L Vaccaro - Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Maracay, Venezuela
Introduction
The socio-economic background
Trends in cattle production and land use
Opportunities for development
Constraints to livestock development
Conclusions
References
1 This paper is based mainly on information generated by past and present staff of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia, to whom it is dedicated in grateful appreciation
Mixed systems that include crops and livestock are widespread at all altitudes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on small and medium sized farms. On larger farms, as in the South American savannas, integration is becoming common despite traditional separation of crops and livestock (Vera et al, 1992). This paper examines opportunities for development of the animal component of mixed farming systems in the tropical countries of the region. The emphasis is on cattle because they are the most widely distributed species and they contribute nearly half the meat and almost all of the milk produced in the LAC countries.
Major social, economic and environmental changes took place in the region in the last 20 years. The period 1980-1990 was characterized by stagnation or a fall in GDP, hyperinflation, acute fiscal deficits and large foreign debts. Population growth was more than two per cent per year (Appendix Table A). The 75 per cent urbanization distinguishes LAC from tropical Africa and parts of Asia. Macroeconomic adjustments to reduce market distortions and public deficits have been harsh in the short term. They have included removal of subsidies and caused lower production of staple foods, widespread unemployment and reduced social services. Public spending on agricultural research and support has decreased. Poverty increased (CEPAL, 1990) and, in addition to widespread rural poverty a rising proportion of the poorest households now live in cities. Civil disturbance, organized violence and crime symbolize the period. Recent improvements in some countries have been offset by deterioration in others and international war returned to the region in 1995.
Milk and beef are traditionally important in the Latin American diet with high income elasticities of demand in all economic strata (Rubinstein and Nores, 1980). Overall average consumption of milk and meat per caput remained fairly static between 1976-1983 and 1984-1991 (Appendix Table A) but more countries recorded decreases than increases in both products, especially in Central America and the Caribbean. The serious deterioration in diet quality of the poorest families, documented recently in Venezuela, is masked by the average figures and is likely to be widespread.
Total milk production has increased by about two per cent per year since 1976 but has generally failed to keep up with population growth (Appendix Table B). Individual countries vary but there has been little overall change in yield per cow in most areas of the region except in the Caribbean where considerable progress has been made in Cuba. Tropical LAC produced 88 per cent of its milk requirements during 1984-1991. A deficit of nine million tonnes is predicted for the year 2000 (Seré, 1990).
Beef production has increased more rapidly than milk, especially in Mexico (Appendix Table C). Most expansion elsewhere, however has been from increases in inventory as yields per head have remained fairly stable. The region has been a net exporter of beef over the last two decades but a shortfall of 356000 tonnes is predicted by 2000 (Seré, 1990).
The trends described for production and yields have been associated with changes in the pattern of land use and production systems. Several related tendencies can be identified. Intensive, specialized dairy systems on high value lands and based largely on concentrate feeds derived from imported grains have tended to disappear in favour of dual purpose systems. Movement of national herds towards less fertile lands, as documented for Brazil and Colombia (Seré, 1990), has also been noted elsewhere in Central and South America. Lower costs and higher profits from milk production have been associated with systems of medium, rather than high, intensity (Wilkins et al, 1979; Holmann et al, 1990; Madalena et al, 1990) and milking in beef herds is becoming more common in an effort to intensify production.
There has been no significant increase in the amount of land under annual or perennial crops in any major area of the region (CIAT, 1993). Latin America, at 7.3 million ha/year, had, however, the highest rate of deforestation in the world during the 1980s (Serrao, 1994). Much of this area ended up as pasture land either because of direct substitution or because the cropping systems that replaced the forests were unsustainable. The area under permanent pastures in 1990 was 10 per cent greater than in 1974-1981 (CIAT, 1993) but 50 per cent of pastures in tropical LAC are now considered to be in an advanced state of degradation (Serrao and Toledo, 1990).
Against this background major opportunities for progress can be identified.
