Integrated crop-animal systems in Southeast Asia: current status and prospects

Sombilla, M.A. and B. Hardy. 2005. Integrated crop-animal systems in Southeast Asia: current status and prospects. IRRI Limited Proceedings 11. Manila: IRRI.

Integration of rice and livestock production is not new. What have changed over the years are the nature and roles of the crop and animal components and the complexity of their interactions. The relationship between rice production and the raising of carabao and a few other animals approximately 40 years ago was based purely on need for subsistence. This relationship has now evolved into more complex systems, as influenced by various socioeconomic, environmental, and political factors.

This limited proceedings consists mainly of country monographs that describe the status and direction of development of integrated crop-animal systems in the five main rice-growing countries of Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It emphasizes the growing importance of crop-livestock integration as a path for agricultural intensification, especially among small producers on marginal farm lands.