SUSTAINABILITY OF PASTURE WITH INTRODUCTION OF SHEEP UNDER DURIAN ORCHARD
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129
SUSTAINABILITY OF PASTURE
WITH INTRODUCTION OF SHEEP
UNDER DURIAN ORCHARD
MOHD NAJIB, M.A.1
SUMMARY
Forage availability under plantation crops declines when trees grow older. Durian orchard is
probably a good alternative for integration in view of its better light transmission and thu s
better growth of the ground cover. With a stocking rate of about 15 sheep/ha under matured
durian, the dry matter availability did not go lower than 1,000kg/ha. Probably, more than 15%
leguminous forage were required to achieve a sustainable pasture in this livestock integration
system. Brachiaria humidicola did not affect the growth of young durian trees and the grass
could sustain about 30 cheeps/ha under nomadic rearing system.
INTRODUCTION
Sheep integration with tree-crops managed as a commercial entity was started in the mid -
eighties. Since then, many projects were set up in Peninsular Malaysia. However, the overall
success rate of these commercial projects was considered low as many could not progress well
and some closed down after a few years of operation. Several constraints and problems were
encountered during the implementation of the projects especially in the areas of forag e
resources, management practices and animal productivity. Forage availability under plantations
crops such as oil palm and rubber, declines when trees grows older.
Pasture improvement under rubba and oil palm had been previously attempted but was not
sustainable due to inadequate light transmission for growth. Re-orientation of the plantin g
system need to be done to create a more suitable environment for sheep integration i n
plantations (Chong and Tajuddin 1994, Abdullah et al. 1992). However, this practice may not
be applicable to all areas under the tree-crops because of different degree of slope and type of
elevation since the planting rows need to be along the east-west position in order to get good
light transmission.
Fruit orchards, such as durian may be a good alternative in view of this problem. There
are about 163,000 ha of fruit orchards in Malaysia of which 34% are grown with durian (Nik
Masdek and Zahari 1993). Comparatively, there was more light penetration in matured durian
(20-25% of the full sunlight) (Mohd Najib unpublished data) compared to that in matur e
rubber and oil palm when the canopy closed in (Chen et al., 1988). Even though the level of
illumination improves slowly during the stage of maturity of oil palm and rubber, th e
subsequent under-storey vegetation is mainly fern.
The main aims of this study were to record the availability, productivity and sustainability
of native pasture under mature durian and of Brachiaria humidicola pasture under young
durian with the introduction of sheep. The study was supported by Prisons Department ,
Malaysia.
1
Livestock Research Division, MARDI, P.O. Box 12301, 50774 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia130
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The area under study covered a total of 7.4 ha of matured durian and 0.4 ha of young duriar
trees, at Dusun Datuk Murad, Ayer Keroh, Malacca, a prison for juvenile delinquent s
Malin-crossed sheep were reared at a stocking rate of about 15 animals/ha under the matured
trees. Brachiaria humidicola was planted together with durian seedlings, initially, to find out
the survival of the two crops through time. The grass was fertilized in four split applications
annually, at the rate of 200kg N,40kg P and 100kg K per hectare/yr using Urea, Tripl e
Superphosphate and Muriate of Potash, respectively. Another area of about the same size was
treated as control. All the durian trees were planted at 30m x 30m spacing.
Initially, B. humidicola was cut as fodder at every six-week interval. After three years of
growth, the grass was grazed by Malin-crossed sheep at about 30 animals/ha. Ten percent of
the durian trees were chosen randomly for girth measurement at 0.5m above the ground. Data
were recorded every 24 weeks to find out the girth increment over time.
At commencement, the age of the animals was between 0.8-1.5 years old. They wer e
allowed to graze for five hours daily and were given sufficient water and mineral lick. Ol d
stocks were sold and replaced by new ones. Grazing was managed using nomadic system and
two shepherds looked after the animals each day.
Forage samplings for dry matter (DM) and botanical composition were carried out every
12 weeks. Botanical composition scoring was done using the method advocated by Mannetje
and Haydock (1963). One percent of the total land area was taken randomly during eac h
botanical sampling. Samplings for DM availability was carried out using lm x lm quadrat s
adequately.
Light measurement was conducted using light meter LI-COR model LI-I000 at 24weekly
interval. Four fixed sites were chosen under the mature durian trees for this purpose. Dat a
were recorded every hour from 0800hr to 1800hr at every one metre sequence along an d
across rows of the tree crop.
