the aquatic fern 'Azolla' has

emerged as a likely candidate (Watanabe., 1978,Watanabe et al.,1980,Chen et al.,1985). This report explores the potentialfor, and the technical problems involved in, effecting a sustainable method for the integrated Aigamo duck-rice farmingsystem utilizing AZ-011a, as evidenced with data compiled in an experiment at the Research Farm of Okayama University.

1.The concept behind the integrated Aigamo duck-rice farming systemFig. 1 shows the basic concept behind Aigamo ducks-rice farming system in paddy fields. The vast majority of rice

cultivation in Japan regards any plants other than the rice itself as well as insects to be a hindrance to cultivation, and utilizeschemicals to control them. Yet from the standpoint of raising livestock, weeds and insects make excellent agricultural

resources. Furthermore, the paddy field interior contains much un-utilized space that is more than sufficient for water fowl tolive in.

As established in Japan, the combination of cultivating rice plants and raising livestock has been organically combined to

create a complementary effect, resulting in the improved

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production of both Aigamo duck meat and rice. Aigamo ducks range freely throughout the paddy field in their search forweeds, seeds, and insects to eat, both on and under the

Paddy field Aigarno duck

TJn-utilized space 1 Fattening paddock 1 Rice plant MeatWeeds and seeds Feeds 1 (Synergistic effects) 110' and productionInsects etc Feeds Aigamo duck Rice(Agricultural resources)

Fig.l Basic concept behind the integrated Aigamo duck-rice farm* system

surface of the water. In their search for feed they constantly churn up the soil in the paddy field, as well as directlystimulate the rice hills throughout the entire paddy field. In this manner, Aigamo ducks living in the paddy field perform

two roles in cultivation: one by eating weeds, and another by providing fertilizer to the rice plants with their feces. Theyalso play yet another role as livestock raising when harvested for their meat. The farms that have introduced Aigamoducks into their paddy fields have been able to effect 100% organic rice production without using chemicals.

2.Raising Aiganzo ducks while cultivating rice

(1)Duck species and livestock management

The duck species used was a crossbreed of Khaki Campbell and mallard ducks, small in size so as to limit damage tothe rice. Table 1 shows the outline of livestock management.

Table 1. Outline of livestock managementAge in weeks

0-1 1-2 2-4 4-6 6-10 10-14 14-15 15-16Amount of feed --------------------- g / crossbred duck / day -----------------Formula 30-20 20-10 30 60 90 100 120 140

White clover 10 20 0 0 0 0 0 0Place of fattening

CagePaddy field

While the chicks are brooding, each one received 30 to 10 g of feed and 10 to 20 g of clover a day, divided into twofeedings. Care was taken to limit the size of Aigamo ducks to be released into the paddy fields, and to raise chicks to belean, and good feeders. From the third day after hatching, the chicks were given baths to get them accustomed to the

water. To protect the paddy field from entry by stray dogs and other wild animals, a 1.5 m high electrified fence waserected. The number of Aigamo ducks per 10 ares of paddy field was 24 in experiment No. 1, 40 in experiment No.2, 28 inexperiment No.3 and 40 in experiment No.4. After being released into the paddy field, supplementary feed was supplied

daily in the range of 30 to 140 g per duck, depending upon age, and Aigamo ducks were raised in the paddy for 3 months.

(2) Growth and meat productivity of Aigamo ducksTable 2 shows the results of meat productivity of Aigamo ducks. Although there were some differences in the amount

of supplementary feeding between experiments Nos.2, 3 and 4, the live weight of the ducks when taken from the water

was between 1,331.8 and 1,397.7 g, which is very close to the weight of a mature Aigamo duck at 1,400 to 1,500 g. Fig.2shows the live weight after removal from the water of the ducks in experiment 1. Both the free

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Table 2. Results of Aigamo ducks meat productivity

Treatment Live weight Carcass weight------- (g / duck) -------

Experiment 2 1353.7 909.5

Experirrient 3 1331.8 862.0Experiment 4 13 97.7 959.5

feeding and controlled feeding groups showed live weight gains for the first three weeks of treatment, but after that there was

a tendency for live weight gain to stagnate, and discrepancies due to differences in treatment time were not recognized. Thecarcass weight was from 862 to 959.9 g. The result makes it clear that the potential for successfully developing technologyfor raising ducks in paddy fields is high indeed.

