Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T01:53:48.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE PARADOX OF LIMITED MAIZE STOVER USE IN INDIA'S SMALLHOLDER CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2011

OLAF ERENSTEIN ,
ARINDAM SAMADDAR ,
NILS TEUFEL  and
MICHAEL BLÜMMEL
OLAF ERENSTEIN*
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), CG Block, NASC Complex, Todapur Road, Pusa, New Delhi-110012, India
ARINDAM SAMADDAR
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), CG Block, NASC Complex, Todapur Road, Pusa, New Delhi-110012, India International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), NASC, Pusa, New Delhi-110012, India
NILS TEUFEL
Affiliation:
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), NASC, Pusa, New Delhi-110012, India
MICHAEL BLÜMMEL
Affiliation:
ILRI, c/o ICRISAT, Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India
*
‡Corresponding author. Current address: Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT, c/o ILRI, Po Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia E-mail: o.erenstein@cgiar.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Cereal residues are an important feed source for ruminants in smallholder crop-livestock systems in the (sub)tropics. In many areas of India maize is a relatively new cash crop where farmers and development agents alike generally perceive maize stover to have limited utility, in contrast with the intensive feeding of other cereal residues in India and the intensive use of maize stover in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. A comparative assessment of maize stover quality (based on a brief review and a feeding trial) indeed confirms its potential as a ruminant feed according to its relative nutritive value. The paper then explores the apparent paradox through a scoping study of maize stover use (based on village surveys) in three contrasting maize-growing districts in India – including both traditional and non-traditional maize producers. The limited maize stover use appears to alleviate seasonal shortages, with tradition and technology helping explain the preferential use of other cereal residues. The paper thereby provides further impetus to India's apparent food-feed paradigm – whereby farmers’ staple food preferences coincide with crop residue feed preferences. The paper argues the case for investing in maize stover R&D in India and thus reigniting earlier feed research in general. Indeed, maize stover use is a relatively neglected area by India's agricultural R&D and merits more attention so as to exploit its potential contribution and alleviate eventual tradeoffs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 677 - 704
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Biradar, N. (2004). Analysis of straw and stover of different crops as a livestock feed by the farmers. Annals of Agricultural Research 25:377–380.Google Scholar
Blummel, M., Bidinger, F. R. and Hash, C. T. (2007). Management and cultivar effects on ruminant nutritional quality of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) stover: II. Effects of cultivar choice on stover quality and productivity. Field Crops Research 103:129–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blummel, M. and Rao, P. P. (2006). Economic value of sorghum stover traded as fodder for urban and peri-urban dairy production in Hyderabad, India. International Sorghum and Millets Newsletter 47:97–100.Google Scholar
Blummel, M., Zerbini, E., Reddy, B. V. S., Hash, C. T., Bidinger, F. and Khan, A. A. (2003). Improving the production and utilization of sorghum and pearl millet as livestock feed: progress towards dual-purpose genotypes. Field Crops Research 84:143–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byerlee, D. and Husain, T. (1992). Farming Systems of Pakistan: Diagnosing Priorities for Agricultural Research. Islamabad, Pakistan: Vanguard.Google Scholar
Byerlee, D., Iqbal, M. and Fischer, K. S. (1989). Quantifying and valuing the joint production of grain and fodder from maize fields: Evidence from northern Pakistan. Experimental Agriculture 25:435–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chakravarti, A. K. (1987). Availability of cattle fodder in India. Geographical Review 77:209–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Close, W., Menke, K. H., Steingass, H. and Tröscher, A. (1986). Selected Topics in Animal Nutrition. Feldafing, Germany: Deutsche Stiftung für internationale Entwicklung (DSE).Google Scholar
DAC (2010). Agricultural Statistics at a glance – 2010. New Delhi, India: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India.Google Scholar
DAC (2011). Second Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains for 2010–11. New Delhi, India: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India.Google Scholar
