Supported by:

Pasture Development Group – New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Charles Sturt University, Orange
by David Michalk, Director, Orange Agriculture Institute

The Pasture Development Group (PDG) is a collaborative group of scientists from NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) and Charles Sturt University (CSU) that has considerable expertise in developing sustainable livestock production systems for Australia and China. This brief report highlights only the Group’s activities in China that covers both short and long-term projects.

The PDG include: Professor David Kemp; Dr Peter Dowling; Dr Bruce Auld from CSU and Dr David Michalk, Dr Randall Jones; Dr Warren King, Dr Warwick Badgery, Mr Justine Hughes and Mr Geoff Millar from NSW DPI.

Capabilities

Capabilities of the group include:

1. Grassland ecology and land rehabilitation
2. Developing low input grazing systems for wool and meat sheep production
3. Developing integrated weed management systems (including biological control)
4. Livestock breeding and management systems

This group is complemented by expertise drawn from key units located at Orange Agricultural Institute (one of NSW DPIs Centre of Excellence) that include: fine wool sheep genetics (Dr Kevin Atkins, Team Leader), genetics for prime lamb production (Dr Neil Fogarty, Team Leader) and invasive animal control (Dr Glen Saunders, Team Leader).

History of working in China

The PDG has been involved in a number of projects in China, including Inner Mongolia. These include:

• Gapoling Model Cattle Farm, Hainan Province (1981-1984; funded by Guangdong Peoples Government) – development project that identified suitable pasture species, defined appropriate agronomy and formulated grazing systems for improved pastures in dry tropical environment.

• North Guangdong Model Cattle Farms (Lechang and Maba), Guangdong Province (1986-1989; funded by Guangdong Peoples Government) – development project that identified suitable pasture species, defined appropriate agronomy and formulated grazing systems for improved pastures in subtropical environment with highly acidic soils.

• Inner Mongolian Grassland Conservation Project (Phase 1) (1997-2000; Funded by AusAID) – assessed grassland condition and response to management through field survey and paired paddock research plots; developed stocking rate recommendations for grasslands in different conditions for use in implementation of User Rights policy.

• Snow Emergency project (2001-2; Funded by World Bank) – supervised livestock component of project that assisted recovery in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang from devastating snow storms in 2000 by investing in replacement livestock, infrastructure (e.g. shed construction) and improvement in forage production (e.g. maize production and silage technology).

• Jingyuan and Jingtai Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Project (2005:, funded by NZAID) – developed whole-farm linear programming model to match feed supplies with livestock demands; wrote and delivered training program on feeding systems for profitable sheep production.

Current projects

The PDG is currently contributing to two major projects in China, including Inner Mongolia. These include:

• Gansu-Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project (2002 – 2008; funded through World Bank Loans Program) – this $158 million (including $15 million of Global Environment Facility support) is assisting to mitigate grassland degradation through investment strategies developed for the fine wool, mutton production, beef cattle and dairy households that provide infrastructure, technology and training based on the latest research to promote sustainable livestock production. Our group was involved in the development of the livestock and R&D components and ongoing supervision that involves working with small household beneficiaries.

• Sustainable Development of Grasslands in Western China (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province (2005-2007; funded by ACIAR) – this project aims to provide an alternative approach to grasslands management by concentrating on the whole agribusiness system rather than on the individual components. Chinese scientists have researched many components of livestock production, and proposed better integrated livestock systems, but to date they have been unable to integrate such strategies into a whole farm, market and policy framework. This project is designed to use simple modelling to identify better strategies, including R&D and policy options, to improve the income of small-holder and overcome grassland degradation.

Outputs/outcomes from work in China

The outcomes from our work in China is reported in 17 refereed journal papers, 14 international conference papers and 3 book chapters complemented by 26 reports to funding agencies and Chinese collaborators such as Animal Husbandry Bureaus in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Hainan. Chinese collaborators are co-authors on the majority of these publications.

Summary

The PDG has a demonstrated capacity to work in China in the development and delivery of management tools to assist small household livestock producers become sustainable. We have used the Research-Extension-Farmers model in China that we have found successful in developing sustainable systems for livestock producers in NSW has part of our work with NSW DPI and CSU.

An important observation from our work with small households in Western China (Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang) is the need to change mindsets from a subsistence perspective to a small business context as the first step of technology transfer. Once this transition is made, we have found farmers to be more responsive to understand the importance of using simplified resource economic approaches to decide on appropriate investment in livestock production.

Finally, we believe that restructure of livestock systems (e.g. to include more pen feeding; the use of terminal sires) is needed to reduce stocking pressure on grasslands to enable rehabilitation practices to succeed.