Fig.2. Live weight of Aigamo ducks after removal from the paddy field

3.The cultivation of rice while fattening Aigamo ducks(1) Rice species and cultivation

Table 3 shows the species of rice and conditions for its cultivation. The rice species used is a tall growing version ofJaponica known as Akebono. The distances between the rows and

Table 3. Outline of rice cultivation the hills were 30 cm and 24 cmSpecies Japonica respectively. Neither basal nor top

:AkebonoSeedling size Leafage 2.5-3.0 dressings were applied, and neitherHill distance 30 x 24 cm were any agricultural chemicals.Fertilizer Non-chemical fertilizer While Aigamo ducks were being

Non-compost and barnyard manure raised the water depth wasNumber of Aigamo 24-40 per 10 arcs maintained at 5 to 10 cm, and wasWater control 5-10 em water depth for 3 months

not dropped until after Aigamo duckshad been removed from the water.

(2)Rice yield and yield componentTable 4 shows the rice yield and yield component. This kind of sparse planting cultivation while raising Aigamo ducks

tends to yield 120 to 200 fewer number of panicles per square meter than ordinary methods of more intense cultivation. The

yield of brown rice was between 372.3 and 478.5 kg per 10 ares, making it almost equivalent to the typical harvest inOkayama

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Prefecture depending on the normal crop. Nevertheless, the sparse planting cultivation and lack of use of

manure or chemical fertilizers makes it difficult to guarantee the yield, and even with a good percentage ofripened gi•ains, it was not possible to obtain a large harvest.

Table 4. Rice yield and yield component of the integrated taming systemNo. of paiucles No. of spikelets % of 1000 grains Yield perper square meter per panicle ripened gwains weight (g) 10 ares (kg)Experiment 1 242.0 90.0 92.7 23.7 478.5Experiment 2 287.5 81.4 89.6 22.1 450.4Experiment 3 240.3 89.5 88.6 21.9 401.2Experiment 4 216.8 91.2 87.5 21.5 372.3

4.Production of Aigamo duck meat and rice after the introduction of Azolla(1) Feed management for Aigamo ducks and rice cultivation management

The feed management for the ducks and the cultivation management for the rice were identical to thosedescribed in sections 2 and 3.

(2) The propagation and decline of AzollaDuring the second week after the planting of the rice, Azolla microphylla and Azolla filiculoides were

introduced into the paddy field. Due to rain and low temperatures, propagation was initially very slow, and it

took 30 days before the paddy was covered completely. And after approximately 30 days of goodpropagation, growth began to stagnate, Azolla began to die, and within 10 days it was completely dead. Theprobable cause for this is that, as the rice matured, Azolla did not receive sufficient light.

(3) Effect on growth of Aigamo ducksFig. 3 shows the growth of Aigamo ducks. Although there was no recognizable difference between the

growth of Aiganzo ducks in the area with Azolla and those in the area without Azolla during the first 4

weeks, from the 5th week on, the ducks in the area with A.-Olla showed greater growth. Between the 6th and8th weeks the propagation of Azolla was at its peak, and during the 7 days of the 8th week, Aigamo ducks inthe area with Azolla gained 162.9 g more than their counterparts in the area without Azolla. From the 9th to

12th week, however, growth was stagnant. This was because the ducks eating Azolla are thought to havematured more quickly that their counterparts, indicating the potential for lowering the cost of feedingAiganao ducks.

Fig.3. Growth curve of Aigaino ducks when Azolla exists

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(4) Weeding effects and damage to the panicles of rice plantsTable 5 shows the weeding effects, and table 6 the damage to the panicles of rice plants.In areas where Azolla was available as feed for Aigamo ducks, a decrease in the effectiveness of weeding

was a concern. Nevertheless not one blade of barnyardgrass nor any other kind, for example, panic

(Echinochloa oryzicola easing), false pimpernel (Cyperus microiria), etc. of weed was observed, and it is clearthat there was no negative effect on de-weeding at all.

Table 5. Comparisons of weeding effects between Azolla and Non- Azolla plots

Nurnber of residual Dry matter of residualSpaces of weed hills hills (g)

Azolla plot Non-Azolla plot - Azolla plot Non-Azolla plotEchinochloa 0 0 0 0

False pimpernel 0 0 0 0Cyperus microiris 0 0 0 0Others 0 0 0 0

Total 0 0 0 0

Table 6. Damage to the panicles of rice plants

Number of the damaged hills of rice plantsNone Light Middle Heavy

Azolla plot 17 3 0 0

Non Azolla plot 13 5 1 1

Next, regarding damage to the rice by Aigamo ducks, in the area with Azolla 3 of 20 hills of rice, withone panicle per hill, or relatively light damage was found. In contrast, in the area without Azolla 7 of 20 hills

were eaten, and depending on the location was quite conspicuous.(5) Effect on rice yield and yield component

