Publication Date

1993

Description

The concept of integration of sheep with rubber plantations for weed control and meal production is rapidly gaining recognition in Malaysia. A series of experiments were set up with ACIAR support to determine the level of forage and animal production achievable in rubber plantations and to introduce and evaluate new forage germplasm for sheep grazing under rubber. These experiments showed that (i) the productivity of the currently used cover crops and naturally occurring further as rubber trees matured, (ii) the proportion of the unpalatable cover crop Caloponuim caeruleum increased rapidly with sheep grazing in immature rubber, (iii) reasonable sheep live-weight gains could be sustain mature rubber only at the very low stocking of 2 sheep/ ha and (iv) some introduced forages had a much higher yield potential than the currently used cover crops and naturally occurring species at all light levels. The best introduced species are now being evaluated in mixtures under grazing in both conventionally planted and in hedgerow-planted rubber plantations.

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Sheep and Forage Productivity in Rubber Plantations

The concept of integration of sheep with rubber plantations for weed control and meal production is rapidly gaining recognition in Malaysia. A series of experiments were set up with ACIAR support to determine the level of forage and animal production achievable in rubber plantations and to introduce and evaluate new forage germplasm for sheep grazing under rubber. These experiments showed that (i) the productivity of the currently used cover crops and naturally occurring further as rubber trees matured, (ii) the proportion of the unpalatable cover crop Caloponuim caeruleum increased rapidly with sheep grazing in immature rubber, (iii) reasonable sheep live-weight gains could be sustain mature rubber only at the very low stocking of 2 sheep/ ha and (iv) some introduced forages had a much higher yield potential than the currently used cover crops and naturally occurring species at all light levels. The best introduced species are now being evaluated in mixtures under grazing in both conventionally planted and in hedgerow-planted rubber plantations.