Participatory evaluation of improved grasses and forage legumes for smallholder livestock production in Central America

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agricultureen
cg.contributor.crpIntegrated Systems for the Humid Tropics
cg.contributor.crpWater, Land and Ecosystems
cg.creator.identifierPablo Siles: 0000-0001-5850-6539en
cg.creator.identifierRein van der Hoek: 0000-0003-4528-7669en
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1017/s0014479718000364en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn0014-4797en
cg.issue5en
cg.journalExperimental Agricultureen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.ciatLIVESTOCKen
cg.subject.ciatTROPICAL FORAGESen
cg.subject.ilriANIMAL FEEDINGen
cg.subject.ilriFORAGESen
cg.volume55en
dc.contributor.authorGarcía, Edwinen
dc.contributor.authorSiles, Pabloen
dc.contributor.authorEash, Lisaen
dc.contributor.authorHoek, Rein van deren
dc.contributor.authorKearney, Sean P.en
dc.contributor.authorSmukler, Sean M.en
dc.contributor.authorFonte, Steven J.en
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-13T14:59:22Zen
dc.date.available2018-11-13T14:59:22Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/97932
dc.titleParticipatory evaluation of improved grasses and forage legumes for smallholder livestock production in Central Americaen
dcterms.abstractSmallholder livestock systems in Central America are typically based on pastures with traditional grasses and associated management practices, such as pasture burning and extensive grazing. With the rise of the global population and a corresponding increase in demand for meat and milk production, research efforts have focused on the development of improved grasses and the incorporation of legume species that can increase productivity and sustainability of Central American livestock systems. However, farmer adoption remains very limited, in part due to the lack of site-specific evaluation and recommendations by local institutions. Using a multi-site participatory approach, this study examined the potential of five improved grasses and five species of forage legumes as alternatives to the broadly disseminated grass Hyparrhenia rufa (cv. Jaragua) in pasture-based cattle systems in western Honduras and northern El Salvador. Improved grasses (four Brachiaria sp. and Megathyrsus maximus) produced significantly more biomass than H. rufa; also four of the five legume varieties evaluated (Canavalia ensiformis, Canavalia brasiliensis, Vigna unguiculata, and Vigna radiata) demonstrated high adaptability to diverse environmental conditions across sites. Farmer participatory evaluation offers a valuable means to assess performance of forages and will likely contribute to their improved utilization. Future research is needed on more refined management recommendations, pasture system design, costs and environmental benefits associated with the adoption of these forages in local livestock production systems.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.available2018-10-23en
dcterms.bibliographicCitationGarcia, Edwin; Siles, Pablo; Eash, Lisa; Van der hoek, Rein; Kearney, Sean P.; Smukler, Sean M. & Fonte, Steven J. (2018). Participatory Evaluation of Improved Grasses and Forage Legumes for Smallholder Livestock Production in Central America. Experimental Agriculture, 1–17p.en
dcterms.extentp. 776-792en
dcterms.issued2019-10en
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCopyrighted; all rights reserved
dcterms.publisherCambridge University Pressen
dcterms.subjectfeed cropsen
dcterms.subjectlivestocken
dcterms.subjectsmallholdersen
dcterms.subjectmilk productionen
dcterms.subjectlegumesen
dcterms.subjecthyparrhenia rufaen
dcterms.subjectbrachiariaen
dcterms.subjectmegathyrsus maximusen
dcterms.subjectcanavalia ensiformisen
dcterms.subjectcanavaliaen
dcterms.subjectvigna unguiculataen
dcterms.subjectforageen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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