Table 7 shows the rice yield and yield component. The panicles of the rice in the area with Azolla were

found to have more spikelets per panicle than their counterparts in the area without Azolla. The yield per 10ares of brown rice was 110 kg more for the area with Azolla,

Table 7. Rice yield and yield conponent of the integrated fanning system utilizing Azolla

No. of panicles No. of spkelets % of 1000 grafis Yield perper square meter per panicle ripened grains weight (g)10 ares (kg)

Azolla plot 254.4 .98.3 -89.3 21.6 482.3NorrAzofa plot 216.8 91.2 87.5 21.5 372.3

and although it is not shown in the table, the plant length was l l cm higher, as well. It is possible that Azollacontributed nutrients to the rice plants, resulting in an increased harvest. In field experiments held on farms inFukuoka Prefecture, however, where large amounts of Azolla were propagated into paddy fields from planting

until the drainage of residual water, an excess of nitrogen resulted in fallen hills and a reduced harvest.

5.Behavioral characteristics of Aigamo ducks in areas with Azolla(1) Changes in eating behavior based on age

Fig.4 shows changes in eating behavior based on age. In the area with Azolla, 3 week old Aigamo ducksspent 45% of their time, or nearly half the day, feeding, but this decreased as

97

they became older, and by the 7th week had dropped to 36%. In contrast,Aigamo ducks in the area without Azolla fed for about 43% of the timeregardless of age, and during the 8th week fed for nearly two hours a day longer

than their counterparts.The fact that both groups fed at roughly the same rate up until the 5th week

can be considered behavioral proof of the duck's contribution to weeding effects

(section 4.(2)). Furthermore, the fact that from the 7th week on Aigamo ducks inthe area with Azolla showed weight gains in spite of having fed for 2 hours aday less than their counterparts confirms the Azolla's value as feed for Aigamo

ducks.(2) Accumulated time of behavior in the paddy field and atvarious locations

Fig. 5 shows the accumulated time of behavior in the paddy field and atvarious locations. In both the areas with and without Azolla Aigamo ducks

were observed to range across the entire length of the paddy field. In the area with Azolla, however, during the 8th week

the duck's behavior became localized to a limited part of the paddy field. As for time spent in particular locations, fromweek 4 to week 6, Aigamo ducks in both areas spent much time near the coop and near the supplementary feeding area,and during week 8, the ducks in the area with Azolla limited their behavior to a single area while the ducks in the area

without Azolla tended to frequent the perimeter of the paddy field.

6.Problem and improvement in the integrated Aigamo duck-rice farming systemutilizing Azolla as a sustainable method for nutrient circulationAs described herein, this experiment conducted at the Research Farm of Okayama University confirmed the

effectiveness of using Azolla to improve the production of both of duck meat and rice. Furthermore, even though Azolla

provided a plentiful feed source for the ducks, its existence had no detrimental effect on the duck's effectiveness inweeding, and in fact even contributed to preventing damage to the rice from feeding. As a result, the problems ofensuring the supply of sufficient nutrients to the rice plants and of sufficient feed for Aigamo ducks can clearly be

alleviated. The following problems, however, remain:(1) Prevention of excessive nitrogen supply and adequate propagation of Azolla in the paddy field

in paddy fields where the propagation of Azolla is insufficient, it may be completely eaten by the ducks. It is

therefore necessary to partition the paddy field with corrugated sheet plastic. It is also possible to propagate Azolla in aseparate paddy, and transfer it to the site as necessary. If Azolla is introduced into the paddy too early, the nitrogensupply becomes excessive, and the hills will fall and the percentage of ripened grains will decline, resulting on poorer

harvests. In this case, Azolla can be eliminated through midsummer drainage.(2) Selection of Azolla species

The temperature and sunlight necessary for good propagation vary with the species of Azolla. When introducing

Azolla into a paddy field, it is necessary to consider weather conditions as well as the volume of AZOlla that is used asfeed by Aigamo ducks, and then select 2 or 3 varieties to use in combination.

