Southern African pasture and forage science entering the 21st century : past to present

Given the global challenges of mitigating and alleviating land degradation and ensuring food security, particularly through protein production, pasture and forage science together with rangeland science will remain imperative to sustainable livestock production systems. Recognising the scientific principles developed in this discipline the past 50 years and more in Southern Africa, customary to our diverse and unique environmental conditions will continue to guide and identify future research priorities. A journey from the past to the present can assist in avoiding reinvention and repetition of pasture research. This review highlights how research priorities have either remained the same over time or where research has received less or more priority. The review further illustrates that there has been more interest in species adaptation to drought, pasture and forage water relations, alternative pasture and forage species, and the combination of pasture species in the 21st century than in the 20th century. In conclusion, the soil–plant– livestock complex can serve as a conceptual basis for more effective research together with pasture breeding and nutrition. Finally, researching pasture and forage sciences in an inter- and multi-disciplinary manner clearly supports the principles of holism applied by General JC Smuts, one of the first pioneers of pasture and forage sciences.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tarf20hb2016Plant Production and Soil Scienc

Forage crop integration into small production systems in the communal areas of Zimbabwe: investigation and development of Lupinus Species

The professional demands on today’s choral and solo singers have expanded exponentially with the proliferation of popular genres—in other words, the canon has broadened. The rising solo performer, chorister, educator, and church musician must be adept at negotiating the techniques of multiple styles, for solo and choral performance. The task of the voice pedagogue, therefore, must be to become fluent in the pedagogy of multiple styles, including the array of genres known as Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM). Jeannette LoVetri, along with her students and CCM colleagues, stands as a proud witness to the prospect of mastering multiple styles, and the success of applied voice function

Storage quality and marketability potential of bagged silage for smallholder dairy farmers in Zimbabwe

Bagged sole maize and maize–cowpea silages in three bag sizes were assessed at 42 and 282 d post-ensiling for sensory and chemical quality. A survey of dairy farmers on silage use and preferences was conducted in the Chikwaka communal area and Marirangwe small-scale commercial farming area. Only silage dryness changed with time. Percentage neutral detergent fibre significantly changed in 20 kg bags from 58.1 ± 0.75% at 42 d to 52.3 ± 0.86% at 282 d and in 10 kg maize–cowpea bags from 48.6 ± 0.75% to 56.0 ± 0.86%. Percentage crude protein significantly decreased (P < 0.05) for 15 kg (11.8 ± 0.30% to 9.4 ± 0.35%) and 20 kg bags (11.4 ± 0.30% to 8.9 ± 0.35%) for maize– cowpea. All 45 farmers surveyed knew about silage and 90% were feeding it to cows, 53% were making their own and 37% purchased silage. Challenges in making silage included unavailability of forage choppers, lack of requisite resources and inadequate knowledge. Silage unavailability and difficulties in transportation and storage resulted in a low frequency of silage purchases. There was no association (χ2 = 0.18; P > 0.05) between farming system and farmers’ willingness to buy or sell silage, and larger bags were preferred (χ2 = 78.96; P < 0.05). Computed silage costs per tonne were farm-produced sole maize US$57.54, maize–cowpea US$58.59 and bought-in sole maize US$89.80.Keywords: bag silage, dairy, marketing, nutrition, qualit