Strengthening Livelihood of Rural Farmer Populations through Improved Grasslands

This paper reviews the current background of the grassland resource with a purpose of livestock perspective to improve the livelihood of rural farmers. The use of grasslands for livestock rearing by rural farmers has been a long tradition. In climate and vegetation contrast, these grasslands are much more diverse. They are likely to play an economical role in increasing the milk production in many Asian countries. With an increase of human population, the traditional feeding, breeding and surviving habitats for livestock have been acutely restricted in many countries. Therefore, a continued effort is needed to maintain production for sustainable management of grassland resource for rural farmers. Pastoralism in wildlife protected area must be gradually proscribed and encouraged to form community grasslands. In addition, issues such as development of water resources, extension and education must be considered as higher attentions than basic grassland principles

Organization of Indigenous Dairy Cattle Production System in \u3ci\u3eMurunkan\u3c/i\u3e Veterinary Region in \u3ci\u3eMannar District\u3c/i\u3e, Sri Lanka

The dairy sector in Murunkan veterinary region in Mannar district in the northern province, Sri Lanka was adversely affected by the 30-year-long civil war which ended in 2009. The post-war recovering dairy sector in the region produced 2.11 million litres of milk in 2017. However, the lack of updated information constrained the sector’s development and identification of development interventions. Hence, this study was designed to review the organization of the dairy production system in the Murunkan veterinary region in Mannar district. A survey was conducted involving 100 dairy cattle farmers selected from 40 villages in the Murunkan veterinary region using a questionnaire. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample dairy cattle farmers. Farmers rear indigenous non-descriptive type cattle in a nomadic system using pastures available on roadsides, reservations, uncultivated rice fields and marginal forest areas. Sources of drinking water for cattle were irrigation canals (76%), ponds (46%), village tanks (35%) and wells (9%). The mean herd size and the mean number of milking cows per farmer was 33 and 14 cows respectively. The average milk yield of a cow was 0.92 L per day and it ranged from one litre to three litres per cow. From daily milk production, 64% of farmers consumed milk at home and the rest of the milk was sold at a rate of Rs 100.00 per one litre of milk on average (Rs 358.51= 1US$). The diary income of the farmers accordingly ranged from Rs.6,000.00 to Rs 192,000.00 per month. Contraction of feeding grounds during rice cultivation season (six months of the year) is a major challenge faced by farmers. During this season, herds of cattle were restricted to marginal forest areas and milking was not practised by all the farmers as the cows were far away from farm households. Therefore, the intervention of respective government organisations is of utmost importance to facilitate farmers with required grazing grounds, especially during the paddy cultivation season to maintain consistent milk production

Residual Feed Intake (RFI) and Efficiency of Feed Utilization (EFU) of Total Mixed Ration (TMR) Fed Frisian Cross Bred Cows – a Case Study

Residual Feed Intake (RFI) is the difference between an animal’s actual feed and expected feed intakes for a given period of time. Literature shows that highly efficient animals have a negative or lower RFI. Thus understanding about RFI is important to maintain an efficient herd. A feeding trial was undertaken at a commercial farm in Sri Lanka having Frisian cross bred cows. The cows were fed with a grass-based Total Mixed Ration (TMR) having maize (Zea mays), CO3 (Pennisetum perpureum X Pennisetum americarnum), beer pulp (wet brewer’s grain), dhal meal (Lens culinaris), mineral mixture and commercial cattle feed. However, the milk yields were lower than expected affecting the farm profit. Thus a study was undertaken to test a new TMR with the hypothesis that the new TMR would enhance milk production of the cows. Eighteen, Frisian cross bred cows were randomly assigned into two groups (Treatment 1: existing TMR; TMR 1) and Treatment 2: new TMR; TMR 2), in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Each treatment had three replicates. Data were collected (daily feed intake, milk yield and live body weight of cows) for a 28 day period. Residual Feed Intake was derived by a regression model using feed intake and live weight data. Efficiency of Feed Utilization was calculated using cumulative milk yield and feed intake data. The RFI in Treatment 1 (0.42± 0.197 kg/cow) was higher (P\u3c 0.05) than Treatment 2 (-0.45± 0.197 kg/cow). Efficiency of Feed Utilization in Treatment 2 (36% ± 0.797 ml/cow) was higher (P\u3c 0.05) than Treatment 1 (29% ± 0.797 ml/cow). The results show that the cows in Treatment 2 were more efficient than the cows in Treatment 1. Hence it can be concluded that the new TMR (TMR 2) consists of maize, CO3, Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), beer pulp, coconut (Cocos nucifera) poonac, rice bran, maize meal and mineral mixture was better than the exiting TMR (TMR 1)

