Effects of substituting noug seed cake with pigeon pea leaves or desmodium hay on performance of male dairy calves

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of substituting 50% of noug seed cake (NSC) in a concentrate mixture with pigeon pea leaves (PPL) or desmodium hay (DH) on feed intake, digestibility, body weight gain, carcass composition, and meat quality of crossbred male dairy calves. Twenty-seven male dairy calves at 7-8 months of age with an average initial body weight of 150 ± 31 kg (mean ± SD) were assigned to 3 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 9 replications. Calves were blocked based on their initial body weight and assigned to the 3 treatments. All calves were fed native pasture hay ad libitum (at ⁓10% refusal) supplemented with a concentrate containing 24% NSC (treatment 1) or supplemented with a concentrate where 50% of NSC was replaced with PPL (treatment 2) or a concentrate where 50% of NSC was replaced with DH (treatment 3). Feed and nutrient intake, apparent nutrient digestibility, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass composition, and meat quality (except texture) were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. Treatments 2 and 3 had more (P < 0.05) tender loin and rib meat than treatment 1. It can be concluded that 50% of NSC in the concentrate mixture can be replaced with either PPL or DH in growing male crossbred dairy calves to achieve similar growth performance and carcass characteristics. Since the substitution of 50% NSC either with PPL or DH resulted in similar outcomes in almost all responses measured, it is recommended to evaluate the complete substitution of NSC either with PPL or DH on the performance of calves.

Tapping Into the Environmental Co-benefits of Improved Tropical Forages for an Agroecological Transformation of Livestock Production Systems

Livestock are critical for incomes, livelihoods, nutrition and ecosystems management throughout the global South. Livestock production and the consumption of livestock-based foods such as meat, cheese, and milk is, however, under global scrutiny for its contribution to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water use, pollution, and land/soil degradation. This paper argues that, although the environmental footprint of livestock production presents a real threat to planetary sustainability, also in the global south, this is highly contextual. Under certain context-specific management regimes livestock can deliver multiple benefits for people and planet. We provide evidence that a move toward sustainable intensification of livestock production is possible and could mitigate negative environmental impacts and even provide critical ecosystem services, such as improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and enhanced biodiversity on farms. The use of cultivated forages, many improved through selection or breeding and including grasses, legumes and trees, in integrated crop-tree-livestock systems is proposed as a stepping stone toward agroecological transformation. We introduce cultivated forages, explain their multi-functionality and provide an overview of where and to what extent the forages have been applied and how this has benefited people and the planet alike. We then examine their potential to contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology and find that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. More research is, however, needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in the sociological and process aspects of agroecology. We make the case for further genetic improvement of cultivated forages and strong multi-disciplinary systems research to strengthen our understanding of the multidimensional impacts of forages and for managing agro-environmental trade-offs. We finish with a call for action, for the agroecological and livestock research and development communities to improve communication and join hands for a sustainable agri-food system transformation.

Subsidy as An Economic Instrument for Environmental Protection: A Case of Global Fertilizer Use

Fertilizer subsidies may constitute a key economic tool with which to provide food for the growing population. Therefore, this work aimed to (i) assess the effectiveness of subsidized chemical (NPK) fertilizer use in food production by comparing the crop output between developed and developing regions and (ii) examine the benefits of organic fertilizer and the need for its use in developing regions such as Africa. Secondary data from 2000 to 2019 on global subsidized fertilizer use, crop production, income, and other agro-environmental parameters, such as climate and soil, were collected from the international databases of the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and World Income Inequalities Database (WID), as well as countries’ national statistics. Data were analyzed using qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial software and techniques, such as SPSS, averages, multivariate analysis, and spatial analytical Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The results reveal that the total global fertilizer use continuously increased from 79 million tonnes in 2000 to 125 million tonnes in 2019. Subsidized fertilizer use and crop production increased with countries’ economic status. For example, countries or regions with more economic resources tended to have higher fertilizer subsidies. More than 95% of North American and European countries recorded the highest total chemical fertilizer use, ranging from 855,160 to 18,224,035 kg ha−1. In terms of organic fertilizer production, the percentage contribution in Africa relative to global production was only 2%, which was about 932,538 million tonnes below the production yield in North America. More organic fertilizer and less inorganic fertilizer should be encouraged instead of the total eradication of chemical fertilizers. This is especially applicable to developing countries, where food production is low due to poor soil and high food demand owing to a harsh environment and rapid population growth.