Firstly, much can be done so that cattle fit better into cropping systems in order to help achieve sustainable production in the whole system. Application of current knowledge to the use by ruminants of the residues and byproducts of major crops, including sugar cane and cereals, has yet to be fully exploited in Latin America. The role of locally grown supplements, including legumes, in achieving this goal through strategic balancing of dietary nutrients has been well emphasized (Preston and Leng, 1987). There is also evidence from various ecosystems to show the beneficial effects of grasses and legumes introduced into mixed systems as pasture, forage or edible cover crops. Reduced erosion and improved fertility, structure, water retention and biological activity in the soil have been recorded, as have associated increases in subsequent crop yields and reductions in fertilizer requirements (Sánchez and Ara, 1991; CIAT, 1992; Vera et al, 1992; Mares, 1994). The economic potential of mixed systems in the savannas is already known (Vera et al, 1992), as is the increase in animal production to be obtained from suitably adapted grasses and legumes (Table 1) but the effect these deep rooted species may have on soil carbon storage has been demonstrated only recently (Fisher et al, 1994). Thus, besides their potential for increasing crop and animal production, introduced pastures based on adapted species may prove a substantial buffer for carbon dioxide emissions. If this is so, the widely held negative view of the effect of tropical pastures on the global environment would require revision.
Table 1 Effect on animal production and soil carbon storage of adapted forages introduced into Colombian savannas
|
Item |
Forage type |
Difference (%) |
||
|
Native savanna |
Brachiaria spp. + Arachis pintoi |
|||
|
Animal production |
|
|
|
|
|
Stocking rate/ha |
0.2 |
2.4 |
1100 |
|
|
Weight gain (kg/yr) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
per head |
60 |
183 |
205 |
|
|
per hectare |
12 |
440 |
3567 |
|
Carbon storage (t/ha) |
|
|
|
|
|
0-40 cm |
122.7 |
159.3 |
30 |
|
|
41-80 cm |
74.3 |
108.4 |
46 |
|
|
Total |
197.0 |
267.7 |
36 |
|
Sources: Paladines and Leal, 1979; Fisher et al, 1994; Lascano, 1994
Secondly, tropical pastures are important in the recuperation of lands that have been degraded by mismanagement. The introduction of cattle because soil is too depleted to continue to produce crops is widespread, as is the case on small and medium holdings in Costa Rica (Thrupp, 1980). Increases in cattle production of 200-400 per cent have resulted from grass and grass-legume mixtures introduced in degraded rainforest pastures where properly adapted and adequately managed germplasm has been used (CIAT, 1992). Pioneer crops can help defray the costs and varieties suitable for infertile, acid soils have reached economically attractive levels of yield in the savannas and humid tropics (CIAT, 1992; Vera et al, 1992). Regional experience suggests that pastures in the humid tropics have a high potential for sustainable use (Sanchez and Ara, 1991). It has been estimated that the degraded pastures left by deforestation in the Amazon basin can be brought into sustainable use and meet the region's requirements for meat and milk until at least 2000 by using currently available technology (Serrao, 1994).
Thirdly, there is undoubtedly much room for better animal performance in the systems that seem likely to prove sustainable. One example is the magnitude of differences between neighbouring farms that have dual purpose cattle and cereal cropping enterprises (Table 2). Variations of 28-123 per cent in major production traits were associated with forage quality and quantity, levels of legume or multi-nutrient block supplementation, water availability, daily walking distance, preventive medicine and cattle genotype. A second example shows how the correct genotype depends on system intensity and can be of major economic significance (Table 3). Mismatches are still common, especially in milked herds where high grade and pure European cattle are often over-represented. Evidence from Venezuela indicates that about 150 per cent more milk and beef could be produced from the existing national herd if technologies for the efficient use of local resources were applied on an integrated basis (Plasse, 1992). This work, based on experiments validated over many years on commercial farms, is likely to be widely applicable elsewhere in lowland tropical LAC.