98

99

(3) Preventing contamination of adjacent areasThe spread of Azolla into paddies utilizing chemical fertilizers may result in damage due to an excessive

supply of nitrogen. It is therefore necessary to place mesh over water inlets and outlets to prevent

contamination of adjacent areas.(4) Preventing damage to rice seedlings

When Azolla is mixed with newly planted rice, it may be blown by the wind and cover the rice seedlings,thus causing them to wilt. When the ducks are present, their movement may also push Azolla against youngrice plants and cover or push them over. It is therefore necessary to give careful consideration to the timing of

the introduction of Azolla, or to use mature seedlings.(5) Variety and volume of supplementary feed for Aigamo ducks

When using commercially available mixed feed, the growth of Aigamo ducks may stagnate, resulting inthe unnecessary waste of feed. That is why it is important to know the most appropriate quantity of feed tominimize waste and avoid excessive fattening. When attempting to establish a nutrient circulation type rice

and Aigamo duck meat production system, in place of commercial feed, the use of rice screenings, or ricehusks, which have a low market value, is recommended.

At present, how the introduction of Azolla will effect (A) to what extent the use of supplementary feed can

be reduced and (B) how the productivity of Aigamo ducks changes if rice screenings is used instead ofcommercial feed, is currently being researched.

ConclusionIn 1988, after 10 years of practicing organic agriculture and pulling weeds in paddy fields by hand and 3

years of making technological improvements, Takao and Kumiko Furuno succeeded in developing technology

for raising ducks in rice paddies. The part of their efforts that deserve the most praise are recognizingheretofore unused elements in the paddy field as agricultural resources, and the combining of rice cultivationwith the raising of ducks. Rather than just using the field as a place to grow rice, introducing Aigamo ducks

into the paddy field has produced two complementary halves of a system with improved production for both.Since then, Nation-wide Aigamo duck and Rice Association consisting mainly of agricultural workers hasbeen established in Japan, and each sponsors a forum attended by 500 to 1,000 people. The forum discusses

issues ranging from production technology to product distribution, and even includes consumers among theranks of participants. There is also Nation-wide Aigamo duck and Rice Association organized by variousprefectures which researches and technical issues, as well as seeks to establish and disseminate technical

standards for its own area.Since 1992, the Nation-wide Aigamo duck and Rice Association has actively sought exchange programs

with similar groups in China, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam, seeking to increase its membership throughout

Asia. There are now movements in both Korea, on a large scale, and Vietnam, on a smaller scale atsmallholder, involving combinations of various species of duck and domestic fowl. .

On a world-wide scale, the basic principles of agriculture involving maximum production with a minimum

of labor are being called into question over issues related to the environment and rising costs. A review ofmodern agricultural methods with an emphasis on developing and disseminating sustainable technologies thatare appropriate to the needs and conditions of the region is one of the greatest issues at hand.

In this respect, the technology for the simultaneous raising of Aigamo ducks and rice as developed here inJapan will no doubt disseminate throughout Asia. With the inclusion of

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Azolla in this process, the potential for this method to be utilized in small scale farming as a method for getting

the most out of Asia's limited resources is very great indeed.

References

1)Chen De-fu,Huang Chun-yuan. Study of Azolla as a fish fodder. Proceedings of the workshop on Azollause:270.1985.

2)Kishida Y. The technology of cultivation and utilization of pasture in dairy farming in New Zealand. The

structure of dairy farming in New Zealand. Okayama University: 185-214.198T3)Kishida Y.The technology of pasture production in beef cattle regions observed through surveyed farms. The

structure of beef cattle industry in New Zealand. Okayama University: 271-298.1990.

4)Kishida Y. Combination style of soil, pasture, and livestock as an ecological production technique.Proceedings 1993 of Tsukuba Asian Seminar on agricultural education- 109-125.1994.

5)Kishida Y.,Furuno T.,Utsumiya N.The integrated Aiganio duck-rice farming system utilizing Azolla as a

sustainnable method for nutrient circulation. Proceedings of Vocational Agriculture. 1996.6)Manda M., Uchida H., Nakagawa A., Watanabe S. Growth and behavior of Aigamo ducks(crossbred of wild

and domestic ducks) in paddy fields. Jpn Poultry Sci.30:383-387.1993.

7)Manda M. Paddy rice cultivation using crossbred ducks. Farming Japan.2635-42.1992.8)Watanabe I. Azolla and its use lowland rice culture. Soil and Microbe. 20:1-10. 1978.9)Watanabe I., Berria S. N., Rosario D. C. Growth of Azolla in paddy fields as affected by phosphorus

fertilizer. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 26:301-307.1980.

