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The overall aims of this thesis were to study existing goat production systems in lowland Laos, to investigate the potential to intensify goat production by using local available feed resources such as sugar cane as basal diet supplementing with fresh and sun-dried cassava foliage as the major protein source in view of the lack of information concerning the risk of toxicity from feeding the fresh cassava foliage.
Sixty goat farmers in four villages of Nongbok and Xe bangfai Districts of Khammuane Province were selected using formal and informal interviews to get information about goat production system. Information concerning problems and potential for goat production in each village were collected using participatory diagnosis. Data obtained included broad agricultural production systems, the importance of goats, number of goats per family, advantages and disadvantages of goat production, reproductive performances and farmers’ experience to overcome the problems associated with keeping of goats.
The results showed that livestock plays an important role and is a major source of income for farmers. Each household has, on average, 2.2 ha of rice land. Cultivated land encompasses more than 45% of total area and includes irrigated paddy (7%), rain fed paddy (34%) and other land such as upland crops. The number of family members per household varied from 4 to 12 persons with an average household size of 5.4 persons. Sex distribution was as 49% for male and 51% for female.
The average number of goats, cattle, buffaloes, pigs, and poultry was 12; 7; 4; 2 and 15 respectively. Extensive systems were commonly found in all villages for ruminants, and were based on traditional management methods. Free range and semi-free range systems were found in four selected villages. Animals were grazed freely on communal grazing areas for the whole day in the dry season, but kept confined or tethered during the production season. The feed resources were native grasses, tree leaves, shrubs, legumes and crop residues. Rice bran, broken rice, maize, cassava root and kitchen waste were the main feed sources for pigs and poultry. The average number of goats per family, average body weight was 12, 16 and 35, 31 for the free range system and semi-free range system respectively. First kidding was at the age of 1 year, with an average of 1.5 kids per litter and 1.7 liter per year.
Foot and mouth disease and haemorrhagic septicaemia were the main problems which caused high mortality rate. For ruminants including goats, Toxocara (round worm infestation) was a major cause of the death of young calves. Swine fever and fowl cholera caused high mortality rate for pigs and poultry respectively. Contagious Echthyma (“Orf”) was found in goats. Internal parasites were the main constraint for goats, especially for the young kids. The main purpose of keeping ruminants is for sale while pigs and poultry are use for home consumption and traditional ceremonies.
The growth experiment was conducted at the Livestock Research Center. Twenty local growing goats including male and female were arranged as a 2*2 factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six replications. The daily live weight gain did not differ between sugar cane and Gamba grass but was higher for fresh than sun-dried cassava foliage. By contrast, the DM feed intakes were lower for fresh versus dried cassava foliage and for sugar cane compare to Gamba grass. As a result, the feed conversion was better for fresh than for dried cassava foliage and for sugarcane rather than Gamba grass. The inclusion, fresh cassava foliage resulted in 35% higher weight gain and 36% better feed conversion compared with the sun-dried form. Fresh or sun-dried cassava foliage is a valuable supplement for goats receiving low or medium quality diets such as Gamba grass and sugar cane stalk.