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Chapter 10 - Ranching

Factors detrimental to the livestock industry
Ranching's interaction with other sectors
Bibliography

Cattle, poultry, hogs, buffalo, and sheep are raised in the American humid tropics. Livestock raising has often been as controversial as agriculture, because of its negative side effects. On the other hand, countries in Amazonia need to use the humid tropics to feed their growing human populations (Peru for example must import meat and milk to satisfy national demand) (Table 10-1) and to increase their foreign exchange earnings by exploiting and exporting the goods and services obtained from tropical ecosystems. To this end livestock development policy in Peru has included strengthening livestock production and has given priority to activities that produce foodstuffs (INIPA, 1982).

All countries possessing Amazonian forests have indicated their firm intention to colonize and to encourage their exploitation (UNEP-MARNR, 1978; SUDAM, 1975; MAA, 1974). Nevertheless, these political decisions must now be accompanied by the technology to implement such policies.

Few concrete studies exist that describe how to establish stable livestock operations in the humid tropics. Stable production systems need to improve economic and social conditions and cause minimal damage to the land's capacity for providing quality environments to future generations.

Table 10-1
VOLUME AND VALUE OF MILK AND MEAT IN PERU (1981)

Product

Metric Tons
(in thousands)

US$
(in millions)

Powdered milk without cream

23.4

29

Anhydrous milk fat

10.4

13

Powdered milk with cream

3.0

4

Beef

12.1

18

Source: Empresa Nacional de Comercialización de Insumos (1981).

The country must satisfy the demand for livestock products by exploiting its natural resources. Because of water scarcity and because it is more profitable to use irrigated areas for agriculture rather than livestock, animal production is difficult on the Peruvian coast. In the mountains, meanwhile, 70 percent of the livestock population is restricted to certain regions and, although production can be increased to some extent through improved management, only limited possibilities exist for expansion of livestock production activities. According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MAA, 1974), this leaves only the Selva as being capable of supporting major livestock development.

The American humid tropics have always been considered capable of supporting exceptional natural plant growth, because of favorable temperatures (averaging 24°C or more in the lowland jungle), and high levels of precipitation (over 1,500 mm) (Parsons, 1975). Minimal average monthly temperature (differences of less than 5°C exist) between the cold and warm months.

Further, much of the area is largely flat with ample water and a broad diversity of topographic, rainfall, and edaphic characteristics that, together, create a wide variety of regions that can be exploited. For example according to ONERN (1981), of the 75.7 million hectares in the Peruvian forest region, 10.3 million (13.6%) are suitable for grazing (Table 10-2). Even if livestock development is restricted to the lands best suited for grass (5.7 million hectares), an increase of some three million animals can be expected (Staver, 1981).

Another factor encouraging the introduction of livestock into humid tropical areas is the construction of access roads and trails, such as the Trans-Amazon Highway and the Perimetral Norte in Rodonia, Brazil that, together, include a total of 11,000 km of new roads. Ecuador and Colombia, because of their petroleum reserves, also have roads penetrating the jungle (Parsons, 1975). Peru, meanwhile, has reactivated its program to construct the Marginal Road (5,600 km) and has the support of neighboring countries.

Table 10-2
LAND USE APTITUDE IN THE PERUVIAN HUMID TROPICS

Classification

Land Surface Area

Hectares

%

Shifting Agriculture

2,421,000

3.21

Permanent Cultivation

2,191,000

2.89

Grass

5,718,000

7.55

Forests

46,432,000

61.35

Protection

18,924,000

25.00

Total

75,686,560

100.00

Source: ONERN (1981).

Whatever the purpose of the road being constructed, its immediate consequence will be spontaneous migration to the area accompanied by cutting, clearing, and burning of forests for cultivation of crops such as manioc and corn. In many of these cases, agriculture is a transitional step between forest and grassland. Thus, grasslands are expanding rapidly. It is hoped that, along with this expansion, introduction of improved grass varieties more appropriate to the tropics will bring increased production for the near future. For example, in the area influenced by the IVITA station in Pucallpa, 30 percent of the livestock lands are planted in various grass/legume combinations, and between 35 percent and 62 percent of the lands are planted in Brachiaria decumbens, a grass superior in quality to native and naturalized species (Riesco, et al, 1982). But there positive forces for livestock production must be weighed against conditions that will have a strong negative impact on the industry, such as unstable climate, poor soils, and cultural factors.