101

Contribution of NGOs in livestock development

D. Rangnekar

BAIF Developnant Research Foundation

P. O. Box 2030Asarwa, Ahtnedabad380016, India

1. Introduction

1.1. The Indian Livestock scenario

In countries like India mixed farming is traditional, the multipurpose role of livestock is recognised, however,

the socio-cultural or human dimension of livestock production and the role as risk aversion mechanism are not

well appreciated - although pointed out by many analysts (Dolberg 1982, De Boer 1982, Rangnekar 1992-A).

Livestock development is being recognised as an effective instrument for generating employment and income

in rural areas, since last decade or so. Some factors that favour livestock production are (a) its less skewed

distribution than land distribution and (b) livestock production is not as adversely effected as crop production,

due to failure of rain. Added to these factors is sharp increase in demand and price of livestock products with

increasing exports form India and the realisation that India has comparative advantage in livestock production

over many developed countries.

1.2 In India the growth in poultry and dairy production achieved remarkable growth in the last decade or so is

laudable. However, there is lurking fear that small farmer and the underprivileged may get marginalised and

areas less endowed with resources neglected, since impact is not uniform. (Pandya and Shaiyam 1994). With

this fast growth, there is also fear of' paradigm shift and resource abuse, making the production systems

unsustainable and adverse to environment and social goal of equity. The research and technology development

are geared to serve the resource rich farmers or areas for high production where immediate gains can be

demonstrated and the farmers can afford taking risks or provide high inputs. Strong need is felt for innovative,

creative approaches to ensure that the underprivileged section of' rural society including women get desired

benefit from livestock development and are sufficiently empowered to manage the systems in a sustainable

manner. There is also realisation of the need for change in approach to extension research and technology

development. Involvement of NGOs has been strongly recommended to achieve these goals and develop

innovatice approach.

1.3 The BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF)

The BAIF, an NGO established din 1967, got involved in livestock development activities on

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1969. It is probably the first NGO to look at livestock development as means of' rural development to provide

meaningful, self employment, in rural areas, through development of local resources. The BAIF livestock

development programme was recognised as one of the rural development programmes, by the Govt of India in

1972, for the benefit of the rural poor. Starting with a small activity, involving upgradation of the low milk

producing cows, in Western Maharashtra, the programme has now spread to six states in the country. It has

now taken shape of an integrated livestock activity, whcih covers breeding, health control, feed resources

development, farmer extension and training, development of farmer groups and paraextension workers. BAIF

has close linkage with Govt. organisations, research institutions and existing Farmers' Dairy Cooperatives in all

the six states in which it is involved. More than half a million farmer are invovled and both small and large

ruminant production is covered.

2. The role of NGOs in livestock development:

2.1 While the subject of NGO involvement in development has evoked a lot of interest with international

agencies only (Farrington etal 1993) a few studies are reported from India. Recent report by Chandar (1996)

based on study in Himalayan region indicates that the approach and modus operandi of the NGOs and their

attempt to encourage people's participation, persistency of effort and capability of working in marginal areas,

enable them to be more effective in involving the farmers and enabling them in getting the benefits of

development programmes. There are, however, very few studies on NGOs in livestock development. A report

of Satish and Kumar (1993) indicated that the breeding services made available by the BAIF were more

effective and efficient than the Government Agencies. However, such direct comparisons are rather difficult.

2.2. An attempt is made hereunder to discuss some of the issues and aspects which make an NGO more

effective in livestock development (or rural development in general) some of- these major aspects are

discussed taking example of BAIF programmes in Western India.

2.2.1 The Delivery System:

Amongst various aspects related to livestock development the timely availability of services and its

effectiveness is crucial. The BAIF adopted an approach of providing the services at farmers door, rather than

asking the farmer to bring the animal to a centre or dispensary. For breeding purpose it started using frozen

semen from the beginning of the project in 1969. For health control programme efforts were made to maintain

cold chain so as to ensure quality of vaccine, upto the point of use. Inseminations are done only after ensuring

that the animal is in right stage of heat and the field officer has to confirm the pregnancy and follow up

calving. A follow up is also maintained about disease control alongwith the preventive vaccination. The

conception rates

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achieved on first insemination range between 1.2 to 1.4 inseminations per pregnancy. Similar approach is

followed for delivery of training and extension services. The trainings are carried out at village level according

to the convenience and need of the farmer group.

2.2.2 Targeting the underprivileged:

Rural families from lower socio-economic order and agriculturally underdeveloped area are more dependant

on livestock and its production. They who could not take desired benefits of the development programmes.

