Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming


Book Description

Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming provides insight into the logistics, infrastructure and management required for the development of small and large dairy farms in tropical developing countries. Farmers will learn how to improve the welfare, milk quality and productivity of their dairy herds. This book complements author John Moran’s five previous books on the principles of tropical dairy farming. The manual covers a wide range of topics related to ensuring the sustainability of dairy production systems in tropical developing countries, such as South and East Asia, Africa and Central America. It also provides guidelines for the best management practices of large-scale, more intensive dairy systems. While smallholder farms are the major suppliers of milk in the tropics, many larger farms are becoming established throughout the tropics to satisfy the increasing demands for fresh milk. Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming will be a valuable resource for farmers and stockpeople who want to improve the productive performance of their dairy herds, farm advisers who can assist farmers to achieve this aim, educators who develop training programs for farmers or who train dairy advisers in the basics of dairy production technology, and other stakeholders in tropical dairy production, such as local agribusiness, policy makers and research scientists. National and international agencies will learn new insights into the required long-term logistics for regional dairy development, while potential investors will acquire knowledge into intensive tropical dairy farming.




Tropical Dairy Farming


Book Description

Tropical Dairy Farming is a manual designed for use by dairy production advisors working in tropical areas, especially in South-East Asia. It aims to increase the productivity of small holder dairy farmers in the humid tropics by improving the feeding management of their livestock. It shows how to provide dairy cows with cost-effective feeds that match small holder farming systems and discusses the major obstacles to improving feeding management in the humid tropics. The author shows the benefits and drawbacks of various feed components and the calculation of balanced diets based mainly on forages combined with some supplementary feeding. Diseases and problems associated with unbalanced diets are also covered, as well as important information on growing and conserving quality forages as silage. The book draws on examples from a variety of countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, East Timor and the Philippines.







Tropical Dairy Farming


Book Description

This manual is designed for use by dairy production advisors working in tropical areas, especially in South-East Asia. It aims to increase the productivity of small holder dairy farmers in the humid tropics by improving the feeding management of their livestock.




Managing High Grade Dairy Cows in the Tropics


Book Description

Dairy consumption in Asia has more than doubled over the last 25 years, and has led to more than 50% of the world's total dairy imports now entering Asian markets. Consequently, Asian countries are seeking to improve their self-sufficiency in dairy produce by developing their local milk industries. Asian livestock importers are looking for increasing numbers of high grade dairy stock from established dairy industries in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately, a major problem encountered throughout Asia has been the poor performance of these exotic high grade dairy heifers when exported from their country of origin to a new, more stressful environment. This has been due to a failure to prepare for their introduction. Exotic dairy cows, particularly those from farms with high levels of herd performance, have high management requirements. If subjected to local and traditional small holder dairy farm practices, they are unlikely to produce acceptable yields of milk or may not even get back into calf. Poor management practices can lead to low growth rates, delayed breeding, stock diseases and even deaths among imported stock both before and after first calving. Managing High Grade Dairy Cows in the Tropics addresses the entire range of management practices found on tropical small holder dairy farms, highlighting those which are likely to adversely impact on heifer and cow performance, hence farm profitability. It is a companion volume to two previous manuals written by John Moran: Tropical Dairy Farming and Business Management for Tropical Dairy Farmers.




Milk Production in the Tropics


Book Description




Smallholder Dairying in the Tropics


Book Description







Business Management for Tropical Dairy Farmers


Book Description

Most countries in South-East Asia have established smallholder dairy farming industries through social welfare and rural development programs to provide a regular cash flow for poorly resourced farmers. These farms are now being treated as accepted rural industries and require a more business-minded approach based on changes to farm profitability. Business Management for Tropical Dairy Farmers gives smallholder dairy farmers the business management skills they will need to remain sustainable. Drawing on detailed financial analyses of smallholders in countries such as Pakistan, Thailand and Malaysia, it shows how to budget cash inputs to match cash outflows during different seasons of the year, and how to invest wisely in improving cattle housing and feeding systems. If farmers make greater use of formats and structures for farm costs and returns, it will increase their awareness of the relative importance of all their financial inputs in terms of cost of production per kilogram of milk produced on the farm. It will also allow them to make more meaningful and timely decisions by correctly costing planned changes to their routine farming practices. The book will also be of use to support organisations to more clearly define the key drivers of profit on smallholder farms, and to government departments and national dairy organisations to routinely evaluate and update their industry policies.




Tropical Animal Health


Book Description

This book, Tropical Animal Health, describes the problems of animal diseases in the tropics, in the tropical environment, and in relation to particular production systems. In Part I, those basic scientific facts of the special host defence mechanism and of the host-pathogen relationship in the tropics, which hardly play any part in animal husbandry in temperate climates, are explained. Of special importance are the resistance mechanisms of autochthonous breeds and in contrast to them, the high susceptibility of exotic breeds in the tropics. It is explained how immuno- and chemoprophylaxis can be used as instruments for animal health measures if they are adapted to the socio-economic and ecological conditions of both the tropics and developing countries. Scientific details of immunology are presented as far as they are necessary to understand the epizo otiology of tropical diseases and diagnostic techniques for recognizing tropical diseases as well as the execution of prophylactic measures. Vector-borne diseases are the disease complexes most difficult to control since they are bound to the tropical environment, thanks to the biology of their vectors. Therefore, a special chapter has been dedicated to the description of biology and eradication of vectors of vector-borne diseases. The extent of the description varies according to the importance of the specific vector. The acaricides, insecticides and alternative methods used to control vectors are dis cussed in detail. The author has tried to present a world-wide picture, but it is not possible to cover every aspect completely.