Table 2 Differences in performance between neighbouring farms using a cattle-cereal production system in Venezuela
|
Trait |
Least squares adjusted meana) |
Difference (%) |
|
|
Min |
Max |
||
|
Lactation yield (kg) |
556 |
1080 |
94 |
|
Days open |
114 |
189 |
66 |
|
Mortality, 0-4 mo (%) |
5.2 |
11.6 |
123 |
|
Calf weight, 4 mo |
61 |
78 |
28 |
Note:
a) 6 farms, 152627 observations/farm
Table 3 Relative economic merit of cattle breed groups in tropical South American production systems
|
System/country |
System intensity |
Relative profit (100 = most profitable group in each case) |
Source |
|||
|
Local/zebu type |
European crossbred |
|||||
|
Low |
Medium |
High/pure |
||||
|
Cereal-grazing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Venezuelaa) |
Low |
100 |
- |
97 |
87 |
Vaccaro et al, 1994 |
|
Grazing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bolivia |
Low |
100 |
- |
- |
-300 |
Wilkins et al, 1979 |
|
Venezuelaa) |
Medium |
- |
- |
100 |
45 |
Holmann et al, 1990 |
|
Brazil |
Medium |
- |
50 |
100 |
58 |
Madalena et al, 1990 |
|
Brazil |
High |
- |
35 |
100 |
90 |
Madalena et al, 1990 |
|
Venezuela |
High |
90 |
- |
100 |
94 |
Vaccaro et al, 1994 |
Note:
a) Data relate to relative gross income
The conceptual framework
There are strong arguments in support of the view that the main constraint in tropical LAC is conceptual rather than technical.
Animal, crop and environmental sciences are usually separated in teaching, research and development planning in LAC. The social sciences often have little more than a token role in these activities.
Animal production and veterinary medicine are also frequently separated and are indeed still notorious for their rivalry. Most LAC countries now have ministries dealing with environmental issues but these are almost always disconnected from agriculture and forestry. These separations are exacerbated by the traditional organization of research institutions along disciplinary lines, by universities and their curricula, and by the highly theoretical content of university course work.
Animal scientists, now increasingly from cities, are frequently ignorant of practical problems and unaware of the broader production systems context, sustainability issues and current social concerns. One study of tropical forages and grassland in LAC concluded that the knowledge of the last 12-15 years, together with emerging social concerns, had yet to be adequately incorporated into university teaching (Nores and Vera, 1993) and that the most frequently used textbooks were published before 1980. A survey of 33 universities in 13 countries showed that only 57 per cent of professors did research and that this occupied less than 40 per cent of their time. Low budgets allow little opportunity for on-farm research and isolate universities further from reality. Teaching, understandably, is biased towards the well documented intensive models of temperate countries. In the past even prestigious public agricultural research institutions gave low priority to further training unless this was externally funded and, with notable exceptions, has changed little or for the worse (Ardila et al, 1982).
It is not surprising, therefore, that much of the research done by national institutions in tropical LAC appears to be divorced from urgent problems. Two case studies illustrate this point. In the first a sample of papers published in 1973-1984 shows that the proportion relating to dual purpose compared with specialized dairy cattle is almost the reverse of their numerical importance (Table 4). This is in contradiction to the evidence (Table 3) that European type dairy cows may have very little place in sustainable tropical production systems. Judging by disciplinary distribution the apparent neglect of research in such critical fields as systems, management, economics and forages is very instructive.
