Prescription/Strategy: Way forward

The strategies are based on a result of the situational analysis and the broad policies of the livestock sub-sector for the next 20 years, which of course must be revisited from time to time.

The livestock revolution could provide an engine for sustainable intensification of small-scale farming and marketing. A development strategy needs to anticipate and identify those forces that drive a particular livestock production system and the sub-sector as a whole. These can include population growth, market development (urbanization and income growth), technological change and a changing resource base. An understanding of the direction and speed with which these factors may change, both at the sectoral and farm levels, is necessary so that future programmes can respond accordingly. Some of the general livestock development strategies are included under the following broad classifications:

All farm interventions should be adapted to specific agro-ecological conditions and production systems. The availability or utilization of local feeds can be increased through establishment of feed mills at strategic locations in the identified potential areas of livestock development.

Feed and fodder development will continue to be an important element in livestock development programmes. These interventions should aim at increasing the availability or utilization of local feeds through establishment of feed mills at strategic locations in the identified potential areas of livestock development. Animal feeding needs special attention and the need to make better use of traditional feed resources is a must to raise ruminant livestock productivity. Feeding of cereal straws alone result in perpetual poor productivity. The majority of farm households rely on grazing in the forests, and crop residues, which are low in nutrient contents. Feed shortages occur especially during winter. Improving poor quality feeds such as straw with urea has been tried in the past, but has had low adoption rates¹⁸. Promoting crossbreeding requires improved feeding practices, and supply of higher quality feed such as concentrates and leguminous tree leaves. Growing legume fodder trees, oats, fodder conservation, diet supplementation with balanced high energy feeds (urea/molasses blocks) are interventions that farmers are gradually taking up to address these constraints in Bhutan. Enhancing cash output from the mixed farm is therefore essential to enable farmers invest in good quality feed for their animals.

Stall feeding of cattle must be promoted. It is essential that farmers gradually consider stall feeding, in order to use the available feed resources effectively and maximize manure production. Wastage of valuable manure can be reduced by stall feeding and utilized by improving drainage and constructing a simple pit at the animal shed. Losses of manure due to rain and sun cold can be minimized by providing simple roofing over the compost heaps or pits. However, socio-economic constraints need to be evaluated before recommending these changes to farmers on a wide scale, especially because of the extra labour and costs involved.

Options include within-breed selection of adapted indigenous breeds, substitution with exotic breeds or cross-breeding. Such choice should depend on the production system, its objectives and the resources at its disposal. Experience has shown serious misjudgment with policies aimed at importing exotic breeds with a corresponding neglect of indigenous breeds in many developing countries. Dissemination concerns the institutional aspects as well as the choice of biotechnology such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and progeny testing programmes. The artificial insemination programmes must be strengthened and mobile AI programmes promoted. The current practice of supplying a breeding bull to a community and managed by a community should be changed, since community owned breeding bulls have not received appropriate attention and care. Such breeding bulls should be given to contract bull breeder who will take care of the bulls and charge some amounts for services performed by the breeding bulls.

Dairy intensification is measured as the shift from “low-producing” animals to “high-producing” animals. Crossbreeding does provide short term economic benefits; however, it is being debated, because if it is often done haphazardly it contributes to the genetic erosion of well-adapted local breeds. Exotic crossbreds are also more susceptible to diseases and high mortality rates which require better feeds, more veterinary care and better management. The potential to increase production by introduction of high genetic level animals with high production potential is a promising method to alleviate poverty and therefore subject of many developing projects. Yet in the context of sustainability, to meet the requirements of future production systems, efforts must be made to conserve genes of locally adapted animals, since genetic biodiversity is the base for every breeding programme and an invaluable resource. Conservation of local genetic resources is vital due to the ability to respond to changing production systems. Adapted animals are more resistant to diseases and environmental challenges. Strengthening the conservation of local animal genetic diversity through ex-situ conservation and promoting selection within the local breeds in the government farms (located at Trashiyangphu, east Bhutan) and in areas where farmers prefer the local breeds should be promoted because of their specific characteristics, such as disease resistance and adaptability to harsh environmental conditions. Cryo-preservation of the Siri semen is an ongoing activity in Bhutan and this could be one way of preserving the local genetic resources for use in the future.

In the animal health scenario, some of the strategies to be advocated are: the strategic animal health delivery approach, expansion of cost participation mechanism for curative veterinary services in the urban areas, the promotion of village/community participation in the animal health programmes and strengthening the livestock sub-sectors efforts alleviating zoonotic diseases. Catering to the needs of the farmers through an effective delivery of the extension service, strengthening and advocating an effective monitoring and evaluation of the livestock services and bringing about a horizontal integration of the technical programmes are areas of priority. Strategic animal health delivery based on epidemiological findings should be continued. Control of economically important production diseases (internal and external parasites) and zoonotic diseases will be emphasized upon.

