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Crop-Livestock Linkages in Watersheds of Andhra Pradesh: Global Theme on Agroecosystems Report no. 29

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Title Crop-Livestock Linkages in Watersheds of Andhra Pradesh: Global Theme on Agroecosystems Report no. 29
 
Creator Subramanyam, S
Bezkorowajnyj, P
Shiferaw, B
Wani, S P
Rao, P P
Nageswara Rao, G D
 
Subject Watershed management
 
Description There are a number of studies that have looked at the impact of watershed programs on rural livelihoods
with a focus on crops and related activities but few have considered the importance of livestock. This
study focuses on the crop-livestock linkages in dryland villages under watershed programs and
concentrates on the impact of watershed interventions on crop-livestock linkages and the implication
to rural livelihoods. For this study, baseline data collected from six watershed villages in the state of
Andhra Pradesh, India under the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Programme (APRLP) were analyzed
with a focus on livestock production systems, size and composition of livestock holdings, milk production
and marketing, and the availability and utilization of feed within the context of the socioeconomic,
agroclimatic and agricultural backdrop of the villages.
The impact of a watershed program on the crop-livestock system was studied by selecting two villages
with the same agroclimatic conditions: one with a watershed intervention and the other without any
intervention. The findings indicate that the bovine sector is more advanced in the watershed village
compared to the control village with a shift in composition from work or draft animals to milch
animals. Total increase in milk production in the watershed village is attributed to household level
improvements in productivity, as a result of a better feeding regime. On a dry matter basis the quantity
of fodder fed per adult livestock unit was 65–70% higher in the watershed village compared to the
control village. In addition there was a dramatic increase in the quantity of greens fed which substituted
for the use of concentrate feed usually composed of agro-industrial by-products. Conclusions indicate
that the higher production of green biomass could be attributed to more intensive cropping resulting
from improved moisture budgeting in the soils following the watershed intervention.
Finally, the report suggests a few simple indicators that can be easily used to measure the impact of
watershed programs on rural livelihoods with particular reference to crop-livestock linkages.
 
Publisher International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
 
Date 2006
 
Type Monograph
NonPeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
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Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/2260/1/Crop-livestock_linkages_in_watersheds_of_Andhra_Pradesh.pdf
Subramanyam, S and Bezkorowajnyj, P and Shiferaw, B and Wani, S P and Rao, P P and Nageswara Rao, G D (2006) Crop-Livestock Linkages in Watersheds of Andhra Pradesh: Global Theme on Agroecosystems Report no. 29. Monograph. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics , Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.