While the reasons are very many, but one of the major reasons is the commitment of the organisation as

reported by Chandar (1996) while styding NGO activities in Himalayan region. The NGOs are committed to

ensure that the benefits reach the poorer section of the society. For BAIF this is part of its mission and hence

the results are closely monitored to ensure that this objective is achieved. Taking an overview it is seen that

about 55% of the families benefitted from BAIF programme are below poverty line and about 1/3rd are from

underprivileged g roups. In the Western States like Gujarat and Maharashtra a large number of centres of the

BAIF are in tribal areas. Specific training and extension programmes have been developed for the benefit of

women and these are conducted considering their priorities and convenience. The training and extension

efforts are not only aimed at improving skills but also to empowering them, so that they can take proper

decision and manage the programmes by themselves. Thus attempts are made to develop farmer groups, self

help groups of women, teams of women para-extension and para-veterinary workers, who can provide the

services in the interior rural areas.

2.2.3 Taking participatory and systems approach in planning, implementing livestock

development activities:

Some of the major reasons of failure of livestock development programmes are lack of understanding of the

perceptions of the people, the prevailing production systems and available resources. In the BAIF livestock

development programmes, an attempt has been made to make the programme integrated, provide a wide

choice to the farmer to choose the most appropriate intervention. Activities are developed after studying the

production systems, the constraints as prioritised by the farmers (particularly the women) (Rangnekar etal

1994). Thus starting with a project of cross breeding of local cows, its is now developed into a programme

covering buffalo and goat, a programme where there are options for cross breeding, selective breeding with

indigenous breeds. Considering the farmers needs aspects like health control, feed fodder resource

development, biogas production for fuel and fertiliser, agroforestry etc. are initiated. The programme is closely

linked with Government Departments activities as well as the Dairy Cooperatives to ensure necessary support

and marketing linkage. Farmer groups, women groups have been developed wherever they did not exist. In

drought prone areas of North

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Gujarat and Rajasthan where small ruminants are preferred and pastoralists or agro pastoralisis predominate

development of small ruminant production is taken up. The programme started with health control and

breeding as these were given top priority by goat keepers followed by feed fodder resource development

(Rangnekar etal 1994). In irrigated areas the crop of choice in Western India is sugarcane and BAIF made

efforts to strengthen integration of sugar and milk production. This was possible by promoting use of sugar

cane byproducts, integrating fodder crop and sugarcane cultivation, introducing biogas for fuel and manure -

using livestock waste (Rangnekar 1986). In rainfed areas crop-tree-livestock integration has been promoted

(Rangnekar 1993).

2.2.4 The social and gender issues:

While the role of women in livestock production is getting recognition, since last few years, but efforts at

empowerment of women by improving their skills, knowledge, awareness and management capability are

lacking. This is essentially due to lack of desired extension efforts, as also the mind set of research extension

personnel (Rangnekar 1992). A number of international organisations like FAO and National organisations like

ICAR have also pointed out the need for change in approach to research and extension, so as to benefit the

women directly (FAO 1990, ICAR 1988). In BAIF the approach to delivery of services extension programmes

and on-farm trials was changed soon after realisation of crucial role of women for success of livestock

development. The training programmes have been modified to suit the women. A number of women have been

identified as resource persons for training and extension work. A series of studies have been conducted to

understand traditional practices and cultural linkages of livestock. These studies have helped in developing

suitable recommendations, which take into account the traditional practices. The studies have also helped in

identification of variety of feed resources specific to different areas and their use by the farmers with benefit

(Rangnekar 1991). An attempt has now been made in several pockets to develop team of para-extension/para

vet workers who can take over the services for artificial insemination, vaccination, first-aid etc. and would

work as a part of local farmer group or co-operative. A number of men and women, nominated by the villagers,

are undergoing training on related aspects. The case of another NGO, Self Employed Women's Association,

active in North Gujarat is worth mentioning at this point. This organisation has also got involved in livestock

activities, since last few years and has developed a number of women's cooperatives, where the farmer women

are trained to manage the cooperative. A team of women extension workers has been developed. The BAIF is

collaborating with a major Dairy Cooperative in North Gujarat to develop a team of women para-vets,

Para-extension workers.

2.2.5 On-farm research, technology testing with participatory approach.

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Realising the shortcoming of conventional research approaches in developing countries, with mixed farming

practices, on-farm research with participatory approach is recommended strongly. The NGOs are well suited

for such research activities. In BAIF programme, research is an integral part of all activities in which it is

involved, thus applied research in breeding, feeding, management fodder production and health control has

been taken up, since last several years. It has helped in developing appropriate recommendations for the

breeding programme (Ghokale & Mangurkar 1994) and also enabled identifying local feed resources, testing

technologies for treatment of crop residues and making suitable recommendations.

