Communal grazing area is as a potential source of calves in dry Sumbawa Island, Indonesia: The improvement of opportunities and challenges

Abstract

<p>Sumbawa island is one of cattle centre in Indonesia characterized by grazing system. Most farmers practice integrated crop-livestock system with cattle and rice and or maize being the most common commodities. This paper provided understanding on communal grazing system in Sumbawa, its potency as a source of calves and its opportunity and challenges for improvement. A study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 for three largest communal grazing areas in Sumbawa Island, Lar Badi, Gili Rakit and Doro Ncanga, respectively. Most cattle live on grazing land during the harvest season and return to the village after harvest to graze the remaining crops. Herds were dominated by cows, calves, and young bulls. Despite being a potential source of calves and hign in carrying capacity, these areas have common problems such as lack of feed and high calf mortality. At the same time, crop residue available abundantly nearby, yet underutilized due to the labour, transporting cost, and lack of the knowledge. It is concluded that communal grazing areas plays a significant role as calves and feeder producing centre in the dry island of Sumbawa. However, the farmer's awareness and capacity need to be improved for better management to solve the problems and good pasture management in the communal grazing.</p>