Devendra, C. and Sevilla, C. C. (2002). Availability and use of feed resources in crop-animal systems in Asia. Agricultural Systems 71:59–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erenstein, O. (1999). The Economics of Soil Conservation in Developing Countries: The Case of Crop Residue Mulching. Mansholt Studies 14. Wageningen, the Netherlands: Wageningen University.Google Scholar
Erenstein, O. (2002). Crop residue mulching in tropical and semi-tropical countries: An evaluation of residue availability and other technological implications. Soil & Tillage Research 67:115–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erenstein, O. (2003). Smallholder conservation farming in the tropics and sub-tropics: a guide to the development and dissemination of mulching with crop residues and cover crops. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 100:17–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erenstein, O. (2010a). The evolving maize sector in Asia: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of New Seeds 11:1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erenstein, O. (2010b). Village surveys for technology uptake monitoring: Case of tillage dynamics in the Trans-Gangetic Plains. Experimental Agriculture 46:277–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erenstein, O. and Thorpe, W. (2010). Crop-livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: A meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Environment, Development and Sustainability 12:669–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (2011). An international consultation on integrated crop-livestock systems for development: The way forward for sustainable production intensification. Integrated Crop Management Vol.13–2010. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Gohl, B. (1981). Tropical feeds: feed information summaries and nutritive values. Animal Production and Health Series 12. Rome, Italy: FAO.Google Scholar
Gressel, J. and Zilberstein, A. (2003). Let them eat (GM) straw. Trends in Biotechnology 21:525–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, A., Blummel, M., Thorpe, W., Bidinger, F. R. and Hash, C. T. (2004). Sorghum and pearl millet as food-feed-crops in India. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology 4:1–15.Google Scholar
Harika, A. S., Tripathi, H. P. and Saxena, V. K. (1995). Maize stover. In Handbook for Straw Feeding Systems, 379–391 (Eds Singh, K. and Schiere, J. B.). New Delhi, India: ICAR.Google Scholar
Harris, L. E., Leche, T. F., Kearl, L. C., Fonnesbeck, P. V. and Lloyd, H. (1982). Central and Southeast Asia Tables of Feed Composition. Logan, Utah, USA: International Feedstuffs Institute.Google Scholar
Hay, R. K. M. and Gilbert, R. A. (2001). Variation in the harvest index of tropical maize: evaluation of recent evidence from Mexico and Malawi. Annals of Applied Biology 138:103–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellin, J. and Erenstein, O. (2009). Maize-poultry value chains in India: Implications for research and development. Journal of New Seeds 10:245–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, P. R., Sayre, K. and Gupta, R. (2008). The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 363:543–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joshi, P. K., Singh, N. P., Singh, N. N., Gerpacio, R. V. and Pingali, P. L. (2005). Maize in India: Production Systems, Constraints, and Research Priorities. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Kalra, N., Chakraborty, D., Ramesh Kumar, P., Jolly, M. and Sharma, P. K. (2007). An approach to bridging yield gaps, combining response to water and other resource inputs for wheat in northern India, using research trials and farmers’ fields data. Agricultural Water Management 93:54–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, T. G., Rao, P. P. and Walker, T. S. (1993). The relative value of cereal straw fodder in the semiarid tropics of India: Implications for cereal breeding programmes at ICRISAT. In Social Science Research for Agricultural Technology Development: Spatial and Temporal Dimensions, 88–105 (Ed Dvorak, K. A.). Wallingford: CAB International.Google Scholar
Kumar, A., Verulkar, S., Dixit, S., Chauhan, B., Bernier, J., Venuprasad, R., Zhao, D. and Shrivastava, M. N. (2009). Yield and yield-attributing traits of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under lowland drought and suitability of early vigor as a selection criterion. Field Crops Research 114:99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kundu, S. S., Mahanta, S. K., Singh, S. and Pathak, P. S. (2005). Roughage Processing Technology. Delhi: Satish Serial Publishing House.Google Scholar
