Livestock intensification and use of natural resources in smallholder mixed farming systems

Bhutan aims to intensify livestock production not only to improve livelihoods of farming households and to meet the increasing demands of livestock products, but also to sustainably use natural resources. This paper assesses the impact and trends of livestock intensification on the use of Common Property Resources (CPR), and how this affects the cattle numbers that can be maintained and the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) flows at the farm. Data on household, cropping and livestock activities were collected through interviewing 183 households in extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban areas in the years 2000 and 2004. In the extensive and semi-intensive areas, CPR was the most important source of Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) for cattle. In the intensive areas with a majority of crossbred cattle, the farmers relied less on CPR than in the other two areas, but still about one quarter of the TDN requirements were met by grazing CPR. Grazing in the CPR provided the highest proportion of NP inputs at farm level; without grazing on CPR all four areas would have had highly negative soil nutrient balances. Intensification of livestock production through crossbreeding has not resulted in major reductions in cattle numbers per farm, but it is contributing to reduced use of CPR by farmers. Intensification partly replaces farm nutrient flows from CPR with nutrient inputs through increased use of concentrates, conserved fodder, and fertilizers. More awareness of nutrient management is required among farmers coupled with more research on nutrient assessments

Molecular Characterization of NRXN1 Deletions from 19,263 Clinical Microarray Cases Identifies Exons Important for Neurodevelopmental Disease Expression

PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to assess the penetrance of NRXN1 deletions. METHODS: We compared the prevalence and genomic extent of NRXN1 deletions identified among 19,263 clinically referred cases to that of 15,264 controls. The burden of additional clinically relevant copy-number variations (CNVs) was used as a proxy to estimate the relative penetrance of NRXN1 deletions. RESULTS: We identified 41 (0.21%) previously unreported exonic NRXN1 deletions ascertained for developmental delay/intellectual disability that were significantly greater than in controls (odds ratio (OR) = 8.14; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.91-22.72; P \u3c 0.0001). Ten (22.7%) of these had a second clinically relevant CNV. Subjects with a deletion near the 3\u27 end of NRXN1 were significantly more likely to have a second rare CNV than subjects with a 5\u27 NRXN1 deletion (OR = 7.47; 95% CI: 2.36-23.61; P = 0.0006). The prevalence of intronic NRXN1 deletions was not statistically different between cases and controls (P = 0.618). The majority (63.2%) of intronic NRXN1 deletion cases had a second rare CNV at a prevalence twice as high as that for exonic NRXN1 deletion cases (P = 0.0035). CONCLUSIONS: The results support the importance of exons near the 5\u27 end of NRXN1 in the expression of neurodevelopmental disorders. Intronic NRXN1 deletions do not appear to substantially increase the risk for clinical phenotypes.Genet Med 19 1, 53-61

De Novo and Rare Inherited Copy-Number Variations in the Hemiplegic Form of Cerebral Palsy

PurposeHemiplegia is a subtype of cerebral palsy (CP) in which one side of the body is affected. Our earlier study of unselected children with CP demonstrated de novo and clinically relevant rare inherited genomic copy-number variations (CNVs) in 9.6% of participants. Here, we examined the prevalence and types of CNVs specifically in hemiplegic CP.MethodsWe genotyped 97 unrelated probands with hemiplegic CP and their parents. We compared their CNVs to those of 10,851 population controls, in order to identify rare CNVs

Linking the Gross National Happiness concept to smallholder farm level: an empirical application

