Kenya’s public forest sector plantations have been the main source of roundwood for wood-based industries but several factors have reduced its capacity to meet increasing demands, resulting in huge deficits. The grow...Kenya’s public forest sector plantations have been the main source of roundwood for wood-based industries but several factors have reduced its capacity to meet increasing demands, resulting in huge deficits. The growth of small-holder forestry over the last three decades has demonstrated the potential to supplement the deficits. The imposed logging moratorium in public and community forests in 2002-2012 and 2018 not only opened markets for small-holder tree growers but also increased demand pressure from various wood consumers. This paper presents an assessment of the status of farm-based wood resources three years within the latest moratorium period and the potential of farm tree resources to complement wood from public forest plantations. Data were collected from 56 households using semi-structured interviews, key informants interviews, and a rapid assessment of standing and harvested trees from 146 on-farm plots. The main commercial tree species found on the farms were;Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus sp., Grevillea robusta, Pinus patula, and Acacia mearnsii. Eucalypts were the most planted trees with an average land size of 1.08 ha. The farm tree resources have sustained some level of wood demand since the moratorium, as indicated by the high volume of wood harvested. The study found that about 40% of current wood resources consisted of trees less than 5 years, and most harvests were of small diameter classes which are essentially juvenile wood and are unsuitable for structural and furniture use. Furthermore, most small-scale farmers lack appropriate silvicultural and management knowledge, preferring smaller growing spacing as shown by the high planting density of 1659 stems·ha<sup>-1</sup> and also use of inferior germ-plasm, with implications on the quality of wood from farms. It is recommended that rigorous capacity building on tree growing and management techniques be undertaken and a progressive and supportive policy framework on harvesting and trade of trees on-farm be developed.展开更多
The experiment was conducted on 10 small-holder dairy farmers under the administration of Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand (DPO) in the Northeast region of Thailand. The aim of the research was to investigate ...The experiment was conducted on 10 small-holder dairy farmers under the administration of Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand (DPO) in the Northeast region of Thailand. The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of legume (Phaseolus calcaratus, PC) as roughage mixed with Ruzi grass for dairy cows. Fours cows per farm were assigned into 2 groups including Ruzi grass (control) and PC mixed with ruzi grass (at the ratio 50:50), were given ad libitum as a roughage sources. All cows were offered a concentrate with ratio to milk yield of 1:2. The results revealed that roughage source did not affect on ruminal pH and temperature, ammonia nitrogen, blood urea nitrogen, and milk urea nitrogen concentrations. Total volatile fatty acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid proportions, and acetic acid to propionic acid ratio were not significantly different among treatments. Dry matter intake and digestibility of nutrient including dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were not significantly different among treatments. Moreover, amount of digested dry mater was similar among treatments. However, cows received PC mixed with Ruzi grass tended to be higher on dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein digestibility and dry matter digestible nutrient intake than control group. Milk yield, and 3.5% fat corrected milk were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in cow fed with PC mixed Ruzi grass than those the control group. Milk compositions and feed cost were similar among treatments;in contrast, the income and profit from milk selling were greater in cows fed with PC mixed with Ruzi grass than the control. High quality roughage such as PC mixed with Ruzi grass could be advantages for dairy farming in the Northeast of Thailand.展开更多
The views of local people on climate change along different ecological regions are relatively unexplored in Nepal. This study was conducted in 13 villages in central Nepal at different altitudes to document the views ...The views of local people on climate change along different ecological regions are relatively unexplored in Nepal. This study was conducted in 13 villages in central Nepal at different altitudes to document the views of small holder farmers and compare their perception with trends of climatic variables, finger millet yield, natural disasters, plant phenology(flowering and fruiting), status of forest and wild life, as well as the spread of diseases and pests. Analysis on the climatic data of stations for 36-41 years between 1975 and 2016 showed significant increases in the minimum temperature in lower tropical climatic region(<500 m), upper tropical to subtropical climatic region(500-2000 m) and temperate climatic region(2000-3000 m) by 0.01, 0.026 and 0.054℃/year, respectively, and an increase of maximum temperature by 0.008, 0.018, and 0.019℃/year, respectively. Rainfall showed a strongly significant decreasing trend in all elevation regions. This result matches with the views of respondents except 38% respondent from temperate climatic region. People from the temperate climatic region also mentioned that current onset of snowfall is delayed but amount of snowfall remained the same. From the documented records, except events of wild fire, frequency of natural disasters events have increased in the recent years, which was in harmony with the views of local people. Multi-linear regression analysis showed that contribution of climatic variables on finger millet yield in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical regions was 23% and 57.3%, respectively, which was supported by increasing trend on average growing degree day(GDD) temperature at the rate of 0.01℃ in upper tropical to subtropical region and 0.007℃ in lower tropical climatic region yearly. Finger millet yield has been increasing at the rate of 7.39 and 36.9 kg/ha yearly in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical climatic region, respectively. This result provides deeper understanding of people's perception of causes and effects of climate change on diverse variables along different elevation and related magnitude which can contribute to policy making in Nepal.展开更多