Lafitte, H. R., Edmeades, G. O. and Taba, S. (1997). Adaptive strategies identified among tropical maize landraces for nitrogen-limited environments. Field Crops Research 49:187–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lal, R. (2005). World crop residues production and implications of its use as a biofuel. Environment International 31:575–584.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leeuw, P. N. D. (1997). Crop residues in tropical Africa: Trends in supply, demand and use. In Crop Residues in Sustainable Mixed Crop/livestock Farming Systems, 41–78 (Ed Renard, C.). Wallingford, UK: CAB-ICRISAT-ILRI.Google Scholar
Legel, S. (1990). Tropical Forage Legumes and Grasses. Berlin, Germany: Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag.Google Scholar
Lenne, J. M., Fernandez-Rivera, S. and Blummel, M. (2003). Approaches to improve the utilization of food-feed crops-synthesis. Field Crops Research 84:213–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, D. A. and Said, A. N. (1987). Utilization of Agricultural By-products as Livestock Feeds in Africa. Proceedings of a Workshop held at Ryall's Hotel, Blantyre, Malawi, September 1986. African Research Network For Agricultural By-products (ARNAB). Addis Ababa: ILCA.Google Scholar
Malik, M. Y. and Chughtai, M. I. D. (1979). Chemical Composition and Nutritive Value of Indigenous Feedstuffs. Lahore, Pakistan: Pakistan Associoation for the Advancement of Science.Google Scholar
McDowell, R. E. (1988). Importance of crop residues for feeding livestock in smallholder farming systems. In Plant Breeding and the Nutritive Value of Crop Residues, (Eds Reed, J. D., Capper, B. S. and Neate, P. J. H.). Addis Ababa: ILCA.Google Scholar
McIntire, J., Bourzat, D. and Pingali, P. (1992). Crop-livestock Interaction in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Regional and Sectoral Studies. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Methu, J. N., Owen, E., Abate, A. L. and Tanner, J. C. (2001). Botanical and nutritional composition of maize stover, intakes and feed selection by dairy cattle. Livestock Production Science 71:87–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NIANP (2003). FeedBase. CD-Rom. Bangalore, India: National Institute for Animal Nutrition and Physiology.Google Scholar
NSW DoPI (2010). Nutritive values of feeds. Available online at: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/nutrition/values/nutritive-value [Accessed 27 April 2011].Google Scholar
Oliver, A. L., Pedersen, J. F., Grant, R. J., Klopfenstein, T. J. and Jose, H. D. (2005). Comparative effects of the sorghum bmr-6 and bmr-12 genes: II. Grain yield, stover yield, and stover quality in grain sorghum. Crop Science 45:2240–2245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osafo, E. L. K., Owen, E., Said, A. N., Gill, M. and Sherington, J. (1997). Effects of amount offered and chopping on intake and selection of sorghum stover by Ethiopian sheep and cattle. Animal Science 65:55–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, E. and Jayasuriya, M. C. N. (1989). Use of crop residues as animal feeds in developing countries. Research and Development in Agriculture 6:129–138.Google Scholar
Panigrahi, S., Wareing, P. W., Ncube, S., Smith, T. and Huq, M. S. (1995). Benefits of Storing Fibrous Feed Residues for Ruminant Livestock – and Human Health. Kent: Livestock Production Programme, NR International.Google Scholar
Phillips, S. I., Wareing, P. W., Dutta, A., Panigrahi, S. and Medlock, V. (1996). The mycoflora and incidence of aflatoxin, zearalenone and sterigmatocystin in dairy feed and forage samples from Eastern India and Bangladesh. Mycopathologia 133:15–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prasad, K. V. S. V., Gupta, M. D., Shah, L. and Blummel, M. (2007). Potential of maize stover from a new dual-purpose hybrid in substituting for sorghum stover in a commercially produced feed block. In International Tropical Animal Nutrition Conference Vol 2, 117 (Eds Bakshi, M. P. S. and Wadhwa, M.). Karnal: NDRI.Google Scholar
Prasad, K. V. S. V., Ravi, D., Virk, P. and Blümmel, M. (2006). Opportunities for improving the fodder value of rice straw by multidimensional crop improvement. In Strengthening Animal Nutrition Research for Food Security, Environment Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Abstract papers, 83–84 (Eds Pattaniak, A. K., Narayan, D. and Verma, A. K.).Google Scholar
Preston, T. R. (1995). Tropical Animal Feeding: A Manual for Research Workers. Animal Production and Health Paper 126. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Ramachandra, K. S., Taneja, R. P., Sampath, K. T., Angadi, U. B. and Anandan, S. (2007). Availability and Requirement of Feeds and Fodders in India. Bangalore: National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology.Google Scholar
Ranjhan, S. K. (1991). Chemical Composition and Nutritive Value of Indian Feeds and Feeding of Farm Animals. New Delhi, India: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
Rao, P. P. and Birthal, P. S. (2008). Livestock in Mixed Farming Systems in South Asia. New Delhi and Patancheru, India: NCAP/ICRISAT.Google Scholar