This study aims to refine the gross national happiness (GNH) development concept of Bhutan at the farm level and to show the major temporal and spatial trends in the development of rural areas with differing agroecological conditions and adoption of cattle crossbreeding. The study areas (four localities) are described as extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban. Technical, social, economic, and environmental data from 183 households in the study areas were collected in 2000, 2004, and 2015. Participatory methods were used to select from the collected data the most relevant issues and their corresponding indicators at the farm level. The issues identified during the field workshops conducted in the study areas could be grouped as social, economic, and environmental. Next, the indicators were aggregated into economic, social, and environmental indices. In 2000 and 2004, the intensive peri-urban area showed the highest performance in the economic and social indicators. Livestock farming, despite its potential for dairying, was prohibited in one of the localities in 2010 when the territorial coverage of the capital Thimpu expanded. On the other hand, the dynamics of the indicators in the other three localities indicated that the social and economic indices were highest in the intensive area, followed by the semi-intensive area, and lastly, by the extensive area. This could be because different crossbreeding techniques were implemented in these areas. In the period 2004–2015, the reference values of the social indices declined, which could be attributed to increased rural-urban migration and intensified farm labor shortages in the study areas. The environmental indices did not change much during the monitoring periods. In summary, this study presents a methodological approach for examining the GNH in Bhutan based on participatory identification of social, economic, and environmental issues and indicators along with the reference values for the selected indicators. Likewise, this study showed that an integral assessment can complement the implementation of the GNH philosophy in the rural areas of Bhutan

A participatory framework to identify Gross National Happiness Issues for the development of smallholder mixed farming systems in Bhutan

This paper presents a participatory methodological framework to identify Gross National Happiness (GNH) issues at the smallholder level in Bhutan. GNH is a development paradigm of Bhutan that has increasingly drawn international attention. Its four pillars are sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development, preservation of the environment, preservation and promotion of culture, and promotion of good governance. Since GNH is usually discussed at the national level, its domains and indicators have been defined through a top-down intellectual exercise, with possibly limited relevance of the major issues for most rural Bhutanese, which represent 69 percent of the country’s population. The methodology applied in this study was useful in identifying key GNH issues from a systems perspective at the smallholder level. Socioeconomic development and the environmental aspects were found to be the pertinent issues. The study also revealed trade-offs and dependencies among the four GNH pillars and their indicators. Inclusive policies are needed to address the concerns of smallholder farmers. If GNH is to work for the present and future generations, then it is essential to embrace the GNH issues of smallholder farmers who compose the backbone of the Bhutanese population. Further, the GNH concept is currently a mix of issues and indicators. Translating the issues identified by the study into indicators is required to properly evaluate the progress at the farm level and to support GNH policy development

Linking the Gross National Happiness concept to smallholder farm level: an empirical application

This study aims to refine the gross national happiness (GNH) development concept of Bhutan at the farm level and to show the major temporal and spatial trends in the development of rural areas with differing agroecological conditions and adoption of cattle crossbreeding. The study areas (four localities) are described as extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban. Technical, social, economic, and environmental data from 183 households in the study areas were collected in 2000, 2004, and 2015. Participatory methods were used to select from the collected data the most relevant issues and their corresponding indicators at the farm level. The issues identified during the field workshops conducted in the study areas could be grouped as social, economic, and environmental. Next, the indicators were aggregated into economic, social, and environmental indices. In 2000 and 2004, the intensive peri-urban area showed the highest performance in the economic and social indicators. Livestock farming, despite its potential for dairying, was prohibited in one of the localities in 2010 when the territorial coverage of the capital Thimpu expanded. On the other hand, the dynamics of the indicators in the other three localities indicated that the social and economic indices were highest in the intensive area, followed by the semi-intensive area, and lastly, by the extensive area. This could be because different crossbreeding techniques were implemented in these areas. In the period 2004–2015, the reference values of the social indices declined, which could be attributed to increased rural-urban migration and intensified farm labor shortages in the study areas. The environmental indices did not change much during the monitoring periods. In summary, this study presents a methodological approach for examining the GNH in Bhutan based on participatory identification of social, economic, and environmental issues and indicators along with the reference values for the selected indicators. Likewise, this study showed that an integral assessment can complement the implementation of the GNH philosophy in the rural areas of Bhutan

A participatory framework to identify Gross National Happiness Issues for the development of smallholder mixed farming systems in Bhutan