文摘Kenya’s public forest sector plantations have been the main source of roundwood for wood-based industries but several factors have reduced its capacity to meet increasing demands, resulting in huge deficits. The growth of small-holder forestry over the last three decades has demonstrated the potential to supplement the deficits. The imposed logging moratorium in public and community forests in 2002-2012 and 2018 not only opened markets for small-holder tree growers but also increased demand pressure from various wood consumers. This paper presents an assessment of the status of farm-based wood resources three years within the latest moratorium period and the potential of farm tree resources to complement wood from public forest plantations. Data were collected from 56 households using semi-structured interviews, key informants interviews, and a rapid assessment of standing and harvested trees from 146 on-farm plots. The main commercial tree species found on the farms were;Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalyptus sp., Grevillea robusta, Pinus patula, and Acacia mearnsii. Eucalypts were the most planted trees with an average land size of 1.08 ha. The farm tree resources have sustained some level of wood demand since the moratorium, as indicated by the high volume of wood harvested. The study found that about 40% of current wood resources consisted of trees less than 5 years, and most harvests were of small diameter classes which are essentially juvenile wood and are unsuitable for structural and furniture use. Furthermore, most small-scale farmers lack appropriate silvicultural and management knowledge, preferring smaller growing spacing as shown by the high planting density of 1659 stems·ha<sup>-1</sup> and also use of inferior germ-plasm, with implications on the quality of wood from farms. It is recommended that rigorous capacity building on tree growing and management techniques be undertaken and a progressive and supportive policy framework on harvesting and trade of trees on-farm be developed.
文摘The experiment was conducted on 10 small-holder dairy farmers under the administration of Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand (DPO) in the Northeast region of Thailand. The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of legume (Phaseolus calcaratus, PC) as roughage mixed with Ruzi grass for dairy cows. Fours cows per farm were assigned into 2 groups including Ruzi grass (control) and PC mixed with ruzi grass (at the ratio 50:50), were given ad libitum as a roughage sources. All cows were offered a concentrate with ratio to milk yield of 1:2. The results revealed that roughage source did not affect on ruminal pH and temperature, ammonia nitrogen, blood urea nitrogen, and milk urea nitrogen concentrations. Total volatile fatty acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid proportions, and acetic acid to propionic acid ratio were not significantly different among treatments. Dry matter intake and digestibility of nutrient including dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were not significantly different among treatments. Moreover, amount of digested dry mater was similar among treatments. However, cows received PC mixed with Ruzi grass tended to be higher on dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein digestibility and dry matter digestible nutrient intake than control group. Milk yield, and 3.5% fat corrected milk were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in cow fed with PC mixed Ruzi grass than those the control group. Milk compositions and feed cost were similar among treatments;in contrast, the income and profit from milk selling were greater in cows fed with PC mixed with Ruzi grass than the control. High quality roughage such as PC mixed with Ruzi grass could be advantages for dairy farming in the Northeast of Thailand.
基金supported by Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-L-15-00001
文摘The views of local people on climate change along different ecological regions are relatively unexplored in Nepal. This study was conducted in 13 villages in central Nepal at different altitudes to document the views of small holder farmers and compare their perception with trends of climatic variables, finger millet yield, natural disasters, plant phenology(flowering and fruiting), status of forest and wild life, as well as the spread of diseases and pests. Analysis on the climatic data of stations for 36-41 years between 1975 and 2016 showed significant increases in the minimum temperature in lower tropical climatic region(<500 m), upper tropical to subtropical climatic region(500-2000 m) and temperate climatic region(2000-3000 m) by 0.01, 0.026 and 0.054℃/year, respectively, and an increase of maximum temperature by 0.008, 0.018, and 0.019℃/year, respectively. Rainfall showed a strongly significant decreasing trend in all elevation regions. This result matches with the views of respondents except 38% respondent from temperate climatic region. People from the temperate climatic region also mentioned that current onset of snowfall is delayed but amount of snowfall remained the same. From the documented records, except events of wild fire, frequency of natural disasters events have increased in the recent years, which was in harmony with the views of local people. Multi-linear regression analysis showed that contribution of climatic variables on finger millet yield in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical regions was 23% and 57.3%, respectively, which was supported by increasing trend on average growing degree day(GDD) temperature at the rate of 0.01℃ in upper tropical to subtropical region and 0.007℃ in lower tropical climatic region yearly. Finger millet yield has been increasing at the rate of 7.39 and 36.9 kg/ha yearly in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical climatic region, respectively. This result provides deeper understanding of people's perception of causes and effects of climate change on diverse variables along different elevation and related magnitude which can contribute to policy making in Nepal.
