Opportunities and challenges for integrating dairy cattle into farms with certified organic pineapple production as perceived by smallholder farmers in Central Uganda
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Organic Agriculture
Abstract
A study was conducted in 2013 to assess
opportunities and challenges of integrating dairy cattle
into organic pineapple production in Uganda. Thirty organic
pineapple farmers were interviewed using a semistructured
questionnaire. The main dairy cattle management
systems were tethering (73%) and zero grazing
(27%). Average landholding was 1.74 ± 1.06 and 3.75
± 2.70 ha for zero grazing and tethering systems, respectively.
All farms were diversified with various livestock
such as cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens and crops
including pineapples, maize, coffee, bananas, beans,
sweet potatoes, and cassava. The level of integration of
dairy cattle into pineapple production depended on the
distance of crop fields from the livestock enterprises.
More farms (83%) with pineapple fields closer (<
0.5 km) to the homesteads were able to use cattle manure
as fertilizer compared to homesteads (50%) with more
distant fields (> 0.5 km). The distance to the homestead
did not influence 30% of the farmers who used crop
residues for feeding dairy cattle. Farmers perceived cattle
diseases and feed scarcity to be the major challenges in
dairy farming. The sources of risk on the farms were
perceived to be erratic rainfall, limited knowledge, and
market for organic products. Majority of farmers (77%)
expressed willingness to convert to organic dairy production.
Availability of markets for organic dairy products
(36%) and reduction of external input use (26%) were the
main reasons for farmers’ willingness to convert. Integrating
dairy cattle with pineapple production is an opportunity
for closed nutrient cycles and income diversification.
However, knowledge, access to inputs, and organized
markets are needed as incentive for conversion to
organic dairy production.
Description
Keywords
Certified, Conversion, Crop-livestock integration, Organic, Perception, Smallholder farms
Citation
Nalubwama, S., Kabi, F., Vaarst, M., Kiggundu, M., & Smolders, G. (2019). Opportunities and challenges for integrating dairy cattle into farms with certified organic pineapple production as perceived by smallholder farmers in Central Uganda. Organic Agriculture, 9(1), 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-018-0210-5