Factors detrimental to the livestock industry

In zones of 2,000-4,000 mm of rainfall/year, characterized by irregular rainfall distribution, grazing during the period of high rainfall causes severe leaching of nutrients and serious erosion of exposed soil (Tosi, 1975). Grazing in humid regions can also result in rapid decline of productivity due to soil compaction by livestock trampling clay soils saturated with water. Furthermore, as control of weeds through burning becomes impossible, ferns and other plants more tolerant than grass of acid and infertile soils begin to invade. For instance, in the Villa Rica area, rolling pastures which have been covered with Melinis minutiflora for the last 40 years are being invaded by ferns in the absence of measures to protect soil fertility. Because of the invasion of weeds and the natural low fertility of the soil, the land can support only around 0.7 animals/hectare. Eventually, the situation deteriorates to such an extent that people must emigrate from the area and find new lands for their livestock operations.

In regions and seasons of high rainfall drainage problems occur in the lowlands (varzeas) along the river banks. Epidemics and diseases increase, the use of mechanized equipment becomes more difficult, and the wear and tear on machines and agricultural equipment accelerates (Alvim, 1978). Heat and sunlight combine with the precipitation to create conditions inappropriate for livestock. For instance, in humid and very humid areas where temperatures do not fall below 20° C even at night, the cloud cover reduces photosynthesis and, thus, plant productivity (Tosi, 1975). The heat, meanwhile, makes cattle uncomfortable, reducing their food consumption and milk productivity and increasing energy expenditure to release excessive heat. Strong winds can reduce livestock productivity indirectly through their dehydrating effect on grass and soil.

Seventy-five percent of the Amazon riverbasin is characterized by acid and infertile soils, classified as oxisols and ultisols. These are deep, well-drained soils, red or yellowish, but with low pH and significant nutrient deficiencies (Sanchez, et al., 1982).

Only 8 percent of the Amazon basin is covered by well-drained and moderately to highly fertile soils (Table 10-3). This figure, nevertheless, represents 37 million hectares. On the other hand, 67 percent of the basin (320 million ha) is covered by well-drained, acid, and infertile soils on land not exceeding 30 percent in slope. These soils are considered to have potential for agricultural, livestock, and forest exploitation.

Table 10-3
TOPOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRINCIPAL SOILS IN THE AMAZON BASIN (Millions of hectares)

Soil Group

Level Poorly Drained

Well-drained
% Slope

Total

0-8%

8-30%

30%

ha

%

Acid, infertile

43

207

88

23

361

(75)

Alluvial, poorly drained

56

13

1

-

70

(14)

Moderately fertile, well-drained

0

17

13

7

37

(8)

Sandy,very infertile

10

5

1

-

-

(3)

Total

109

242

103

30

484


Source: Sanchez, et al, (1982).

The principal obstacle, however, to employing Amazon soils in agriculture and livestock is their chemical, not physical, characteristics (Sanchez, et al., 1982). As Table 10-4 indicates, 90 percent of the soils are deficient in phosphorus, with only 16 percent exhibiting a high capacity for fixing this element. Thus, phosphorus needs to be added to the soil or given directly to livestock, especially where grasses do not respond to phosphorus fertilizer because of high aluminum soil content (aluminum toxicity is the primary cause of poor grass growth in 73 percent of Amazon soils).

Finally, as Table 10-4 shows, 92 percent of Amazon soils are relatively resistant to erosion, due to the high proportion of lowlands and the gentle topographic relief in the Amazon region.

Table 10-4
PRINCIPAL LIMITATIONS OF AMAZON SOILS BENEATH NATURAL VEGETATION

Problema

Millions of hectares

% of the basin

Phosphorus Deficiency

436

90

Aluminum Toxicity

352

73

Potassium Deficiency

271

56

Poor Drainage, Flooding

115

24

High Fixation of Phosphorus

77

16

Low Cation Exchange Capacity

71

15

High Susceptability to Erosion

39

8

Without Significant Limitations

32

6

High Degree of Slope (30%)

30

6

Laterite Formation when Subsoil is Exposed

21

4

Shallow Depth

3

0.6

a. Deficiencies of N, S, Mg, Zn, and occasionally other elements are widespread, but they cannot be quantified because of the lack of available data.

Source: Sanchez et at. (1982).

The low pasture density in the Peruvian Amazonia is chiefly due to the paucity of measures that replace soil fertility and to erosion in pastures located on steep slopes. Erosion is accelerated by animals compacting the soil, which reduce plant growth and cover. The magnitude of animal soil compaction can be inferred from the data on soil pressure that have been calculated for the Pucallpa region by Toledo and Morales (1979) (Table 10-5).

Table 10-5
RANGES OF PRESSURE ON SOIL APPLIED BY DIFFERENT COMPACTING AGENTS

Compacting Agent

Weight
kg

Pressure on the Soil
kg/cm2

Tractor, caterpillar, 180 HP

18,300

0.67 - 0.51

Tractor, Caterpillar, 270 HP

28,100

0.95 - 0.68

Tractor, Caterpillar, 385 HP

38,800

0.95 - 0.76

Tree-crusher, G-40 - 475 HP

45,000

1.03 - less

Tree-crusher, G-60 - 475 HP

65,000

1.37 - less

Horse

400

4.00 - 1.00

Cow

350

3.50 - 0.88

Human

70

0.47 - 0.23

Source: Toledo and Morales (1979).

Minimal soil erosion occurs when soil is covered by several strata of natural vegetation. On the other hand, any land use that exposes significant amounts of soil to direct wind and water action greatly accelerates erosion and produces the panoramas of denuded hillsides so common in the high forest region and along the eastern slope of the Andes. Raising livestock on steep slopes (more than 30%) can cause soil erosion problems; the paths they make can produce small pools of water, while overgrazing and annual cultivation expose the soil (Table 10-6). Clearly, livestock raising can be damaging. However, good grass and animal management can reduce erosion rates similar to those found under forest on rolling terrain (IVITA 1981). Given the close relationship between the weight of the compacting agent and the pressure that it applies to the soil, it would be expected that the smaller animals, such as swine and poultry, would be less damaging to the soil than cattle. Bishop (1980) points out that combining swine, poultry, agricultural and forest production in the Ecuadorian jungle is an economically attractive alternative, because these animals help maintain a stable nutrient cycle and they can be produced in harmony with the natural structure and function of humid tropic ecosystems.

Table 10-6
SOIL EROSION RATES IN THE HUMID TROPICS ACCORDING TO VEGETATION TYPE

Vegetation Type

Annual Erosion Rate

mm of soil

MT/hectare

Cotton Monoculture, Land Basically Flat

4

80

Rotational Cultivation, Land Basically Flat

1.6

32

Dense Pasture, Flat Land

0.1-0.5

2-10

Low Pasture, Flat Land

1-100

20-100

Cultivation on Newly-Cleared Slopes

30-60

600-1200

Virgin Forest, Rolling Terrain

0.01-0.5

0,2-10

Virgin Forest, Pronounced Slopes

0.5-2

10-40

Dense Forest Plantations, without Ground Cover

1-8

20-160

Thin Forest Plantations, with Ground Cover

0.1-0.5

2-10

Source: Bruning (1975).

Humid tropical soils require a continual return of nutrients for the vegetation to exploit, because of their low cation exchange capacity and because of the high amount of rainfall in the region. The nutrient cycle in forests includes the formation of a carpet of shallow rootlets, the extraction of nutrients, enhanced decay of leaves and branches, and the action of micorrhizae to transfer nutrients to the roots (Herrera, et al, 1978). In adopting cultivation, native populations used a system of shifting agriculture in which trees were felled, cleared, and burned, not only to prepare land for sowing, but also to fertilize the soil with the minerals in the ashes of burned vegetation. "Crop" plants, with higher nutritional requirements, could only produce for two or three years before the land became infertile where upon the lands were abandoned and left fallow for up to 20 years.

The coming of livestock brought two changes: grass, rather than annual crops, was planted immediately upon clearing the forest or, instead of being fallowed, the land was converted to grassland upon abandonment for agriculture purposes (Walters, 1975). Although livestock raising was begun by colonists, a growing number of indigenous inhabitants are now also active in livestock production either for economic reasons, or as Dickinson (1981) suggests, cattle imparts to man a sense of prestige. Nevertheless, neither the colonists nor the natives possess the minimum technology necessary to maintain cattle over long periods in one locality, and so must practice what may be called "migratory ranching."

New techniques are being developed to make livestock endeavors more efficient and stable. Selective and incomplete use of some of these techniques, however, can actually accelerate forest destruction. One such unbalanced technology is the use of new deforestation techniques which, for example, has reduced the cost of clearing forests in Costa Rica from US$450 per hectare to only US$127 per hectare (Parsons, 1975) and has stimulated the expansion of livestock operations in the absence of similarly improved techniques in animal production.

The above discussion primarily refers to cattle raising. Swine and poultry production, either shifting or sedentary, share many practices with annual cultivation and can help maintain the nutrient cycle in the soil. Sheep and goat enterprises are just beginning in the Peruvian jungle, but the same factors that affect cattle also affect these animals.

There is a tendency to believe that neither shifting nor subsistence livestock operations will ever attain a stable level in the humid tropics or produce enough food to satisfy the needs of growing human populations. It is felt that these systems, while providing for the needs of the people employing them, will not be capable of either providing the economy with a significant quantity of products, or of efficiently utilizing humid tropical natural goods and services. In addition, subsistence technologies, such as shifting agriculture, while being in harmony with certain ecological principles, also guarantee the continued poverty of their practitioners (Alvim, 1978). Demographic pressure has accelerated the cycle of clearing land and leaving it fallow, giving the impression that the system has become more efficient. In reality, however, it has led to an unproductive and unstable use of tropical ecosystems.

In a hot and humid environment animals suffer as much as humans from such problems as foot fungosis, parasites both external (ticks, worms) and internal (for example, lung worm Dyctiocaulus), and other diseases such as pneumonia, mineral deficiency, and malnutrition. In one five-year study of 1,703 calves in the Pucallpa region, the principal causes of death were found to be malnutrition (37.9%), pneumonia (8.3%), piosepticemia (7.7%), and clostridiocis (5.1%).

The ruminants best able to adapt to the humid tropical environment are the water buffalo and the cow. The tropical climate is also appropriate for such non-ruminants as swine and poultry; in fact, the intensive production of these animals can be economically more profitable in the tropics than in temperate areas because of lower construction and heating costs, for example (Payne, 1975).

Another serious problem confronting livestock operations in the humid tropics is the proliferation of weeds which sprout from large quantities of seeds in the soil, germinating when the clearing and burning of forests creates favorable fertility and light conditions (Toledo and Morales, 1979).

With both subsistence farming and extensive livestock enterprises, nutrients extracted from the soil have to be replaced, because they are indispensable to meat and milk production.

To illustrate, Serrao et al, (1978) cites results in Brazil in which 10 years of burning and cultivating grass produced an increase in pH, interchangeable calcium and magnesium, and potassium; a dramatic decrease in aluminum, and a notable increase in phosporus during the first four years followed by a decrease in phosporus to the original minimum virgin forest levels. Table 10-7 presents the data obtained from this study, which was carried out in the Paragominas region in Para state with ultisols. Similar results were obtained in Para and Mato Grosso with oxisols. Thus, it is evidently necessary to combine burning with phosphorus fertilization to maintain soil quality. Serrao et al, (1978), for example, announced that 13 years of applications of 137.5 kg/ha of phosphate (P2O5) Panicum maximum raised production from 3.5 MT/ha to 17.5 MT/ha. Toledo and Serrao (1982) recently reported similar results, adding that one factor limiting production and affecting fertilizer imports is the use of grass and legume species in the humid tropics that are not the best suited to local conditions.

