The 5th TAPAFON MEETING, BAJO, BHUTAN

RESOLUTIONS

The 5^th TAPAFON MEETING, BAJO, BHUTAN

The house resolved that the network of Asian Temperate areas has done a lot of useful work, thereby; strengthening research and development based on forages in the area and needs so that the scientific inputs for the continuous development of the area and designated mandate are strengthened.
That the meeting at Bajo was a very successful event where very high quality papers were presented, which emphatically suggested that various forage production technologies and pasture improvement methodologies have contributed enormously to the development of this important resource base in the Himalaya.
That looking at the contribution of the network to the development of forage resources, it is imperative that the network needs to be continued and strengthened further.
The house agreed to have a TAPAFON fodder oat network as part of a shift in attention by the WG towards cultivated forage crops and during the next two years the emphasis should be focused on cultivated forage crops under the following themes. (The major Theme “fodder crops” and sub themes as below are likely to be used during the proposed Palampur meeting):
Ø      Exchange, evaluation and introduction of oat germplasm amongst the members and the other countries.

Ø      Integration of forage crop cultivation in the on-going farming systems.

Ø      Role of fodder crops in sustaining the livestock enterprises in the region.

Ø      Introduction of appropriate technologies for conservation of forage crops for lean periods.

Ø      Improvement of quality parameter in forage crops.
The house resolved that the participating countries in the network would make efforts to raise sponsorship for holding the meetings.
The house resolved that there is need to involve community organization and strong extension program for achieving sustainable fodder production in the Himalayan countries.
The house recognized that forest grazing by livestock has both positive and negative effect to forest regeneration depending on type of forest and livestock species. However, the floor resolved that the impact of forest grazing needs to be quantified and appropriate measures should be developed to alleviate the problem.
The house agreed that use of crops residues and by products comprise substantial feed resource to livestock feed in the mountain countries and that the research should focus on measures to improve its quality and quantity .
Given the contribution of livestock feed resource from grazing in the agro pastoral systems, the house agreed on the need to generate further technologies on improvement of such grazing resources in terms of germplasm evaluation and management practices.
The house noted that one of the major constraints to agro pastoral development in the Himalayan countries is the shortage of trained fodder specialists. The house resolved that emphasis should be given to the human resource development in fodder agronomy.
On the issue of limited cultivable land for fodder production in mountain regions, the house agreed on the need to reinforce technologies such as silvo pastoral systems.
The house agreed that there is need to introduce better forage cultivars for the high hills for haymaking and off-season fodder production.
The house agreed that some native fodder oats varieties found in different parts of the country should be selected, evaluated and conserved (so that native germplasm is not overlooked). New cultivars are also needed for testing in different agro-ecological zones of the country, with the main requirement that the cultivars should need only minimum inputs for optimum production. The oat cultivars brought by the participating members at the meeting would be exchanged for trials in respective environments after signing an informal agreement for its further use.
The house resolved that the cultivation of oats in summer (in particular sites/locations) for particular use and to address a particular farming system needs to be done.
The house resolved that the breeding policy in yak should be carefully worked out integrating traditional knowledge and practices. Selective breeding within the population should be given high priority.
The house agreed to follow the oat trial protocol designed by FAO. The members would provide any further comments on the design to the FAO by end of June 2002. The trials on oat cultivars will be fitted into the on-going programs of the member countries to cut down cost and the data from oat cultivar evaluation trials will be shared among the member countries.
That the next meeting of the TAPAFON will be held in Palampur, India by the end of April or the first week of May 2004 with the likely theme “ Fodder Crops” and the possible sub themes:
Ø      Exchange, evaluation and introduction of oat germplasm amongst the members and other countries

Ø      Integration of forage crop cultivation in the on-going farming systems

Ø      Role fodder crops in sustaining the livestock enterprise in the region

Ø      Introduction of appropriate technologies for conservation of forage crops for lean periods

Ø      Improvement of quality parameter in forage crops
The post of Regional Coordinator for TAPAFON has no definite mandate and function and as such the house agreed that this post be done away with.

A total of 200 copies of the proceedings of the 5^th TAPAFON meeting will be distributed by October 2002 (50 copies to India, 30 each to other regional countries and FAO, and a reserve of 30).
Each author under the supervision of National coordinators will be responsible to edit and condense the papers presented at the meeting and then submit the revised version by end of May 2002 to Tsering Gyaltsen for further revision.
The house resolved that the paper for the proceedings should follow a standard guideline. Mr. Keith Armstrong undertook to send some draft guidelines to the local committee for finalization and further circulation to the National Coordinators.