Forage Resources in Livestock-Cropping Smallholder Systems: A Case Study of Farmers at Transmigration Areas of Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara
ABSTRACT: A study aimed to
identify the farmer practice in providing feed for their Bali cattle was
undertaken at Satuan Pemukiman A (SPA) sub-village, Manggalewa sub district, Dompu,
West Nusa Tenggara, a region of highly variable rainfall patterns and lengthy dry
seasons. A critical aspect of this study was the detailed characterization of
the avail-ability, quality and usage patterns for existing forage resource
within the SPA mixed crop-livestock farming system. The study found that SPA
farmers used varying mixtures of free or tethered grazing and cut and carry to
supply the forage needs of their cattle. The available grazing was of good
quality and supply in the wet season but declined rap-idly by early dry season.
From mid-dry season on, the vast majority of farmers relied in-creasingly on
cut and carry forage from a range of sources including volunteer pastures, crop
residues, shrub legumes and fi nally other sources such as banana and papaya
stem, cashew apple and native tree leaves in the late dry season. Despite some
use of high quality shrub legumes such as Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia
sepium the quan-tity and quality of
available forage was often below maintenance, especially for lactating cows.
The study also revealed that existing forage sources such as the shrub legumes L.
leucocephala and G. sepium maintained high levels of crude protein and
digestibility year round. Greater use of shrub legumes (especially G. sepium)
and conserved forages have the potential to signifi cantly reduce the feed gap
in the second half of the dry season at SPA.
Author: Y. A. Sutaryono
Journal Code: jppeternakangg080003
