Project brief summary
- Project name: “Lamb feeding collaborative research project”
- Implementing party: Center for Policy Research
- Implementing herder cooperative: “Bayan Ovon Khukh Khairkhan”
- Project financed by: LAMP & “Bayan Ovon Khukh Khairkhan” cooperative
- Pilot venue: Arkhangai aimag Tsetserleg soum
- Pilot start date: November 3, 2015
- Pilot end date: December 2, 2015
- Pilot duration: 30 days
- Number of lambs fed: 300
- Number of pilot and control lambs monitored: 20/10
Feeding days, by fodder type:
- Green fodder – 33 days (3/XI-5/XII)
- Hay, bran – 22 days (14/XI-5/XII)
Rationale of project implementation
A total area of 194523 hectares of pastureland in Tsetserleg soum has a carrying capacity of 92630 sheep units. As of 2014, there are a total of 290684 physical heads or 415725 sheep units in the soum, exceeding pasture carrying capacity by 4.5 times. When analyzing the sheep herd structure, the sale of young animals is inadequate and the share of non-breeding male & barren animals is high since the portion of young offspring in the herd is 34%. The share of non-breeding animals aged 2 and more years accounts for 30% indicating lower herd replacement. This leads to the increase in the number of nonbreeding animals and thus, the exceeding of pasture carrying capacity.
The rationale of this project lies in the urgency to reduce stocking density through the sale of animals by feeding lambs with green fodder grown locally at the soum. Moreover, urban development has fueled the growing need for meat products in all 4 seasons. Tsetserleg soum is a good representation of the overall livestock sector. Thus, table 1 demonstrates the project rationale in connection with this common affair.
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