Other goods and services required by livestock operations include wire for fences, herbicides, insecticides, antibiotics, fungicides, insect repellents, medicines, castration equipment; and milking, dehorning, veterinary, transport, extension, and commercial services. All of the goods must be brought from other regions, and some, such as vaccines, do not retain their effectiveness in tropical temperature and humidity. The investment required for these necessary services and imported goods mentioned above represent an obstacle to successful livestock enterprise in the Selva.

Ranching's interaction with other sectors

Livestock raising interacts with other activities of development in the humid tropics. These interactions can be positive and complementary (synergism), or negative and conflicting (antagonism), often depending on which category of livestock activity is under consideration: migratory livestock meat production (unstable system); sedentary livestock meat production (stable or potentially stable system); intensive livestock meat or milk production (stable system); swine and poultry production.

Livestock and Aquaculture

Peasants and indigenous people raising livestock today are increasingly using marginal lands. The cutting and clearing of forest areas to establish livestock operations can cause changes in river regimens and negatively affect fish production and growth. On the other hand, sedentary and intensive livestock operations tend to protect downstream areas where fish are abundant. Another advantage of intensive livestock operations (especially milk production) is that they use the manure they produce as fertilizer; when this organic material is transported to rivers and lagoons during the rainy season, it can benefit fish. However, too much fertilizer can lead to excessive algal growth that can reduce the oxygen supply of lagoons and other small bodies of water and hinder pisciculture.

Swine and poultry production does not now conspicuously interact with fish culture in the humid tropics, but in China, the Philippines, and India synergistic interactions have increased when poultry and swine production is associated with pisciculture. In these situations poultry and swine are bred in confined conditions (intensive systems), which facilitate the collection of manure, which is then placed in chambers where anaerobic fermentation converts it to methane gas. This gas, in turn, is used to heat, refrigerate, produce light, and provide heat for poultry and swine broods.

The solid residue (sludge) remaining in the biogas production tanks is applied directly to fields as fertilizer, while the liquid residue (caldo) is used for cultivating nitrogen-fixing algae that produce a protein-rich food for swine and poultry. The Asians also breed fish that can be fed on this enriched food; and, they build enclosures for chickens and ducks above the ponds with floors made of open grating, so the waste is dropped into the ponds.

Table 10-7
THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ULTISOLS UNDERLYING FOREST AND GUINEA GRASS (Panicum maximum) DURING 10 YEARS IN PARAGOMINAS, PARA, BRAZIL


Organic Material

Interchangeable Cations

Saturation

%

N

pH

(CA+Mg)
meg/100g

Al

K

P

Al

Forest

1.2

0.05

4,2

0.30

0.9

20

3

70

Grass

Established

1.0

0.06

7,1

3.05

0

27

12

0

Grass

1 year

1.0

0.05

6.7

2.31

0

70

9

0

2 years

1.3

0.06

6.5

2.65

0

59

8

0

4 years

1.2

0.05

6.7

3.56

0

51

10

0

5 years

0.9

0.05

6.2

2.13

0

20

2

0

6 years

1.4

0.06

5.8

1.98

0

39

3

0

7 years

1.3

0.06

6.0

1.75

0

98

3

0

8 years

1.1

0.06

6.0

1.92

0

23

3

0

9 years

1.2

0.06

6.4

3.18

0

43

3

0

10 years

0.9

0,04

6.3

2.33

0

20

2

0

Source: Serrão et al. (1978).

Livestock and Hydroenergy

Regulating water supplies with dams can either obstruct or assist livestock operations. For example, dams can reduce the amount of gentle slopes for cattle grazing when mud is deposited by rivers rising behind dams. Poorly managed shifting and sedentary upstream livestock operations, meanwhile, create soil erosion that increases the amount of soil entering reservoirs. Reducing and regulating water supplies with dams can also threaten continued water buffalo operations by drying areas that were formerly periodically inundated.

On the other hand, both sedentary and intensive livestock operations benefit from hydroelectric works that ensure continual water flow, reduce flood risks, assure availability of water for livestock throughout the year, and provide water for rangeland irrigation during drought periods. In particular intensive dairy farming is assured of water for cleaning installations, equipment, and animals, and for the electrical energy required to operate milk storage facilities and milking machines.