Feeding Patterns and Milk Production of Small-Scale Dairy Farmers under Semi-Intensive and Extensive Cattle Management Systems in Sri Lanka

The main objective of the present study was to determine the feeding pattern and milk production of small-scale dairy farmers under semi-intensive and extensive management systems in the intermediate zone of Sri Lanka. This region is sandwiched between the Wet and Dry Zones, receives a mean annual rainfall of 1750-2500 mm, and covers an area of about 1.2 million ha. A survey was conducted with 60 farmers and data on their herd size, herd composition and breeds, management system, breeding method, milk production, feeding costs and returns of raising animals were collected. The results indicated that the majority of farmers conducted dairying as a part-time business in both semi-intensive (80%) and extensive (66%) management systems in the study area. The highest (P \u3c 0.05) average herd size was observed under semi-intensive systems (3.7 animal units (AU)), compared to extensive systems (2.7 AU). The farmers under the semi-intensive system maintained better feeding levels compared with the extensive system. The majority of farmers in the area depended on tethering and stall feeding as their main source of animal feed. Grasses grown on roadsides, paddy fields, neighbours’ land, government estates and tree leaves were the main feed resources available for both management systems. Rice (Oriza sativa) bran and coconut (Cocos nucifera) poonac were the main concentrate feed ingredients in the study area. Jersey crosses were the most popular dairy animals among semi-intensively managed farms, whereas Sahiwal crosses were most popular in extensive management systems. The average milk production under extensive systems was significantly lower (P \u3c 0.01) at 3.9 l/AU/day, compared to 5.4 l/AU/day under semi-intensive systems. Semi-intensive management systems also had the highest average monthly return per AU

The CD34-Related Molecule Podocalyxin Is a Potent Inducer of Microvillus Formation

BACKGROUND: Podocalyxin is a CD34-related transmembrane protein involved in hematopoietic cell homing, kidney morphogenesis, breast cancer progression, and epithelial cell polarization. Although this sialomucin has been shown to block cell adhesion, the mechanisms involved remain enigmatic. It has, however, been postulated that the adaptor proteins NHERF-1 and 2 could regulate apical targeting of Podocalyxin by linking it to the actin cytoskeleton. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, in contrast, we find that full-length Podocalyxin acts to recruit NHERF-1 to the apical domain. Moreover, we show that ectopic expression of Podocalyxin in epithelial cells leads to microvillus formation along an expanded apical domain that extends laterally to the junctional complexes. Removal of the C-terminal PDZ-binding domain of Podocalyxin abolishes NHERF-1 recruitment but, surprisingly, has no effect on the formation of microvilli. Instead, we find that the extracellular domain and transmembrane region of Podocalyxin are sufficient to direct recruitment of filamentous actin and ezrin to the plasma membrane and induce microvillus formation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest that this single molecule can modulate NHERF localization and, independently, act as a key orchestrator of apical cell morphology, thereby lending mechanistic insights into its multiple roles as a polarity regulator, tumor progression marker, and anti-adhesin

Overexpression of podocalyxin-like protein is an independent factor of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Background:Podocalyxin-like 1 (PODXL) is a cell-adhesion glycoprotein and stem cell marker that has been associated with an aggressive tumour phenotype and poor prognosis in several forms of cancer. In this study, we investigated the prognostic impact of PODXL expression in colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods:Using tissue microarrays and immunohistochemistry, PODXL expression was evaluated in 536 incident CRC cases from a prospective, population-based cohort study. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling were used to assess the impact of PODXL expression on cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS).Results:High PODXL expression was significantly associated with unfavourable clinicopathological characteristics, a shorter CSS (hazard ratio (HR)=1.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-2.84, P<0.001) and 5-year OS (HR=1.85; 95% CI 1.29-2.64, P=0.001); the latter remaining significant in multivariate analysis (HR=1.52; 95% CI 1.03-2.25, P=0.036). In addition, in curatively resected stage III (T1-4, N1-2, M0) patients (n=122) with tumours with high PODXL expression, a significant benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy was demonstrated (p(interaction) =0.004 for CSS and 0.015 for 5-year OS in multivariate analysis).Conclusion:Podocalyxin-like 1 expression is an independent factor of poor prognosis in CRC. Our results also suggest that PODXL may be a useful marker to stratify patients for adjuvant chemotherapy