title: Challenges for beef production in smallholder communities with low reproductive management skills: a case study from Northern Lao PDR.
abstract: Improved large ruminant productivity is increasingly acknowledged as a pathway for the alleviation of rural poverty and food insecurity in smallholder communities in Southeast Asia; yet, in much of Laos, bovine reproductive management is practically absent. Large ruminant reproduction skills were studied, using face-to-face surveys (n=60) of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of farmers, plus an extension of an examination of parameters of reproductive efficiency (n = 1786 cattle and 434 buffalo) in the northern provinces of Luang Prabang and Xieng Khouang. The surveys particularly involved female farmers to provide gender-disaggregated data, with females making up 38.3 % of participants. Results confirmed that KAPs of smallholder farmers on bovine reproductive management were low (34-46 %) with trends toward higher KAP scores in male survey respondents. Poor reproductive parameters were identified in both provinces, with low calving percentages of 54-75 and 45-54 % in cattle and buffalo groups, respectively, and prolonged inter-calving intervals of 14.1-19.8 and 26.0 months for the cattle and buffalo groups, respectively. Improving the reproductive efficiency of large ruminants in the northern upland regions would enable smallholder farmers to be more effectively engaged in the dramatic economic growth of the Southeast Asia region, although these findings indicate that intensive training and supportive interventions are required to improve large ruminant reproductive outcomes in communities that have low-level large ruminant husbandry skills.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nampanya
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khounsy
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia. peter.windsor@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Windsor
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002980:Climate; D000067565:Farmers; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D012098:Reproduction; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Bos indicus; Bubalus bubalis; Cattle buffalo; Food security; Gender; Smallholder farming