Livestock and Agriculture

Except for competition for space, neither intensive cattle ranching nor swine and poultry raising are antagonistic to agriculture. Indeed, they quite often complement each other, as when crops are partially or totally dedicated to feeding animals. Such an arrangement is seen in the high forests of Peru, where manioc, corn, rice, and regional wheat (Coix lacrima) are used to feed poultry (Blasco, et al, 1977). Another example is the use of forage crops, such as sorghum, corn, sugar cane and tropical root crops to supplement the diets of milk cows in the Pre-montane humid tropical climate at Oxapampa.

A growing interest exists in finding other ways to combine livestock with tropical agriculture, the most important using tropical crops, crop residues, and agricultural by-products. For example, livestock periodically fed manioc, can triple the yields of protein-rich forage (20% protein) without affecting the production of manioc (Ruiz, unpublished). Potato may be used in similar fashion to provide 600-700 grams of weight gain daily (Backer, et al, 1980). Use of crop residue and other by-products are described in various publications, which describe how sugar cane shoots, molasses, and urea can sustain intensive meat production at 800-1,000 grams per day (Ruiz, 1976). Ruiloba and Ruiz (1978) have also found that chaff from rice plants can be used in meat production, producing up to 1,000 grams of daily weight gain.

Livestock production is not as complementary with permanent cultivation as it is with annual cultivation. Nevertheless near Veracruz, Mexico sheep production is associated with citrus growing. The sheep feed on low plants in the orchard, thus saving the expense of manually or chemically controlling the plants that can obstruct fruit harvest. Further, the Animal Science Department of the University of Florida (USA) has developed techniques of using pulp from citrus fruits to nourish animals which would be useful in the humid tropics, where industrial processing of citrus and other tropical fruits produces significant quantities of potentially usable residues.

Associating legumes with annual and perennial crops is another method of combining agriculture and livestock. Reviewing this subject, Sanchez et at., (1982) points out that the use of kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides) as a fertilizer results in crop yields similar to those obtained using comprehensive fertilization but the cost of harvesting, transporting, and applying kudzu limits the extent to which this technique can be used. However, a legume not only provides a protein-rich forage, but also fixes nitrogen in the soil through its rhizobia and thus can be used to feed ruminant animals, and the resulting animal feces can then be applied as fertilizer.

Growing corn along with forage legumes is being investigated in Costa Rica and could provide legumes and corn residues that would be more nutritious than corn residues alone. Such methods can triple the available protein in animal forage and increase by 50 percent the energy quality of agricultural residues. Nourishing animals with crop residues, however, also increases the risk of erosion, since their removal from land reduces the cover protecting land from rain and wind.

Livestock and Forestry

Land that has been cultivated for two or three years is frequently converted into grassland, instead of being allowed to lie fallow. It is obvious then that livestock operations can hinder forest regeneration. Livestock grazing increases soil erosion on hillsides exceeding 30 percent in slope, thus, when grazing on these slopes conflicts with forest regeneration, the forest sector should take precedence. On more gentle slopes, however, resolution of the conflict depends on edaphological considerations. Both activities can be combined in silvopastoral systems. But major conflicts exist between livestock and forest interests when both sectors can profitably exploit the same land.

Initiating sedentary and intensive livestock operations conflicts with forest interests by clearing forest areas to establish pastures and to provide wood for livestock facilities such as fences, corrals, stables, gates, beams, workers' cabins, landowner homes, crates, and others. Another negative interaction stems from the conviction of many stockmen that livestock do not require shade in pastures. Thus, these stockmen prefer rangeland completely cleared of trees, because they believe tree shade impedes grass growth. This generalization is not always true, however, precisely because of the variability of tree and grass species, soil types, and livestock.

Another conflict between livestock and forestry enterprises occurs when livestock enter forest areas and trample and browse seedlings. Kirby (1976) describes New Zealand experiences in which sheep and calves have grazed under close supervision in areas reforested with Pinus radiata when saplings had reached one meter in height. Young bulls and heifers, meanwhile, can graze in such areas if the trees are taller than 2-2.5 meters.