2.2.6 Monitoring of the results:

In view of the mandate and mission of the BAIF it was imperative to develop a system for close monitoring of

the results and ensure that the outcome of development efforts is according to the expectations and that the

small farmers and the underprivileged are duly benefitted. The close monitoring has been possible through a

system of regular reporting and discussions carried out with the field staff as well as with the farmer in

different regions. A system of verification of results by BAIF staff, as well as the Government staff, has been

instituted to validate the reports. Some reports from Western states of Rajasthan and Gujarat may be mentioned

here as example. More than 100 centres of livestock development are operated in each of these states. Each

centres working area covers about 700-800 families owning large ruminants (cattle and buffalo). The

experience of about 13 years of involvement in these states indicates that it takes 6-7 years working before

7580% of these families adopt the breeding programme, through Artificial Insemination. This time lag

ofcourse differs from region to region. On an average 70,000 families take the benefit of BAIF programme in

these two states every year. The results of A.1. service indicates an average conception rate of 1.3

inseminations per conception, as reported after actual examination. About 10000 female improve progeny is

born in each of' these states, through the livestock development centres. As indicated in the enclosed figure No.

1 about 60% of the families benefitted belong to the poorer section. About 20% of the families are from tribal

social groups. A system of field recording has also been introduced in these states, to get feed back in respect

of productivity of the cross bred animals or other improved progeny. The cross breds produced out of local

non-descript cows yielding about 700 litres of milk are, averaging 2300 litres per lactation. Similar data is

being gathered on improved progeny of buffalo and goat. Similar monitoring, with a participatory approach is

undertaken for evaluating training and extension programmes. The outcome of evaluation has helped in

developing appropriate audio visual material, modifying the training courses and involving selected farmer

men and women as resource persons. The feed back also resulted in making the training and extension more

broad based. Thus aspects like livestock insurance, bank finance, problems related to crops, in that particular

season, are also included. More recently family planning and child nutrition are

107

being discussed in these extension - training workshops. About 1000 persons get the benefit of training in each

of these two states each year - and majority of these are women. The feed back on livestock development

indicated (preference for milch animals producing high fat milk. In many areas there is preference of Holstine

crosses but with a minimum ol~ 4% milk fat.

3. Conclusion:

Livestock and poultry production is well integrated with farming systems, as well as sociocultural aspects of

the rural society. It is of particular significance to the families with lower socio-economic status and to those

from rainfed, semiarid areas. In countries like India the importance of livestock and poultry production is

increasing fast and there is rapid growth in these sectors. However, growth and development have to be

delineated and the issue of' livestock development serving as an instrument of rural development needs

different approach. The research and technology development in livestock sector also needs to be modified for

the benefit of small farmers and the underprivileged. The NGOs like BAIF play a crucial role in serving as

link, to ensure that the benefits of research and development reach the rural poor. NGOs like BAIF are able to

take wholistic and participatory approach, modify the development, extension, training programmes and make

them appropriate for different situations. They are very useful in understanding people's perception and

priorities in respect of' development interventions and in participatory evaluation of the intervention. The

NGOs with necessary capabilities can effectively associate with on-farm research, testing of' technologies as

well as participatory technology development. However, there are very few NGOs who have these capabilities,

in livestock sector. There is a need for strengthening technical capabilities of some of the NGOs and

establishing meaningful interaction, for deriving best benefit of their capabilities. The NGOs contribution

acquires significance in livestock production in view of its closer socio-cultural linkage and multiple role.

References

Dolberg F. 1982 - Livestock strategies in India Pub. Institute of Political Science, University of Aarhus,

Denmark.

Bayer A. W. and W. Bayer (1992) The role of livestock in rural economy. Proceedings of International

workshop on livestock production in rural development held at International Agricultural Centre, Wageningen

20-30 Jan. 1992, PP. 30-49

Chander, Mahesh (1996) Farmer participation in rural development programmes: case studies of some local

NGOs in central Himalyan Region Journal of Rural Developemnt t 5 (3): 393-408

108

De Boer J. 1982 Livestock in Asia -Issues and Policies. Ed. J. C. Ane and R. G. Lattimore Pub. Jeffrey C. Fine

and Ralph G.Lattimore.

FAO 1990. Women and livestock production in Asia and the South Pacific, RAPA, FAO, Bangkok.

Farrington J., D. J. Lewis, S. Satish and A. Miclat Teves (1993) Non-Governmental Organisations and the

State in Asia. Pub. Routledge, London.