This paper presents a participatory methodological framework to identify Gross National Happiness (GNH) issues at the smallholder level in Bhutan. GNH is a development paradigm of Bhutan that has increasingly drawn international attention. Its four pillars are sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development, preservation of the environment, preservation and promotion of culture, and promotion of good governance. Since GNH is usually discussed at the national level, its domains and indicators have been defined through a top-down intellectual exercise, with possibly limited relevance of the major issues for most rural Bhutanese, which represent 69 percent of the country’s population. The methodology applied in this study was useful in identifying key GNH issues from a systems perspective at the smallholder level. Socioeconomic development and the environmental aspects were found to be the pertinent issues. The study also revealed trade-offs and dependencies among the four GNH pillars and their indicators. Inclusive policies are needed to address the concerns of smallholder farmers. If GNH is to work for the present and future generations, then it is essential to embrace the GNH issues of smallholder farmers who compose the backbone of the Bhutanese population. Further, the GNH concept is currently a mix of issues and indicators. Translating the issues identified by the study into indicators is required to properly evaluate the progress at the farm level and to support GNH policy development

Livestock intensification and use of natural resources in smallholder mixed farming systems

Bhutan aims to intensify livestock production not only to improve livelihoods of farming households and to meet the increasing demands of livestock products, but also to sustainably use natural resources. This paper assesses the impact and trends of livestock intensification on the use of Common Property Resources (CPR), and how this affects the cattle numbers that can be maintained and the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) flows at the farm. Data on household, cropping and livestock activities were collected through interviewing 183 households in extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban areas in the years 2000 and 2004. In the extensive and semi-intensive areas, CPR was the most important source of Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) for cattle. In the intensive areas with a majority of crossbred cattle, the farmers relied less on CPR than in the other two areas, but still about one quarter of the TDN requirements were met by grazing CPR. Grazing in the CPR provided the highest proportion of NP inputs at farm level; without grazing on CPR all four areas would have had highly negative soil nutrient balances. Intensification of livestock production through crossbreeding has not resulted in major reductions in cattle numbers per farm, but it is contributing to reduced use of CPR by farmers. Intensification partly replaces farm nutrient flows from CPR with nutrient inputs through increased use of concentrates, conserved fodder, and fertilizers. More awareness of nutrient management is required among farmers coupled with more research on nutrient assessments

Crossbreeding and intensification of smallholder crop-cattle farming systems in Bhutan

This paper evaluates the effect of livestock intensification through crossbreeding for dairying in Bhutan, where crossbreeding policies aim to improve smallholder livelihoods. It is also expected that crossbreeding will reduce dairy imports, and will reduce the environmental impact on forests and other common property resources. Since 1985, breeding policies have promoted the Brown Swiss crossbred for high altitude areas and the Jersey crossbred for other areas with suitable agro-ecological conditions. From 1998 onwards, farmers were allowed to choose their desired cattle breed irrespective of the agro-ecological conditions. Data on household, cropping and livestock activities were collected through interviewing 183 households in extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban areas in the years 2000 and 2004. Herd composition on the study farms reflected the policy of promotion of crossbreds in areas with suitable agro-ecological conditions, as well as the preferences of the farmers and their cultural values. The change in livestock breeding policy in 1998 had no apparent impact on the breed composition of the herds. Crossbred cows had 2.4–4.6 times higher milk off-takes than local cows. The livestock gross margins were 1.4–2.4 times higher in the intensive than in the semi-intensive and extensive areas. Crossbreeding has contributed to the higher livestock gross margins in the intensive areas. Cattle management was characterized by high reproductive wastage and poor survival. Crossbreeding has not reduced cattle numbers per farm, but lactating crossbred cows are mainly stall-fed and, so, crossbreeding reduces grazing pressure on common property resources. Crossbreeding has not yet been able to reduce the gap between supply and demand of dairy products in Bhutan. In areas with suitable market conditions, farmers will continue with crossbreeding for dairying, as it is a regular and reliable income sourc