Alternative for Intensification of Beef Production under Grazing

One of the challenges to overcome in order to assure the position occupied by Brazil as one of the most important players in the world beef market is to design sustainable technological alternatives, which will maintain a constant uniform beef supply all year round. This crucial problem could be solved by using more intensively, the alternatives available for pastures management and feed supplement-ation. However, the potential results created by these strategies might be better explored by using the right choice of animals as far as genetic group and weaning weight is concerned. Thus, in order to fulfill this goal it was designed an experiment was designed to evaluate combinations of pastures species (Brachiaria and Panicum), pasture management (feed supplementation and rotational grazing) and animal genetic groups

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Kenya

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to further integrate agricultural development and climate responsiveness. CSA aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and minimize greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. Increased planning is vital in order to address tradeoffs and synergies between the three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. By addressing challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes, CSA practices coordinate the priorities of multiple countries and stakeholders in order to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems. While the concept is new and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are currently used by farmers to cope with various production risks [2]. Mainstreaming CSA requires a critical mapping of successfully completed, on-going practices and future institutional and financial enablers. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion at both the national and global level about entry points for investing in CSA at scale

Potential food production from forage legume-based-systems in Europe: an overview

peer-reviewedIntensification of EU livestock farming systems has been accompanied by the development of maize silage and intensively fertilised grasses at the expense of forage legume crops. However in the new context of agriculture, the development of forage legumes constitutes one of the pillars for future livestock farming systems with high environmental and economical performances. Yield benefits of grass-clover mixtures are equivalent fertiliser N inputs of 150 to 350 kg/ha, and productive grass-clover mixtures can fix 100 to 380 kg N per hectare symbiotically from the atmosphere. Animal intake of legumes is high and the rate of decline of legume nutritional quality with advancing maturity is less than for grasses, especially in the case of white clover, which makes mixed pastures easier to manage. Animal performances at grazing are identical or higher on clover-enriched pastures. Due to their high protein concentration, conserved forage legumes fit well with maize silage. Forage legumes increase the concentration of beneficial α-linolenic acid in ruminant products. Environmental balance of forage legumes is positive. Increasing the proportion of white clover at the expense of mineral N fertilisation can reduce the risk of nitrate leaching. Because forage legumes only require solar energy to fix N from the air, they also reduce energy consumption and associated impacts. They contribute to reduce the global warming potential of livestock systems by reducing emission of enteric methane and nitrous oxide from pasture and crop production. As an element of arable crop rotations, grass-clover leys suppress pests, diseases and weeds, improve soil structure and prevent soil erosion and nitrate leaching. Nevertheless, forage legumes have some limitations: expensive to harvest, difficulties of conservation, management of the associations. To take full advantage of forage legumes in the future, new research and development are required as well as financial support from the EU

Produção orgânica de leite no Distrito Federal e Região Integrada do Entorno, por agricultores familiares em transição agroecológica.

Nesta pesquisa foi mensurada a evolução nos índices técnicos e econômicos de produtores familiares em transição agroecológica para a produção orgânica de leite em 2012 e 2013. Foi utilizado inicialmente o Diagnóstico Rápido Participativo - DRP, para a coleta de informações e identificação dos gargalos da produção. Identificou-se a necessidade de manejo de pastagens e sua recuperação como a principal demanda dos agricultores. Com as tecnologias trabalhadas foi observado o aumento de 75% de crescimento na área de pastagens e redução do estágio de degradação. A produção de leite por área aumentou 54,32% refletindo na receita anual com aumento de 496,35%. Abstract: This research aimed to measure developments technical and economic indexes of family farmers in Agroecological transition to organic milk production, during 3 years. It was used initially the participatory rapid diagnosis (PRD) for gathering information and identify bottlenecks in production. The main demand of the farmers was the pastures management and their recovery. With the technologies worked was observed increased 75% growth in the area of pastures and reduced stage of degradation. Milk production by area increased 54.32%, reflecting in annual revenue with increased 496.35%

Assessing drought damage in perennial grass pastures

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Caracterização comparativa de propriedades que desenvolvem atividade pecuária em assentamentos rurais de Tomé-Açu e Paragominas: manejo das pastagens, acesso as estradas e nível de produtividade.

O presente estudo buscou efetuar a caracterização do manejo das pastagens, bem como as condições das estradas de acesso e o nível de produtividade de propriedades envolvidas com a atividade pecuária em assentamentos rurais de Tomé-Açu e Paragominas, as quais estão localizadas no Nordeste e Sudeste paraense, respectivamente. Noventa e cinco produtores foram entrevistados quanto à presença ou não de áreas de pastagens quando da aquisição das propriedades, assim como quanto à formação de novas áreas, uso do fogo, tipo de gramínea presente na pastagem, período de utilização de um mesmo pasto, vacinação contra febre aftosa, utilização de mistura mineral, produção diária de leite e quanto às condições de trafegabilidade das estradas que dão acesso às propriedades durante o período chuvoso. Foi observado que a atividade pecuária não é viável nas propriedades investigadas em razão da baixa adoção tecnológica e produtividade dos rebanhos. A cobertura vacinal foi insuficiente o que coloca em risco todo o setor produtivo da pecuária. As forrageiras presentes nas propriedades basicamente foram a Brachiaria brizantha cv Marandú e a Brachiaria humidicula, o que revela o risco quanto à incidência de pragas e doenças