Knipper K (1992) Sustainable livestock development and poverty reduction. Proc. International workshop on

livestock production in rural developernnt held at Internatinal Agricultural Centre, Wageningen. 20-30 Jan.

1992 PP. 14-28

Pandya H.R. and R.L. Shaiyani (1994) Growth and instability of milk production in Gujarat state. Indian

Dairyman 46(9): 533-536

Rangnekar S.D., P. Vasani & D. V. Rangnekar 1994. A study on women in dairy production World Animal

Review 79: 51-55.

Rangnekar S. D 1992 A - Women in livestock production in rural india Proceedings of 6th AAAP Animal

Science Congress - 23-28 November 1992 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Rangnekar D. V. , M. S. Sharma, O. P. Gahlot (1995) Livestock development from an NGO perspective -

Proceedings of" International Seminar on Tropical Animal Production, Gajah Mada University, Jogyakarta,

Indonesia 7 - 8 November 1994. pp. 33-38.

Rangnekar D. V. 1991. Feeding System based on traditional use of trees for feeding livestock. Presented at

FAO Expert Consultation on legume Trees and Other Fodder Trees as Protein Sources for Livestock held at

MARDI, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 14-18 Oct. 1991.

Satish S and P. Kumar (1993) Are NGOs more effective than Government in livestock service delivery? A

study of artificial insemination in India in Non Governmental Organisations and the state in Asia. Pub.

Routledge, London PP 169-173.

Rangnekar D. V. (1986) Integration of Sugarcane and milk production in western India - Dr. D. V. Rangnekar

- Proceedings of an FAO Consultation held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 7-11 July 1986.

109

Rangnckar D. V. 19'93 Research 11 methodology for crop-animal systems in India. Proc. International

workshop on crop animal interactions held at Khon Kaen From Sept. 27th to GCt. 1st, 1993 by International

Rice Research Institute, Manila.

ICAR (1988) Proceedings and recommendations of International conference on Apropnate agricultural

technologies for farm women. Organised by the ICAR in Oct. 1987, New Delhi, India.

Ghokale S. B, B. R. Mangurkar (1994) Field recording and Sire evaluation under Indian 'conditions. Proc. of a

national workshop on Recent Advances in livestock Production Technologies held on 21-22, 1993 at Pune. PP:

104-111.

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LIST OF AUTHORS

Juhani Maki Hokkonen

Senior Officer, Livestock Production Group D.V. Rangenekar

Animal Production & Health Division, FAO BAIF Development Research Foundation

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome c/o Mafatlal Industries Ltd.

Tel: 392253091 P.O. Box No. 2030, Asarwa Road, Ahmedabad

Fax: (39) 52255749 380016, India

Email: Juhani.MakiHokkonen@fao.org Tel: 0091-79-21223940-45

Fax: 0091-79-21223940-45

C. Devendra Email: baif.ahm@lwahm.nandanet.com

8 Jalan 9/5, 4600 Petling Jaya, Selangor (baif.ahm@lwahm.lwbbs.net)

Malaysia

Tel: 60574493 Abdul Bagi Mehraban

Fax: 60557986 National Manager, Animal Health

AFT/93/004 Islamabad

Arsenia G. Cagauan Fax: 0092123804

Freshwater Aquaculture Center c/o FAO Representation Pakistan

Central Luzon State University Fax: 0092111824371

Munoz, Nueva Ecija 3120, Philippines

Tel ./Fax 63 912 301 7323 Y. Kishida

Email: UWS@phil.gn.apc.org University Farm, Facalty of Agriculture, Okayama

University, 1-1-2 Tsushima, Okayama-city

Nguyen Then Okayama Prefecture, Japan

National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Tel./Fax +81-86-251-8399

Thuy Phuong, Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam

Tel: 84.4.8343267 Kenji Sato:

Fax: 84.4.8344775 Animal Production and Health Division,

Email: ly%niah%sarec%ifs.plants@ox.ac.uk Agriculture Department, Food and Agriculture

Organization.

Youchun Chen FAO Regional Project "Better Use of Locally

Institute of Animal Science, CAAS Available Feed Resources", Project HQs:

2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, (Malianwa) Haidian, University of Agriculture and Forestry,

100094 Beijing, China Thu Due, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM

Telex; 222720 CAAS CN Tel:(84)8-8961051

Fax: +86-10-62582594 Email: ifs.plants!sarec!Knet!kenji@ox.ac.uk

111