3.2 The use of cultivated pastures for intensive animal production in developing countries

Abstract

At present, only a small proportion of livestock in developing countries are kept on cultivated pastures (Williamson and Payne, 1978).This paper is therefore more concerned with the intensification of the pasture production and the levels of animal production which may be achieved. In general, the pastures which may be cultivated in an area and the ways open for their utilization are related to the ecology of that area (Bogdan, 1977; Skerman, 1977). The factors which determine the natural vegetation to be found on a site, and the distribution of the major plant communities in developing countries, will therefore be reviewed first. Then, certain ecological zones which show promise for the intensification of pastures will be selected and, for each, some of the possible lines of development will be discussed.