Forage fodder banks reduce labor needs for feeding cattle
- An impact study in Prey Chhor, Kampong Cham, Cambodia
Werner Stür1, Thiphavong Boupha1, Lorn Sophal2, Soem Dimang3 and Tim Purcell4
1 International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), PO Box 783, Vientiane, Lao PDR, Email: w.stur@cgiar.org
DAHP ADI 2 Animal Health and Production Office, Department of Agriculture, Kampong Cham, Cambodia.
Department of Animal Agricultural Development 3 Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Health & Production International 4 Agricultural Development International, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
1) CONTEXT
• Prey Chhor district in Kampong Cham province of Cambodia
is located in a flat, low-lying area where paddy rice (1 crop
per year) is the dominant crop. There are only small
pockets of higher land for houses and home gardens.
• During the 5 month wet season, all of the agricultural land
is flooded, while the remaining 7 months are completely dry
and only small fields of irrigated vegetables are grown.
• Farmers raise at least 2 cattle for land preparation and
draught.
• The main feed for cattle are rice stubble, native grasses
and rice straw. Cattle are very thin and weak for most of
the year.
• Farmers have to spend a lot of time either grazing the
cattle on vacant crop land or finding natural grass to cut
and bring back to the village. This is done by all household
members including children.
2) INTRODUCTION OF FORAGES
• In 2003, the CIAT-managed ‘Livelihood and Livestock Systems Project’
introduced forages to farmers in Prey Chhor.
• Farmers identified the lack of green feed for cattle and high labor use as a
major constraints to livestock production. The project worked with them to
develop small fodder banks, grown near their houses and cut for their cattle as
a supplementary feed to rice straw.
• By 2008, 3 years after the end of the project, most of the original farmers still
used their fodder banks, and other farmers had followed their lead.
3) THE IMPACT STUDY
• In October 2008, a study was conducted to examine the impact of forage
fodder banks on farmer’s livelihood in Prey Chhor. This study was part of the
‘Forage for Beef’ project, a new collaborative project between the University of
New England in Australia, CIAT and the Department of Animal Health and
Production, the Royal University of Agriculture and local partners in Cambodia
• The objective of the impact study was to measure how households using
forage fodder banks benefited with regard to time spent feeding cattle.
• Between 25-27th October 2008, a survey team from the ‘Forages for Beef’
project met with farmers in their villages and interviewed them using a
structured questionnaire (Figure 1).
They interviewed 3 groups of farmers from a total of 143 households (HH):
1. All forage adopters in Prey Chhor district - 43 HH
2. Randomly selected non-adopters in Prey Chhor, who were exposed to
forages but did not adopt (same villages as adopters) – 50 HH Figure 1. The structured questionnaire
4) RESULTS 3. Randomly selected non-adopters from other villages, who had not been
exposed to forages – 50 HH
4.1 Forage adoption and household characteristics
• Forage fodder banks were quite small – on average 485 m2 Table 1. Labor use for feeding cattle by season (hours/day/HH)
• The main forage species adopted by farmers were grasses. The main grasses were Non adopters
Panicum maximum ‘Simuang’ and Brachiaria hybrid ‘Mulato’. same
• There was no significant difference in household size (3.9 adults and 1.7 children), Seasons Adopters villages other villages
farm size (1.4 ha) and cattle number (4 cattle) between adopters and non-adopters.
Dry 5.4a 7.3b 6.6b
4.2 Labor use for feeding cattle Early wet 4.2a 6.0b 5.8b
• Adoption of forage fodder banks significantly reduced the amount of time needed to Flooding 1.7a 3.7b 4.6b
feed and manage cattle in all seasons by 1.2 – 2.0 hours per day (Table 1) per Within rows, means followed by different superscripts are significantly
household. different (P<0.05)
• The time saving was greatest in the flooding season (2 hours per day), but significant
time saving were also evident in other seasons (Table 1).
• Farmers with forage fodder banks changed the way they managed their cattle; they Table 2. Labor use for feeding and managing cattle by household
spent less time grazing their cattle than non-adopters, and they spent less time cutting members (hours/day)
native grasses (data not presented).
• All household members were involved in cattle feeding, however, men spent more time
same
Non adopters
than children and women in caring for cattle (Table 2).
• Men and children benefited most, in terms of time saving, an hour per day per person,
Men
Adopters
1.9a
villages
2.9b
other villages
3.5b
from forage fodder banks, when comparing Adopters and Non-adopters in the same
villages (Table 2). Women 0.7 0.7 1.2
Children 1.0a 2.0b 0.9a
5) CONCLUSIONS Total 3.6a 5.6b 5.6b
• Forage fodder banks saved farm households time – 2 hours per day. Within rows, means followed by different superscripts are significantly
• Men and children, benefited most; saving an hour per day per person.
different (P<0.05)
• This impact study has been followed up with case studies to elicit the
social aspects of time saving but results are not yet available.
The financial support of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for this research is gratefully acknowledged .