The planning of livestock ecosystems

In the Venezuelan tropics, the feeding of bovine animals such as cattle and buffalo has been based primarily on the use of plant resources such as pastures, whether natural or introduced, that allow production to be maintained. But there are limitations in the production of these pastures which derive from the poor management of forage areas which affects the production capacity of livestock among other aspects such as reproduction. Efficiently and rationally managing the forage resources available in livestock farming systems can maximize the use of forage areas destined for production.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned, it is important to point out that the biological factors that make up the agricultural ecosystems have become important indicators to assess the management of resources, therefore, the need is generated to focus agricultural production towards new based technologies such as soil recovery using agroecological management strategies such as organic fertilizers, in addition to the use of forage species of high nutritional value and of course reduce the use of toxic synthetic, this can possibly lead to an increase in functional biodiversity to ensure the greatest ecological balance of agroecosystems.

We emphasize management aspects, because it is no secret to anyone that agricultural and livestock ecosystems are anthropogenic systems, since, according to what was mentioned by Altieri and Nicholl (2000), the origin of these spaces and maintenance are associated with the activity of man who has transformed natural spaces to obtain mainly food; the same researchers point out that for the start-up of agricultural and livestock production depends we have to consider multiple factors, among which are the climate, soil and vegetation in addition to the management that man uses for these resources.

In the same vein, and entering a little into technical aspects, we can mention that in some production units a poor management and use of pastures can be observed, with regard to the determination of the animal load which can cause problems on pastures such as overgrazing or undergrazing which generates losses in production and therefore economic. Then it becomes clear that the production of grazing ruminants largely depends on the rational management practices employed; therefore, their main objective should be to achieve a balance between the growth rate of grass, its nutritional value, the efficiency of use or harvest and consumption of animals, among other aspects of interest.

Consequently, when considering the aforementioned management aspects, management can currently be carried out by implementing agroecological practices, that is, without affecting the environment and its natural processes. Among these practices, we can mention biological pest control, organic fertilization, associated crop systems that allow maintaining the balance of the biodiversity of the ecosystem. We are talking about changes in current production patterns using technologies that lead to sustainability, as well as using appropriate open and flexible technological arrangements that will directly benefit the farm owner.

Dear agricultural readers, according to the above, it is intended to establish a new ecological paradigm for the management of agricultural and livestock systems and thus increase the productive levels of milk and meat in a progressive and sustainable way, increasing the forage supply by implementing appropriate strategies under a comprehensive plan, maximizing animal production per unit area without degrading resources, reducing the use of external inputs, among others. In short, the first thing is to establish the steps to carry out a production unit planning and from there, the area of action must be identified, the agroecological paradigm must be shared in search of obtaining healthy products, limitations, potentialities and opportunities must be identified.