Following independence from the former Soviet Union, the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are struggling to develop their national economies. Substantial changes occurred during the years of transition to an open economy. With the progressive privatization of the agricultural sector, large statal and cooperatives holdings were fragmented into small unproductive units, in most cases consisting of a handful of animals. The newly formed production systems emerged in a production context confronted by the dissolution of the Soviet markets and cessation of production supporting services, which led to a decline in productivity and production stagnation, as many traditional products (e.g. wool and pelts) no longer had a reliable market.
Land
redistribution linked to the disruption of seasonal grazing is leading
to unbalanced land utilization, shown by overgrazing and degradation in
some areas, particularly around villages, and underutilization in other
areas. The traditional arrangements that controlled access and grazing
prior to collectivization have long since disappeared. Furthermore, removal
of trees and woody species for fuel is exacerbating the problem. Opportunities
exist for improving rangeland productivity, but these depend on the implementation
of suitable systems for access and appropriate grazing systems.
These circumstances, aggravated by reduced shipments of imported feed
concentrates and the disruption of chains of fodder production and conservation
for critical winter feeding, compounded by a decline in livestock numbers,
that have fallen drastically in all countries of Central Asia, have resulted
in increasing levels of poverty in rural areas.
The Central Asian republics are primarily agriculture-based economies,
and it is agriculture that must provide the basis for economic growth.
These countries together represent a total land area of 400 million hectares,
but, of that, the area of arable land is only a small percentage, and
vast areas are semi-arid steppe rangelands or mountain pastures, supporting
an extensive-husbandry livestock industry. Given the growing demand for
livestock products and the pressure on feed resources, there is a need
for market-oriented adaptive research, with a strong application element,
which can assist livestock production systems to improve productivity
through the efficient integration of feed and livestock production into
smallholder cropping systems.
The objective was to develop, adapt and accelerate the dissemination of improved arable- and range-based feed and livestock production technologies and policy options. The programme was interactive and incorporated technologies, favourable policies and institutional reform measures developed by ICARDA, the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Programme (GL-CRSP), and other initiatives in the region.
Adaptive research on the development of integrated range–livestock–crop management and development technologies
The programme promoted the development of sustainable and effective livestock production systems through the integration of livestock production with feed resources produced both on farms and from rangelands. The programme built on other applied research projects operating in the region, located in the transitional areas of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where the rangelands merge into the arable regions.
A participatory research approach was applied to integrate the various technologies being tested and to assess the economic, social, institutional and environmental sustainability of different development paths. The research activities included:
- development of management options for rangeland–livestock–cropping systems in the study areas;
- identification and successful testing of alternative native annual and perennial fodder species adapted to the local conditions, grown in rotation with wheat or barley crops;
- determination of appropriate stocking rates and seasons for using the alternative fodder crops identified, and balanced offtake of animal products; and
- development of low-cost techniques for the rehabilitation of rangelands and of marginal arable lands – including the re-establishment of woody species suitable for fuelwood – as well as appropriate grazing management systems.
Training, capacity-building and information exchange
Information was generated on the use of integrated feed–livestock technologies for small ruminants in the different physiological and management regimes found in the area, and this in part formed the basis for provision of training for participating national agricultural research system (NARS) scientists.
The project has produced information that allows collaborating farmers to make better choices by reorienting their production systems toward market and income opportunities. For instance, lambs from ewes lambed early (January) had by spring (April-May) already reached the weights that lambs from the traditional lambing period would attain at the time of their weaning in July.
The project promoted the active participation of collaborating farmers in the on-farm network. In this process, farmers and researchers participated at all stages from planning to research implementation in the testing of 6 production options in Kazakhstan, 6 in Kyrgyzstan, 5 in Turkmenistan and 8 in Uzbekistan.
Through assessments of the potential of milk production from Karakul sheep in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the project looked at diversifying research, not only to utilize milking ewes kept to produce pelts, but also to add value to sheep products as an extra opportunity to enhance income. In a production context with minimal or nil returns from traditional products (such as pelts and wool), this diversification has been greeted with great interest by farmers.
The project has tried to bridge the gap left by the lack of on-farm research in Central Asia and the stagnation of research organizations, which had reduced a minimum the transfer of scientific and technology innovations to the farm environment. The project has also helped to rebuild the prestige of research institutions serving the livestock production sector. In this regard, the project could be seen as one of the first examples of R&D that effectively is applying research to the solution of problems confronted by the emerging farmer community following the breakdown of the Soviet Union.
Not least, the project has been generating important information in support of sustainable management of natural resources in the region.
