ABSTRACT
The current scenario for the development of forage, livestock and tree crop integration in Southeast Asia is presented and discussed in relation to its potential for future development of a sustainable ruminant industry in ASEAN countries. Using the Malaysian model, the R&D on cattle-oil palm integration from its early conception in the seventies to commercialisation of its technology in the late nineties, was highlighted. Various aspects are reviewed, including forage feed availability and its changes with tree-crop maturity, and potential use of crop by-products by ruminants. Scientific findings have helped to dispel negative attitudes of planters towards ruminant rearing in plantations, and also provide a firm basis for a holistic approach in livestock-tree crop integration. Although nutrient availability per tonne of DM forage declines with age of the plantation crop, the major nutritional drawback is its forage yield reduction per unit land area. The use of agricultural by-products from the plantations to compensate for diminishing supply of forages in mature stands is discussed. The cattle component is now regarded as complementary to plantation crop production, and collaboration among research institutions, government agencies and plantation entrepreneurs has made cattle-tree-crops integration a successful and economically viable investment. Future research and development priorities will depend on reorientation to a multidisciplinary and multisectoral systems approach that addresses efficient resource use and management for environmentally sustainable development of the ruminant industry within plantation systems.