The study was carried out in a five-year duration with the co-operation of the staff of the
Ayer Keroh juvenile prisons.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
(a) Forage production and composition
The average forage DM availability sampled at every 12 weekly interval, decreased in the
second year but was significantly higher in the third year onwards (Table 1). Even though
the feed-on-offer fluctuated over the period of investigation, with the stocking rate of 15
animals/ha, the DM availability did not go lower than 1,000 kg/ ha. Under mature oil palm
and rubber, the forage DM availability was only about 500kg/ha (Wan Mohamed 1977).
Based on the 12-weekly samplings, forage DM availability was slightly low during th e
months of February-March and August-September but the forage on offer to the shee p
was relatively stable and sufficient.
In the presence of sheep, forage botanical composition progressively changed eve n
though the percentage light transmitted through the durian canopy was more or less the
same throughout the period under study. The grass component continuously increase d
whilst the legumes decreased in the first three years and slowly increased in th e
subsequent years. The presence of broad-leaved forages was not stable and appeared to
be so little at the end of the five-year investigation. The major forage species observe d
Mohd.Najib M.A.131
were Ottochloa nodosa, Ischaemum muticum, Ischaemum timorence, Axonopus
compressus, Paspalum conjugatum, Paspalum notatum, Calopogonium mucunoides,
Calopogonium caeruleum, Pueraria phaseoloides, Centrosema pubescens, Desmodium
ovalifolium, Asystasia intrusa and Mikainia cordata. The grasses were quite widespread
whilst most of the legumes and broad-leaved forages occurred in patches, especiall y
towards the end of the study.
The data in Table I indicate that animal liveweight gain (LWG) was positively related
to total available crude protein (CP) and percentage legume component of the nativ e
forage. The increase in the grass component did not seem to affect the total CP and animal
LWG as shown in Year 3 in the table. Probably, more than 15% leguminous forage were
required to achieve a sustainable pasture in this livestock-crop integration system. I n
general, a high percentage of legume may not be desirable for fruit bearing durian crops
because too much nitrogen in soil may reduce the fruit production. However, th e
continuous introduction of the sheep into the orchard had resulted in better frui t
production, as told by the of ficer-in-charge of the juvenile prison. Financially, by the end
of the study, the department was getting almost higher inncome than before the experiment
started, even though the unit price was maintained. Probably, durian requires desirable and
controlled cover crops and organic matter to conserve moisture. Lee (1991) found tha t
Paspalum notatum cv Pensacola resulted in higher soil organic matter, better soil structure
and enable fruit orchards to produce higher yield, when grown as ground cover.
Table 1. Dry matter production, botanical composition of forage and animal liveweight gain under
matured durian
Botanical Composition
DM Avail- Total Animal
Year ability Grass Legume Broad-leaf Ave.CP LWG Light
(kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (%)
(%) (%) (%)
1 1257.2b* 67.1c 21.0a ll.9a 128.2 242 21
2 1198.6c 72.3b 18.1b 9.6bc 106.7 236 20
3 1305.5a 78.5a 12.4d 9.1c 84.9 218 23
4 1283.9a 74.5b 15.2c 10.3b 100.1 225 22
5 1246.4b 80.0a 16.3c 3.7d 101.0 230 21
DM - Dry matter of native forage
CP - Crude protein
LWG - Liveweight gain of sheep
* Means followed by different letters down each column are significantly different (P=0.05).
(b) Growth of Brachiaria humidicola in young durian tree plot and animal performance
Herbage yield of B. humidicola harvested every six weeks and girth increment of the
young durian trees are summarized in Table 2.
The results shown in Table 2 are for cut-and-carry and grazed pasture using about 30
sheeps/ha. The dry matter yield of the B. humidicola grass continuously increased under
the cut-and-carry system, from 12,015 kg/ha in the first year to 17,165kg/ha in the third
Sustainability of pasture with introduction of sheep under durian orchard132
year. A previous study had shown that this grass species normally experienced slo w
growth at the beginning and proceeded to the full scale when harvested at certain intervals
as fodder (Wong et al. 1995). The tree girth was not measured in the first two years o f
growth because the plants were still very young and small to differentiate among them .