Table 4 Frequency of research papers on cattle in dual purpose (75-per cent of milked cow population) and specialized dairy systems (25 per cent of milked cow population) compared to their relative importance in tropical LACa)
|
Item |
Percentage of papers on |
|
|
Dual purpose systems |
Specialized dairying |
|
|
All research papers |
14 |
73 |
|
Discipline |
|
|
|
Genetics (68) |
19 |
1 |
|
Reproduction (54) |
44 |
56 |
|
Nutrition (53) |
11 |
89 |
|
Health (8) |
63 |
37 |
|
Forages (7) |
0 |
100 |
|
Management (5) |
40 |
60 |
|
Economics (4) |
75 |
25 |
|
Systems (3) |
66 |
34 |
Notes:
a) Seré and Rivas, 1987
b) Papers in major LAC journals 1973-1984, adapted from Vaccaro, 1986
The second case relates to publications on forage and grasslands abstracted from a data base serving the needs of tropical LAC scientists. Only 22 per cent of publications were related to problem solving research and only seven per cent had any explicit socio-economic perspective (Nores and Vera, 1993). The conclusion from this and other sources is that the profession seemed to be "talking to itself". The situation is now somewhat better but these examples represent sadly wasted opportunities and depict a legacy of slow and difficult change.
Radical modernization of basic research and training concepts in animal science is required to ensure that advantage is taken of the abundant opportunities and to ensure that the frontier of knowledge is carried forward fast enough to meet future needs. Livestock scientists must become properly conscious of the role of the animal as a component of sustainable systems rather than as an end in itself. Emphasis on high yields per animal will then give place to one on the long- term social benefits of the system as a whole. A powerful aid to achieving this change is provided by on-farm teaching and research. Cooperative models in which institutions, including universities, and farmers participate in carrying out a mutually agreed research agenda have been successful in the region. Farmers have proved willing to provide financial support even in such disciplines as animal breeding where results take a long time to emerge. Such models obviate the risk of irrelevance and ease the task of the extension services.
Information exchange is another critical ingredient of research and training. Reputable animal science journals are very scarce in Latin America and many scientists and most university students have difficulty reading anything except Spanish and Portuguese. They are concurrently confronted with a daunting volume, not all of which is useful, of literature. An urgent case can be made for an information system which filters that which is relevant to animal science in sustainable tropical production systems and shares translated texts among continents.
Policy
Inappropriate policies are a direct consequence of the conceptual framework just described. They are perhaps the most serious constraint to progress in the livestock sector. The effects range from lost opportunities in promoting development to active damage to the economy and the environment. The most notorious examples include the complex issue of deforestation and cattle ranching in the Amazon basin (Mares, 1994) and the subsidized import of European cattle (Jarvis, 1990), whose consistently poor performance (Table 33 was already predictable.
Policies related to the livestock sector are generally short term because of political instability and too fragmented to be effective. Issues such as land tenure, rural security markets and prices, credit, input and product quality control - which are all crucial in LAC - are often neglected. It is common to find government technical services in one area (e.g. reproduction and genetics) incompatible with another (e.g. feed resources) and with the main production systems. These problems of incoherence and instability must obviously be corrected.
The greatest need is for policies which are holistic and not simply centred on livestock. The next, and vital, dimension is that they should be designed to make rational and sustainable use of resources and to balance the needs of all sectors of the community. They will thus promote the long term productivity of overall production systems by optimizing the use of the animals within them. In addition to political will this is a complex area in need of new expertise and urgent research. If development policies are set in this way the technical aspects related to the livestock component will fall more clearly into place.
Technical aspects
Available technology can substantially increase livestock production but growing needs demand advances that must come from research. This section tries to predict agendas in different areas while recognizing that progress depends on advances in each being integrated as a coherent whole.
Systems
Research on livestock production systems has at least a 20-year history in the region (Ruiz, 1989). It was criticized initially for being too concerned with methodology and diagnostic work. Revitalized, it now has a crucial role in understanding the dynamics of holistically defined systems especially if adequate attention is to be paid to current social, economic and environmental concerns. There is a shortage of qualified personnel and local training centres but successful advances will have major consequences for priority setting in all other research domains.
Feed resources
Poor nutrition is widely recognized as a major constraint to animals kept on a basic diet of tropical grazing and crop residues and by-products in LAC. Vigorous research is being pursued in this domain with particular attention to local resources to complement the nutrient content of the basic diet (Combellas and Mata, 1992; Pezo et al., 1992). There are still major gaps in the knowledge of the reproduction, agronomy and utilization of many promising plant species, especially legumes, which may be able to fulfil this role. Variation in the ability to contribute to environmental conservation will also receive more attention. Better integration of crop-livestock systems should encourage plant breeders to monitor the value to livestock of residues and by-products in their selection programmes.
