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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2020

Intensive forage cultivation reduces labour input and increases cattle production income in smallholder mixed farming communities of South Central Coastal Vietnam

Ho Le Phi Khanh; Corfield, Jeff; Lane, Peter; Nguyen Xuan Ba; Nguyen Huu Van; Parsons, David

Abstract

We investigated the impact of growing introduced forages on cattle production in three communes (Cat Trinh, An Chan and Phuoc Dinh) in South Central Coastal Vietnam. New forages, management, and feeding practices were introduced to 45 selected Best Bet Farmers (BBF) using participatory-adaptive methods over a 3-year period. The BBF changed their cattle production system from grazing and harvesting of native forages to partial grazing plus stall-feeding of cultivated forages. This changed production system reduced the labour time for the BBF because they spent less time managing and cutting native forage for their cattle. The reduction in labour time enabled farmers to re-allocate saved labour to diversify their activities, and increase household income and social interaction within the community. The process succeeded because the BBF accepted the new forage species and applied the new farming practices delivered within a participatory-adaptive framework. The smallholder farmers’ acceptance and ownership of proposed techniques are important for optimising livelihood benefits and ensuring the scaling-out of such techniques to other farmers.

Keywords

Best bet farmers; Cattle production; Labour saving; Livelihood; Participatory-adaptive

Published in

Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
2020, Volume: 2, article number: 100067

      SLU Authors

    • Parsons, David

      • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
      • University of Tasmania

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Agricultural Science

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2020.100067

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/112342