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Improving smallholder cattle reproductive efficiency in Cambodia to address expanding regional beef demand

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Abstract

This study aimed to identify factors associated with cattle reproductive output in rural smallholder farms in Cambodia in order to determine the main causes of reproductive failure and design efficient interventions for improvement. The majority of the nation’s beef is produced on smallholder farms where productivity is constrained by poor animal reproductivity reflected in the recent livestock population decline of approximately 13 % from 2009 to 2013. Farmers (n = 240) from 16 villages from five provinces were surveyed in mid-2015 to determine their baseline knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) associated with cattle reproduction. In addition, 16 case studies from three of these provinces were conducted to provide a more detailed assessment of current cattle reproductive husbandry practices. In order to assess the reproductive impact of previously implemented interventions, an endpoint KAP survey and longitudinal health and husbandry study from three Cambodian provinces conducted between 2008 and 2013 were also analysed. Three multivariable prediction models (two KAP and one longitudinal) identified the following significant factors associated with the reproductive outcomes ‘number of calves born’ or probability that cows ‘gave birth’: target feeding (P = 0.074), growing vegetables (P = 0.005), attitudes towards cattle vaccination (P = 0.010), improving bull selection (P = 0.032), local breed use (P = 0.005), number of joining attempts (P < 0.001), discontinuation of animal draught practices (P = 0.003) and retention of breeding animals (P < 0.001). The identification of significant factors and interventions in this study has led to intervention recommendations that can potentially improve reproductive efficiency, combat the declining cattle population and improve smallholder capacity to supply to expanding regional meat demand in South-East Asia and China.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted within the projects ‘Best practice health and husbandry of cattle, Cambodia’ (AH/2005/086) and ‘Village-based biosecurity for livestock disease risk management in Cambodia’ (AH/2011/014), funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The authors would like to acknowledge this support and the efforts of the staff from the Department of Animal Health and Production, Phnom Penh and the smallholder farmers for their hard work and dedication to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia

    L. Olmo, K. Ashley, J. R. Young, P. C. Thomson, P. A. Windsor & R. D. Bush

  2. Department of Animal Health and Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    S. Suon

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  1. L. Olmo
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  2. K. Ashley
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  4. S. Suon
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  6. P. A. Windsor
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  7. R. D. Bush
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Correspondence to L. Olmo.

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Animal and human ethics approval for this study was obtained from the University of Sydney Ethics Committee (project no. 2015/765 and 2014/783, respectively) in compliance with State Acts and National Codes of Practice.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Olmo, L., Ashley, K., Young, J.R. et al. Improving smallholder cattle reproductive efficiency in Cambodia to address expanding regional beef demand. Trop Anim Health Prod 49, 163–172 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-016-1175-6

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