Genetics
LAC has generated one of the major bodies of information on the genetics of tropical beef cattle but is less advanced in dual purpose animals. Work is needed to achieve a better understanding of the very important genotype: environment interactions, to validate the results of mating systems in crossbred populations and to determine the genetic parameters of economically useful traits. Tropical LAC is the home of various endangered "native" (Criollo) breeds but blanket recommendations for conservation are not credible, especially where resources are scarce. Research should be directed to methods of differentiating genotypes which justify conservation from those which may not, this also being an issue of concern in other developing regions.
Health
The impact of disease on cattle production in LAC is extremely heavy and in cases such as foot and mouth disease is a factor limiting export development. A major part of the health problem in the region is, however, confounded with inappropriate production and management systems, malnutrition and the use of unsuitable genotypes. It should thus be considerably reduced as improvements in these aspects become more widespread. Control methods for the major infectious and contagious diseases are well known but the future depends mainly on resources and political decisions. Reproductive disfunction and parasitic disease are, however, areas of immense economic importance in the region and pose particular problems through their interactions with genetics and nutrition. They would therefore seem to be areas where research is particularly justified.
Despite a privileged place compared to other parts of the tropical world LAC suffers major problems of poverty and violence, declining standards of living for large sectors of society and environmental degradation. Cattle have a demonstrably important role in improving this situation and much current technology can do this. Yet progress has been slow and opportunities lost. A holistic, integrated concept of production is the most important single factor for harnessing resources and catalysing change. Once this is in place, policies conducive to the sustainable development of systems including livestock will be set more widely and appropriate research and training to serve future needs can be undertaken.
Ardila J. Trigo E and Piñeiro M. 1982. Human resources in agricultural research: three cases in Latin America. Agric. Admin. 10: 213-234.
CIAT. 1992. Pastures for the tropical lowlands: CIAT's contribution. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia.
CIAT. 1993. Trends in CIAT commodities: 1993. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia.
Combellas J and Mata D. 1992. Suplementación estratégica de bovinos de doble propósito. In: Fernández Baca S (ed) Avances en la producción de leche y carne en el trópico Americano. Food and Agriculture Organization: Santiago, Chile. 99-130.
CEPAL. 1990. Magnitud de la pobreza en América Latina en los años ochenta. Comisión Económica pare la América Latina: Santiago, Chile (mimeo).
Fisher M, Rao IM, Ayarza MA, Lascano CE, Sanz JI, Thomas RJ and Vera RR. 1994. Carbon storage by introduced deep-rooted grasses in the South American savannas. Nature 371: 236-238.
Holmann P. Blake RW, Hahn MV, Barker R. Milligan RA, Oltenacu PA and Stanton TL. 1990. Comparative profitability of pure and crossbred Holstein herds. J. Dairy Science 73: 2190-2205.
Jarvis, L. 1990. Latin American beef and milk policies: lessons of the 90's from experiences in the 70's and 80's. Anais 12 Reuniao da Associacao Latino-Americana de Producao Animal, Campinas, Brazil 335-350.
Lascano CE. 1994. Nutritive value and animal production of forage Arachis. In: Kerridge PC and Hardy W (eds) Biology and agronomy of forage Arachis. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia. 27-35.
Madalena F, Teodoro RL, Lemos AM, Monteiro JBN and Barbosa RT. 1990. Evaluation of strategies for crossbreeding dairy cattle in Brazil. J. Dairy Sci. 73: 1887-1901.
Mares VM. 1994. The impact of livestock on the environment. Carta de RISPAL 31: 3-11; 32: 3-9.