However, from the third year onwards, girth increments of the durian trees were always
higher when grown together with B. hurnidicola than those in the control plot. The results
seem to indicate that the grass did not affect the growth of the young durian trees which
performed better than those without the grass. Since the tree crop was also fertilise d
sufficiently, competition for plant nutrients was very unlikely. The presence of the grass
probably resulted in cooler soil environment for the growth of the durian. This extr a
benefit and others have also been studied by Lee (1991) using P. notatum cv Pensacola.
Table 2. Herbage yield of Brachiaria humidicola and mean girth
increment of durian trees
Year DM Yield of Grass Girth increment of Durian
(kg/ha) (at 0.5m above Ground)
With Grass Control
(cm) (cm)
1 12,015 not measured not measured
2 14,950 not measured not measured
3 17,165 10.4 6.4
4 (grazed) 12.2 7.0
5 (grazed) 14.1 10.6
Table 3 summarizes the forage feed availability and animal performance on grazed B.
humidicola pasture integrated with durian.
Table 3. Forage feed availability and animal performance on grazed Brachiaria
humidicola pasture integrated with durian
Parameter Range Mean
Forage dry matter 1951.1 - 2447.8 2.362.5
Availability (Year 4)
(kg/ha) 1789.3 - 2014.7 1,902.2
(Year 5)
Animal body weight 26.9 - 35.4 32.1
(kg/hd)
Average daily 34.1 - 98.4 44.8
liveweight gain
(g/hd)
Mohd.Najib M.A.133
Mean forage DM availability in the fourth year was 2,326.5kg/ha However, th e
productivity was noticed to be below 2000kg/ha due to low rainfall during the dry months
of February-March and August-September. Similarly, the same pattern occurred in th e
fifth year of investigation. The average availability was lower than in the fourth year may
be due to increase in animal consumption due to increase in body weight. The shee p
attained a body weight between 26.9 - 35.4kg/hd when they were allowed to graze the B.
humidicola pasture. The average daily weight gain was found to be between 34.1 -
98.4g/hd with the mean value of 44.8g/hd. Similar animal performance was observed by
Wong et al. (1995) when B. humidicola was grazed by sheep on an inland soil at Serdang
and by goats on bris soil at Sungai Baging MARDI Station. On the other hand, ol d
neglected swards were not observed during the study, unlike as reported by Wong et al.
(1995).
The grass, B. humidicola seemed to strive well when grown together with durian. The
full coverage by the grass is probably required by the durian trees for better growth during
the young stage. Proper pasture management should be determined and imposed unde r
this system of sheep production, especially when the tree-crops grow older.
CONCLUSION
Forage availability under durian was able to sustain crop-sheep production using nomadi c
rearing system. Growing of Brachiaria humidicola did not affect durian tree growth. Fruit
yield improved when sheep were introduced into the durian orchard.
REFERENCE
Abdullah, F.M., Eng, P.K. and Basery, M. (1992). Dry matter on offer under 3 spatia l
arrangements of oil palm. In: Proc. 15th MSAP Conf., May 26-27,1992, Kuala
Terengganu, Malaysia; 211-214.
Chen, C.P., Ahmad Tajuddin, Z., Wan Mohamed, W.E., Tajuddin, I., Ibrahim, C E. and Moh
Salleh, R. (1988). Research and development on integration systems in livestock, forage
and tree crops production in Malaysia. In: Proc. Int. Livestock-Tree Cropping Workshop,
Dec 5-9, 1988, Serdang, Malaysia pp. 55-72.
Chong, D.T. and Tajuddin, I. (1994). Improved sheep production system in rubber plantations.
In: Proc. 2nd Symp. on Sheep Production in Malaysia, Nov 22-24, 1994, Serdang ,
Malaysia pp. 39-42.
Lee, S.A. (1991). 'Rumpus yang sungguh menggembirakan'. Berita Penyelidikan, MARDI,
Bill 28;18.
Nik Masdek,N.H. and Zahari,R. (1993). 'Profl pelaburan dalam industri buah-buahan .
MARDI;35p.
Wan Mohamed, W.E. (1977). Utilisation of ground vegetation for animal rearing. In: Proc .
Rubber Res. Inst. Malaysia Planters Conf., Oct 17-19, 1977, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia pp.
265272.
Wong, C.C., Mohd Najib, M.A. and Aminah, A. (1993). Brachiaria humidicola - a
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