Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Animal Production and Animal Feed Technology (Biological Aspects of Animal Production)

Livestock development over the past three decades has been mainly directed towards satisfying the rapidly increasing demand for milk, meat and eggs in the urban centers. The required intensification of animal production was often limited by both an inadequate indigenous feed and animal resource base along with a fragile socioeconomic capacity in most developing countries. in many cases, the political pressure exerted by the urban demand led to the importation of exotic stock and concentrate feeds. Technologies which proved successful in the socio. economic context of developed countries were applied. Technical institutions were also founded on similar rationale. Large amounts of public funds were used to support the modem production systems. The traditional livestock sector was also stimulated by the increasing prices for animal products but its growth was hampered by inadequate input supply and support services. The signs of unsustainability of such development began to surface in the past few years. The sudden increase in grazing pressure and lack of capacity for conservation among the graziers led to the degradation of rangelands. Feed imports could not be sustained. Lower adaptability of imported stock did not allow rapid multiplication and crossbreeding raised the fears of erosion of the indigenous genetic diversity. The pollution of water and air has been limited to the few areas of livestock concentration in intensive production units. The large-scale use of insecticides in the past for Tsetse control and sporadic pollution of waterways with acaricides may have had significant environmental consequences. Apart from the manifestations of unsustainability, the overall increase in animal productivity in the past three developmental decades has been minimal. increased external assistance per se did not have lasting impact on the performance of the livestock sector in developing countries. in essence the book could be of vital significance for sustainable animal production and feeding technology. it is intended that the book will prove to be an indispensable companion on veterinary science.