In the smallholder mixed farming systems of Bhutan, the most important interaction between livestock and the environment is cattle grazing in the forests. Farmers have user rights for grazing in many of the forest areas. The intensity of cattle grazing in the forests differs between regions. It must be emphasized that uncontrolled grazing with high animal densities is harmful to both forests and grassland eco-systems. At the same time judicious grazing is an effective management tool for reducing competition of tree seedlings by eliminating unwanted shrubs and grasses. For sustainable development of smallholder farming systems, it is vital that a symbiotic relationship occurs between cattle grazing in the forest and forest management. Forest grazing and silvopastoral systems are widely accepted as modern forest management tools. Silvopastoral systems can particularly be useful for mountainous environment and they perhaps offer the best economic and ecological option for many livestock farmers in Bhutan. An example of the synergy between forests, crops and livestock is the promotion of crossbred cattle to increase milk production especially in areas with taboos on culling and so that fewer animals are kept to conserve forests. There is also a need to maintain nutrient balance in nutrient deficit mixed farming and to enhance crop livestock integration. To reduce nutrient surpluses, regulations to control animal densities and waste discharge and incentive for waste reduction are required.

With livestock production becoming more intensive, stringent regulations should be in place for environmental sustainability and to safeguard public health concerns. Meat, milk and dairy products hygiene should be better enforced. This should be done through establishment of adequate standards for livestock products and hygienic standards for the entire production chain. Urban dairies and piggery should adequately dispose waste materials. Strict vigilance of livestock products for possible zoonosis should be done.

Technical backstopping and professional advisory services to the farmers should be strengthened. Extension agents should take a more proactive role in the rural development activities for which appropriate facilities (two wheelers, basic office set up and up gradation of their skills) should also be provided to these people.

In the past, efforts to bring about livestock development have been made at various levels, wherein the inputs made were highly diversified resulting in a very small output across a wide arena. Latent development strategies were in vogue which cannot adequately address our current and future needs of livestock products. Bhutan’s development policies of poverty alleviation requires strategies that will help the rural poor and at the same time ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in the growth made possible by livestock revolution.

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  Vertical coordination of specialized crop and livestock activities in high potential areas.
  
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  Use of labour and quality control of many small farmers in production, but also benefit from the expertise, technologies and assets of larger scale companies that are under contract for input provision, processing and marketing.
  
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  Strong emphasis in the area of technology development for production and processing of livestock products, potential benefits from new technologies, and at the same time have appropriate mechanism for environmental conservation and protection of public health.
  

The vision of the livestock sub-sector in the next 20 years should envisage contributing to achieving economical, social and environmental sustainability, which is coherent with Bhutan’s policy of self-reliance. To have a desirable impact on the rural economy and to cater to the increasing demand of livestock products, a focused programmed commodity approach in the potential areas of the country is essential. This would have a big economic impact for the rural and peri-urban farmers, generate employment opportunities, bring about a reduction in import of livestock products and also contribute to food self sufficiency and food security at the national level. Based on parameters such as livestock population, livestock production, agro-ecological zones, environmental conditions such as access to grazing areas, crop residues, market opportunities, prevailing social beliefs, a list of the various important livestock products which has potential to be pursued as a semi-commercial or commercial enterprises in the next 20 years is given in the table below.

Generally individual entrepreneurs or small companies make simple, informal production contract with farmers on a seasonal basis. Such contact with farmer groups enhances the volume of the product and a more reliable source of raw material. Such mechanism is usually an alternative to corporate approach in smallholder farming system. These informal initiatives depend on the efficiency of technical support services by the government.

As the informal type of contract farming (farmers groups/ association) continues in the 10^th plan, the concept of more organized type of contract farming will have to be initiated to facilitate sustainable and market oriented livestock production by small producers. Such organized contract farming will provide a proper linkage between the farm and the markets. Arrangements are required to be made to obtain commitment of the producer (farmers, farmer groups) to provide a certain type and quality of livestock product at a time and price and the quantity (minimum/maximum) agreed upon by a known and committed buyer.

The government livestock farms need to be retained for the moment since they are still the most important source of genetic material (breeding bulls, horses and pigs). Until the farmers/farmers groups are in a position to take over these responsibilities completely, the government farms are still required. In the past, privatisation of some of the government livestock production units failed due to operational difficulties e.g. the Milk Processing Plant at Phuentsholing and the Pork Processing plant at Wangchutaba which is now closed. Major reasons for their failure were the lack of raw materials. Contract farming is therefore essential for the sustainability of such enterprises. In the future special emphasis should be made at enhancing the efficiency of the government farms, and bringing them to a stage of financial viability. Semi-commercialization, entrepreneurship development and attainment of some level of financial viability are required before embarking upon complete privatisation.

Animal health programmes are essentially aimed at limiting the impact of disease on animal production. Policy issues concern as to who will provide and pay for such services. Foremost is the need to control and protect (quarantine) the national livestock resource from major epizootic diseases, such as Rinderpest, Avian flu, etc. Disease monitoring, veterinary investigation and legislation (public health and meat inspection) also fall within the public domain. It is proposed that in the urban areas of Thimphu, Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, the clients owning pet animals should pay animal service charge and the full costs of medicines prescribed.