Nores GA and Vera RR. 1993. Science and information for our grasslands. Proc. XVII Int. Grassl. Congr. 33-38.
Paladines O and Leal JA. 1979. Manejo y productividad de las praderas en los llanos orientales de Colombia. In: Sánchez PA and Tergas LE (eds) Producción de pastos en suelos ácidos de los trópicos. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia. 331-336.
Pezo D, Romero F and Ibrahim M. 1992. Producción, manejo y utilización de los pastos tropicales para la producción de came y leche en el trópico. In: Fernández Baca S (ed) Avances en la producción de leche y carne en el trópico Americano. Food and Agriculture Organization: Santiago, Chile. 99-130.
Plasse D. 1992. Presente y futuro de la producción bovina en Venezuela. In: González C (ed) Ganadería mestiza de doble propósito. Ediciones Astro SA: Maracaibo, Venezuela. 1-24.
Preston TR and Leng RA. 1987. Matching ruminant production systems with available resources in the tropics and subtropics. Penambul Books, Armidale, Australia.
Rubinstein EM de and Nores GA. 1980. Gasto en carne de res y productos lácteos por estrato de ingreso en doce ciudades de América Latina (Internal Document). Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia.
Ruiz M. 1989. El enfoque de sistemas en la investigación pecuaria y su metodología en América Latina. In: Nolte E and Ruiz M (eds) Ciencias sociales y enfoque de sistemas agropecuarios. RISPAL, IICA: San Jose, Costa Rica. 9-35.
Sánchez PA and Ara MA. 1991. Contribución potencial de las pasturas mejoradas a la sostenibilidad de los ecosistemas de sabana y de bosque húmedo tropical. In: Contribución de las pasturas mejoradas a la producción animal en el trópico. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia. 1-23.
Seré C. 1990. Dinámica de los sistemas de producción pecuaria en el trópico latinoamericano. Anais 12 Reuniao da Associacao Latino-Americana de Producao Animal, Campinas, Brazil 385-413.
Seré C and Rivas L. 1987. The advantages and disadvantages of promoting expanded dairy production in dual purpose herds: evidence from Latin America. In: Trends in CIAT commodities: 1987. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia. 34-60.
Serrao EA. 1994. Technologies and policies to halt deforestation in tropical rain forests. In: Alfaro M, de Camino R. Mora Ml and Oram P (eds) Needs and priorities for forestry and agroforestry policy research in Latin America. IICA: San Jose, Costa Rica. 31-70.
Serrao EA and Toledo JM. 1990. The search for sustainability in Amazonian pastures. In: Anderson AB (ed) Alternatives to deforestation: steps towards sustainable use of Amazonian rain forest. Columbia University Press: New York, USA. 195-214.
Thrupp LA. 1980. Deforestation, agricultural development and cattle expansion in Costa Rica: an integrated approach to problems of land-use transformation (B.A. Dissertation). Stanford University: Stanford, USA.
Vaccaro L. 1986. Sistemas de producción bovine predominantes en el trópico latinoamericano. In: Arango-Nieto L, Charry A and Vera RR (eds) Panorama de la ganadería de doble propósito en la América tropical. Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación pare la Agricultura - Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical: Cali, Colombia. 29-43.
Vaccaro R, de Vaccaro L and Verde). 1994. Interacción genotipo x ambiente en ganado de doble propósito. In: Plasse D, de Borsotti NP and Arango J (eds) X Cursillo sobre bovinos de carne. Facultad de Cíencas Veterinarias, Universidad Central de Venezuela: Maracay, Venezuela. 119-134.
Vera RR, Thomas R. Sanint L and Sanz JI. 1992. Development of sustainable ley-farming for the acid soil savannas of tropical America. Ann. Acad. Brasileira Cien. 64 (Suppl. 1): 105-125.
Wilkins JV, Ali A and Vaca Diez C. 1979. El cruzamiento pare la producción de leche en los llanos bolivianos. Paper presented at the Seventh Meeting of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Producción Animal, Panamà.
