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Objectives
- Increase the incomes and living standards of small farmers and of
a number of medium-sized farmers in the project areas;
- improve the beneficiaries’ nutritional level;
- increase food production and productivity;
- improve the national balance of payments situation through increased
production of basic grains, livestock products and some products meant
for export; and
- strengthen institutional capacity to generate and transfer agricultural
technology.
Activities
Project activities were to include:
- generation of agricultural technology;
- transfer of crop production technology;
- transfer of livestock technology; and
- certified seed production and distribution.
OutcomeThe project successfully developed an integrated institutional
framework for agricultural research and extension. The institutions comprising
this framework have an explicit interest in the small farmers and poor
rural households. The resources provided by the project contributed to
the development of both 'hardware' (buildings, vehicles, laboratories)
and 'software' (methodology, training).
The livestock component, which accounted for only a small
proportion of the project’s resources, was effective in going beyond
the traditional animal health focus of the livestock extension services
(see Tables 1-3). However, according to the appraisal report, most of the
component's beneficiaries did not correspond to IFAD’s target group.
Organizations
and people
| The need
to increase food production in Guatemala and improve the living
standards of most of the rural population engaged in traditional
agriculture encouraged specialized governmental institutions to
engage in agricultural research and led to the development of
higher-yield technology. However, the technology thus transferred
and basic inputs did not reach the poor farmers. |
| Planned |
|
Achieved |
| Train 45 professionals
at the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA)
over four years. Some would receive short-term training in livestock
production and others would be trained to post-graduate level
in animal husbandry.
Transfer to 560 small and medium-sized livestock
farmers located on the south coast of the country a technology
package from ICTA for the improvement of dual-purpose bovine enterprises,
which was proved to be a viable alternative for increasing production
and productivity coefficients. Farmers were to be involved by
actively participating in trials and experiments carried out on
their farms.
Strengthen the General Directorate for Livestock
Services to enable it to be more active in the technology transfer
programme; reinforce the Nueva Conception Centre and create three
new centres in areas with similar ecological conditions in order
to test and transfer the technology generated at Nueva Conception. |
|
No information is currently
available on the implementation of this component. Farmers were
provided with training in appropriate livestock production facilities
such as milking parlours, silage trenches, paddock and fencing
systems and watering systems.
The technology transfer was successfully carried
out (see Table 2).
No information is currently available on the implementation
of this component. |
Livestock feed
| Planned |
|
Achieved |
| Improve the nutritional
regime of cattle herds by implementing a new production model
(see Table 4). |
|
From a model based
on a mixture of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Leucaena
(Leucaena leucocephala), cattle were moved on to a variety of
different diets according to category, season, location and
size of farm. Sugar cane, silage, salt, urea and protein banks
were successfully introduced (see Table 1). |
Herd improvement
| Planned |
|
Achieved |
| Reduce the calving
interval and extend the maximum period of lactation of cattle
herds by improving herd management and genetics in accordance
with the new production model. |
|
The project contributed
to moving from a production model based on crosses between
Brahman and Brown Swiss cattle, with a high percentage of
the former, to a model in which the Brown Swiss was predominant.
Calving intervals were reduced and milk production increased
(see Table 2). |
Animal
health
| Planned |
|
Achieved |
| Improve animal health
in the cattle herd by implementing the new production model. |
|
A programme for
herd prophylaxis, consisting of vaccination and internal and
external parasite treatments, was successfully implemented
(see Table 1). |
Lessons learned
- Research and extension can be integrated by establishing two critical
links: (1) between extensionists and farmers, through agricultural
representatives (local farmers contracted on a part-time basis and
paid half the minimum wage); and (2) between research and extension,
implemented through joint planning and on-farm trials with the participation
of farmers and research and extension workers.
- The research and testing of technology should place priority on
adaptive research based on an adequate number of trials on farmers’
fields, with the direct participation of the beneficiaries and the
extension agents.
- There should be a continuous process of interactive training of
both extensionists and farmers during the development phase and
introduction of new technology. As this system would enable the
beneficiaries to communicate their problems to both extension agents
and researchers and obtain support by means of the new packages,
it would eventually form the nucleus of a client-oriented agricultural
extension and research system.
- It is essential that agricultural representatives be involved
in execution of project activities so as to improve links between
technical staff and the communities until such time as the beneficiaries
are in a position to express their demands and needs directly through
their organizations.
- The cumbersome international procurement procedure should be made
more flexible to meet the needs of rural development projects.
- The M&E system should be designed in such a way as to be able
to closely monitor physical achievements and financial performance
and provide timely feedback to project management for necessary
remedial action.
Additional sources of information (e.g. websites):
In the Nueva Conception region, the Inter-American Institute
for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) made a comparison between the
situation (in terms of technology) of livestock farmers who received
TA and those who did not. The farmers assisted by the project always
had a higher technological level in all components reviewed; in particular,
in terms of rotational pasture, fertilization of pasture, silage use,
Napier grass and Leucaena use, external parasite treatments and vitamin
and mineral salt supplements.