Rao, P. P. and Hall, A. J. (2003). Importance of crop residues in crop-livestock systems in India and farmers’ perceptions of fodder quality in coarse cereals. Field Crops Research 84:189–198.Google Scholar
Rao, P. P., Birthal, P. S. and Ndjeunga, J. (2005). Crop-livestock economies in the semi-arid tropics: Facts, trends and outlook. Patancheru: ICRISAT.Google Scholar
Ravi, D., Anandan, S., Khan, A. A., Bidinger, F. R., Nepolean, T., Hash, C. T. and Blümmel, M. (2010). Morphological, chemical and in vitro traits for prediction of stover quality in pearl millet in multidimensional crop improvement. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology 10:49–59.Google Scholar
Reed, J. D., Capper, B. S. and Neate, P. J. H. (1988). Plant Breeding and the Nutritive Value of Crop Residues. Proceedings of a Workshop ILCA, Addis Ababa, 7–10 Dec. 1987. Addis Ababa: ILCA.Google Scholar
Renard, C. (1997). Crop Residues in Sustainable Mixed Crop/livestock Farming Systems. Wallingford, UK: CAB-ICRISAT-ILRI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romney, D. L., Thorne, P., Lukuyu, B. and Thornton, P. K. (2003). Maize as food and feed in intensive smallholder systems: management options for improved integration in mixed farming systems of east and southern Africa. Field Crops Research 84:159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiere, H., Singh, K. and De Boer, A. J. (2000). Farming systems research applied in a project on feeding of crop residues in India. Experimental Agriculture 36:51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiere, J. B. (2010). Cereal straws as ruminant feeds: problems and prospects revisited. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology 10s:127–153.Google Scholar
Schiere, J. B., Joshi, A. L., Seetharam, A., Oosting, S. J., Goodchild, A. V., Deinum, B. and van Keulen, H. (2004). Grain and straw for whole plant value: implications for crop management and genetic improvement strategies. Experimental Agriculture 40:277–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, J., Erenstein, O., Thorpe, W. and Varma, A. (2007). Crop-livestock interactions and livelihoods in the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, India. Research report 11. Nairobi: ILRI.Google Scholar
Singh, K. and Schiere, J. B. (eds) (1993). Feeding of Ruminants on Fibrous Crop Residues. Aspects of Treatment, Feeding, Nutrient Evaluation, Research and Extension. New Delhi, India: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
Singh, R. P. (2001). An interface in public and private maize research in India. In Impact of Public- and Private Sector Maize Breeding Research in Asia, 1966–1997/98, 44–52 (Ed. Gerpacio, R. V.). Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Staller, J. E. (2010). Maize Cobs and Cultures: History of Zea mays L. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suttie, J. M. (2000). Hay and Straw Conservation – For Small-Scale Farming and Pastoral Conditions. FAO Plant Production and Protection Series No. 29. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Taparia, A. L. and Sharma, V. V. (1980). Some factors affecting voluntary food intake in buffaloes. 1. Effect of feeding long-chopped and ground roughages. Journal of Agricultural Science 95:147–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teufel, N., Samaddar, A., Blummel, M. and Erenstein, O. (2010). Quality Characteristics of Wheat and Rice Straw Traded in Indian Urban Centres. Paper presented at Tropentag, September 14–16, 2010, Zurich.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. (2002). Crop-animal systems in Asia – Editorial. Agricultural Systems 71:1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, P. J., Thornton, P. K., Kruska, R. L., Reynolds, L., Waddington, S. R., Rutherford, A. S. and Odero, A.N. (2003). Maize as food, feed and fertiliser in intensifying crop-livestock systems in East and Southern Africa: an ex ante impact assessment of technology interventions to improve smallholder welfare. ILRI Impact Assessment Series. no. 11. ILRI, Nairobi (Kenya).Google Scholar
Thorpe, W., Erenstein, O., Singh, J. and Varma, A. (2007). Crop-livestock interactions and livelihoods in the Gangetic plains of Bihar, India. Research report 12. Nairobi: ILRI.Google Scholar
Tolera, A., Berg, T. and Sundstøl, F. (1999). The effect of variety on maize grain and crop residue yield and nutritive value of the stover. Animal Feed Science and Technology 79:165–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witcombe, J. R., Joshi, A. and Goyal, S. N. (2003). Participatory plant breeding in maize: A case study from Gujarat, India. Euphytica 130:413–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zerbini, E. and Thomas, D. (2003). Opportunities for improvement of nutritive value in sorghum and pearl millet residues in South Asia through genetic enhancement. Field Crops Research 84:3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar