Page 63 - Agroforestry system - book inner (final corrected) - 9.-3-21_Neat

National level e-symposium on “Agroforestry system for augmenting livestock
productivity and empowering resource poor rural farmers”

In an experiment Performance of Nellore Zodpi ram lambs were evaluated under hortipastoral systems
(mango and sweet orange orchards above 5 years old with C. ciliaris, S. hamata and C. ciliaris + S. hamata
established pastures and boundary plantation of L. leucocephala) in rainfed areas (Ramana et al. 2011). The
Lambs significantly gained higher live BW than grazed alone on natural pasture.This could be due to relatively
high content of nitrogen and carbohydrate fractions with slow-rate of degradation of S. hamata forage

In the Batangas region of the Philippines, a 2-ha area of Leucaena leucocephata grown in association
with the fruit tree Anona squamosa was able to supply the forage requirements of 20 growing cattle over a
6-month period (Moog ,1986).
A Hortipastoral system with Guava and Cow pea was reported to support 25 cows in maintenance
whereas it suported 17 cows in lactation (4 kg milk with 4% fat) with additional supplement of 25 kg Cumbu
X Napier Grass.(Annon,2018 ).

The average dry fodder production potential of the hortipasture, hortisilvipasture and hortisilvi system were
reported as 3.855, 4.410 and 1.282 ton per hectare per year respectively under rain fed condition(Bandeswaran
et al., 2014 ). When lambs (12-15 kg) were integrated in legume hortipasture (48-50 lambs / ha.) by giving
one hour additional complementary grazing, gained 20% and 26% more body weight in lush and lean season
respectively, to lambs grazed in natural grazing land.
Agrosilvopastoral systems

Agrisilvopastoral systems are defined as growing of agricultural crops, tree species and grass together
on the same land. During cropping seasons the animals are fed with stored straw (hay) and supplemented with
grass and foliage of the trees.
a) Alley Farming

In alley farming, pruning taken at or near crop planting are used as mulch for the crop while all or part
of later pruning can be used for animal feed. Reynolds and Atta-Krah (1986) suggested that the surplus foliage
from one ha of Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia sepium from alley farming could provide half the daily
fodder requirements for 29 goats. In the dry season fallow period, livestock can be allowed direct access to
the cropping area to graze crop residues and browse the trees in situ.

In lowland humid regions of the tropics where farm size is often small, the amount of forage generated
from alley fanning is reported to be very low (ILeA 1987). However, in semi-arid regions, Singh et al. (1989)
suggested that additional forage from both pruning and crop residues may be the major incentive attracting
farmers to use the alley farming technique

Savory et al. (1980) reported that a 0.25 ha Leucaena alley farm produced enough leaf material to feed
three dairy cattle at the rate of 3 kglDMl /hd/ day during the dry season.
Three strata Forage system

It is reported that the three strata system (1000 mm rainfall, long dry season 7-8 months) produced
90% more feed and carried a 29% higher stocking rate in the wet season and 46% higher stocking in the dry

44 Institute of Animal Nutrition, Centre for Animal Production Studies, TANUVAS
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development