Table 1. Technology adoption
and impact in cattle farms under the project and other cattle farms
of the Nueva Conception region (IICA)
| Technology |
Producers assisted
under the project |
Other Producers
|
Difference
|
| Number of producers
interviewed |
28 |
9 |
|
| 1. Pasture (%)
|
| Rotational pasture
|
67 |
100 |
+ 33 |
| Pasture fertilization
|
6 |
22 |
+ 16 |
| 2. Cattle feeding
in dry period (%) |
| Use of sugarcane
|
40 |
56 |
+ 16 |
| Silage |
0 |
44 |
+ 44 |
| Use of Napier
grass |
0 |
33 |
+ 33 |
| Use of Leucaena
|
0 |
11 |
+ 11 |
| 3. Animal health
(%) |
| External parasite
treatment |
70 |
100 |
+ 30 |
| Internal parasite
treatment |
100 |
100 |
+ 0 |
| Vaccination |
75 |
100 |
+ 25 |
| Vitamin supplement
|
23 |
33 |
+ 10 |
| Mineral salt
supplement |
0 |
44 |
+ 44 |
In another study, carried out by the M&E Department
of the Sector Unit for Agriculture and Livestock Planning (USPADA)
on 83 producers who had received the livestock technology, the impact
was evaluated and expected increased production measured. A substantial
increase was observed in terms of yield. The number of animals and
the average production of milk per cow increased.
Table 2: Evaluation of
the livestock technology transfer subcomponent
| Variable |
Before Project
|
Target |
PY 4 |
| Age at first calving
(months) |
40 |
24 |
33 |
| Birth rate (%) |
53 |
70.7 |
90 |
| Mortality rate –
calves (%) |
11 |
3 |
2 |
| Mortality rate –
adult animals (%) |
5 |
2 |
1 |
| Calving interval
(months) |
18 |
13.6 |
13 |
| Cows in production
(%) |
49 |
65 |
54 |
| Milking
(days) |
190
|
250
|
232
|
| Milk production
(l/cow/day) |
2.8 |
4 |
4.6 |
| Carrying capacity
(adults/ha) |
2 |
4 |
4.6 |
| Culling rate (?)
|
5 |
14 |
15 |
In addition, IICA evaluated milk yield data on dairy
farms that received TA under the project and those that did not.
There was a difference of 7 700 litres of milk as a result
of the increase in animals per hectare and high production per cow
in both the dry and the wet season.
Table 3. Milk Production
on Farms Under the Project and on Other Farms (IICA)
| Production variable
|
Producers assisted
under the project |
Other Producers
|
Difference
|
| Number of producers
interviewed |
28 |
9 |
|
| Milk (litres)/farm/year
|
9 698 |
17 358 |
7 660
|
| Milk (litres)/hectare/year
|
1 286 |
1 819 |
533 |
| Milk (litres)/cow/day
(dry season) |
2.7 |
3.0 |
0.3 |
| Milk (litres)/cow/
day (wet season) |
3.3 |
3.9 |
0.6 |
Table 4. Changes in Diet Introduced by the Project.
| Before
the Project |
After
the Project |
| Animal feeding
system in the dry season |
| Diet
based on a mixture of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum)
and Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) |
Parcels with
residual humidity and cows with low production potential
|
| Dry cows and
heifers: diet based on sugarcane, Leucaena hay integrated
with urea and mineral salt |
| Weaned calves
and steers: diet based on sugarcane integrated with urea and
mineral salt. |
| Parcels
without residual humidity and cows with high production potential
|
| Dry cows and heifers:
Napier grass silage and molasses integrated with salt and
urea; sorghum silage integrated with urea and mineral salt.
|
| Weaned calves and
steers: diet based on sorghum, Leucaena hay and mineral salt;
sorghum silage, mulberry forage and mineral salt; maize silage,
Leucaena hay and mineral salt |
| Small parcels
|
| Cows in production,
heifers and steers: diet based on maize or sorghum by-products
integrated with urea and mineral salt |
| Animal feeding
system in the rainy season |
| Rotational
pasture and fertilization using African star and Angleton.
The pasture under rotation was occupied for three days with
a 21-day interval, in accordance with the following modules:
|
Montufar area:
Rotational pastures with jaragua (Hyparrenia rufa). ICTA REAL
grass (a selected variety of Andropogon gayanus CIAT 621).
The interval between grazing was from 35 to 49 days. |
| Other areas
characterized by dry parcels and residual humidity: African
star pasture with four days of occupation and a 21-day interval.
|
| Other areas
characterized by small parcels with residual humidity:
Napier grass associated with kudzu. |
-
For silage: sorghum varieties ICTA
HF-88, ICTA-Oriental and ICTA Jutiapa; and for maize:
varieties la Maquina 7422 and ICTA B-1. In addition two
sugarcane varieties were proposed: Canal Point (CP) 722086
and Sao Paulo (SP) 701284.
-
As protein bank: Leucaena, Centrosema
macrocarpum CIAT 5713 and Kudzu.
|
|
| Project information |
Total project cost: USD 24.2 million, Livestock cost (as percentage
of total): 11%
Beneficiaries: The direct beneficiaries were some 53 000 farmers (or
41% of the target population). Of these, 86% were small farmers producing
mainly food crops on farms averaging 1.1 ha. Medium-sized farmers represented
14% of the beneficiaries. Some 560 livestock producers (representing 1%
of the direct beneficiaries) were also to be included.
Project area: Project activities were to be implemented in five
of the country’s eight agro-ecological regions, and concentrated
in small, clearly defined sub-regions selected in accordance with the
Government’s priority efforts in areas with a high concentration
of small farmers.
In order of priority, the five selected regions were: Region
I, the western highlands; Region V, the eastern highlands and a number
of dry, subtropical valleys; Region VI, the south-eastern highlands and
Caribbean coast; Region VII, the southern highlands and the Caribbean
coast; and Region IV |
| References |
Report and Recommendation of the President to the Executive
Board on a Proposed Loan to the Republic of Guatemala (1984).
Informe de la misión de evaluación ex-ante.
Evaluación Pre-Terminal. Informe N.0785-GM (1992). Proyecto
de generación y transferencia de tecnología agropecuaria y producción
de semillas. |
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