Livestock and forestry operations are more frequently observed in association than in competition. For instance, it is common to find ranches in which various living trees (such as Erythrina sp., Gliricidia sepium, and Leucaena leucocephala) serve as fenceposts. Trees also provide livestock with shade and wind protection while various forest species provide forage to ruminant animals. Such plants include Erythrina glauca, E. poeppigiana, Glyricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Guazuma ulmifotia, Psidium guajava, and Cecropia. In Costa Rica Erythrina poeppigiana is used to provide shade in coffee plantations, at a density that can yield approximately 4 MT of Erythrina forage (dry weight) every six months. Other studies in Costa Rica have illustrated this plant's richness in protein (20-24%), digestibility (around 65%), and palatability to goats and sheep (3.1-3.5% of the living animal's weight) (CATIE, 1978). In summary, then, data illustrating the nutritional value of forest species indicate that it is technically feasible to develop efficient systems that integrate silviculture with livestock endeavors.

Livestock and Wildlife

Native fauna of the humid tropics, of course, intimately depend on forests. Thus, livestock operations compete with wildlife interests as they do with forest interests. Further, stockmen wish to prevent livestock from coming into contact with wild animals. Felines, such as the jaguar, and serpents, such as the bushmaster, can decimate herds. Herbivorous insects can greatly reduce rangeland biomass. Data detailing the significance of this phenomenon in the humid tropics do not exist, but in a sheep-raising region in the United States it has been estimated that up to 50 percent of an area's grass can be lost to insects. I n addition, armadillos, some rodents, and snakes consume chicken and duck eggs. Forests also harbor vectors of the eggs of the parasitic worm Dermatobia, and vampire bats feed on the animals' blood and expose them to infections and infestations. Thus, the stockman has no interest in having his livestock live alongside wildlife. His zeal to control wildlife is not restricted to his own land but is also manifested outside it.

On the other hand, some cases are known of livestock associating with wildlife. One example is the appearance in tropical America of the cattle egret that follows livestock to feed on insects and ticks and other acarids that live on, or fall from, the animals' loins, thus reducing parasitism and the incidence of livestock diseases. Young chicks raised around households almost always are permitted to roam freely outside the houses, at which time they encounter a large variety of insects that they consume voraciously.

Livestock and Human Settlements

Four categories of inhabitants, as classified by Dourojeanni (1979), live in the high forest of Peru: mountain people, coastal people, European immigrants, and Asiatic immigrants. In the low forest, another group can be recognized: river people, descendants of the first white colonists, who intermarried with natives. Natives, river people, and mountain people practice shifting agriculture and are workers for other groups. Mountain people and other groups also practice other types of agricultural activity, as well as livestock, forest, mining, and commercial pursuits.

Even in the absence of detailed studies illustrating the interactions between human settlements and livestock, some observations can be made. First, it is evident that, of all agricultural pursuits, natives, jungle dwellers, and mountain people have had the least exposure to tropical livestock raising. Natives seldom raised livestock until they learned how to do it while working for the colonists. Mountain people, on the other hand, had some knowledge of raising sheep for wool production. Thus, it should come as no surprise that these groups tend to practice unstable livestock enterprises caused by lack of basic technical knowledge and, in so doing, cause rapid destruction to the soil and other natural resources of the forest.

The other groups practice sedentary, extensive, and semi-intensive livestock activity. People from the coast have brought such practices with them as confining livestock and feeding them with cut forage. The descendants of immigrants tend to settle in the highlands and produce both meat and dairy products where the topography permits, breeding the stock with European races.

From this, it can be surmised that people engaged in livestock activity without the knowledge of fundamental technology can cause problems affecting man and the ecosystems which support him. The only solution is to educate people in animal production and to establish commercial channels that will enable them to break the cycles of poverty, make a profit from their efforts, and thus insure their continual and consistent interest in their work.

Bibliography

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Blasco, M., W. Chavez Flores, M. Díaz Mejía, M. Llaveria Baroni and M. Nureña Sanguinetti. 1977. Producción e Investigación agraria en la Amazonía peruana. Perú, Ministerio de Alimentación - IICA. Publicación Miscelanea Nec. 160. 82 p.

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