Forage Legumes for supplementing village pigs in Lao PDR

Abstract

The Lao government has placed highest priority in its rural development strategy to improving livestock production systems, given the potential of livestock production to alleviate poverty and reduce shifting cultivation. Pig rearing is a common smallholder livelihood activity in northern Laos with almost all farm households raising a few pigs. Pigs are sold to cover household expenses such as school fees and medications, and they are an asset that can be liquidated to cover expenses in emergencies. Pig production is almost invariably the domain of women, who spend 2-3 hours each day to collect and prepare feed for pigs. Recent surveys identified poorly balanced pig diets in northern Laos, particularly highlighting very low protein content, as a major contributor to the observed poor growth rates and poor reproductive performance of pigs in northern Laos, and showed that farmers who had started to supplement traditional pig diets with the forage legume Stylosanthes guianensis (Stylo) were experiencing increased animal growth rates and reduced labour requirements for feeding.