RESEARCH WORK

Climate change, affectations and opportunities for livestock production in Cuba

Milagros de la C. Milera

Estación Experimental de Pastos y Forrajes “Indio Hatuey”. Central España Republicana, CP 44280, Matanzas, Cuba
E-mail: milagros.milera@indio.atenas.inf.cu

ABSTRACT

The phenomena of desertification and land degradation, water, soil and atmospheric contamination, loss of biological diversity, depletion of the ozone layer, deforestation, planet warming and others, have led to a crossroads of human existence. The objective of this work is to analyze the adaptation of the main production systems before the affectations of climate change in Cuba and the results of diversified farms which use local feedstuffs and have become a resource, for their contribution to mitigate it. The main affectations occurred due to climate change and the characterization of the period 2000-2010 in the livestock production of the country are presented. The work also shows the main challenges of agroforestry systems and the productive results of using herbaceous and tree plant genetic resources in different livestock production systems, as well as the proposals of resilient feeding systems based on forage herbaceous and tree plant genetic resources which should be used as a result of technological innovation in livestock production areas.

Key words: Climate change, livestock production.

INTRODUCTION

The world is currently affected by serious crises: economic and financial, food, social and environmental, as well as by wars.

The global human activity is increasingly unsustainable: consumption has increased worldwide in 28% in the last 50 years; economic inequalities increase at global and national levels; the gap between the rich and the poor widens. In 2008, human consumption of land resources exceeded in 30% the capacity to regenerate them (Alonso, 2010).

Climate change is a threat to sustainable development due to the reduction of forestry areas, loss of biodiversity, stronger and more intense hydrometeorological events, loss of agroproductivity, reduction of cultivation areas, reduction of water quality and availability, affectation of mangroves and coastal ecosystems and increase of the vulnerability of coastal settlements.

Latin American and the Caribbean undergo the affectations of climate change in rural zones; however, in different venues the results and experiences about the management of agroforestry systems/silvopastoral systems (SFS/SPS) have been discussed because of the biodiversity they generate. Biodiversity conservation and livestock production are based on the concepts of functional diversity, where the species found, managed and non-managed, contribute to the provision of ecosystem services valued by producers (Clerck, 2010).

The use of different tree species in forage protein banks is a practice in Colombia as a feeding strategy in the dry season (Sinisterra et al., 2010). In Argentina integrated agroforestry systems are used, with timber production and forage banks for livestock feeding in the same areas (Esquivel and Lacorte, 2010). In Cuba, for more than 20 years, satisfactory results have been obtained in research and production with different animal species (Lamela et al., 2009; Simón et al., 2010).

These systems are proven to have higher diversity of ligneous species, which results in a higher resilience of livestock production systems to climate variability and/or change.

This paper shows the main affectations undergone by the country due to climatic events, the characteristics of livestock areas and resilient production systems which can contribute to mitigate the change.

Global environmental problems

A group of global environmental problems is identified today which have negative repercussions on the Earth's health. The features of this practically incurable disease are uncountable, being characterized by: deforestation, loss of biological diversity, soil degradation, climate change, thinning of the ozone layer, atmospheric contamination, water contamination, scarcity of water resources, demographic growth and wars. Forests disappear, soils are degraded, waters are contaminated, biological diversity is depleted and the atmosphere becomes rarified. In summary, life ends (Díaz-Duque, 2009).

Regarding the affectations in our national territory, the soil is one of the areas with higher problems because 70% shows limitations in its productivity.

According to Díaz-Duque (2009), desertification reaches 14% of the territory (1,58 MM) and by degrading conditions five million hectares are affected, among which are:

• Erosion- 23,9% (2,5 MM ha)
• Acidity- 28,3% (3,4 MM ha)
• Salinity and/or sodicity- 14,1% (1,0 MM ha)
• Low fertility- 25% (3,0 MM ha)
• Bad drainage- 22,5% (2,7 MM ha)
• Compaction- 23,9% (2,5 MM ha)
• Low organic matter content- 38,3% (4,6 MM ha)
• Degradation of the plant cover- 7,7% (0,92 MM)
• Deficient drainage- 40 000 km2 (37%)

Other changes have been reported in temperature, rainfall, sea level and hurricane intensity (Álvarez and Mercadet, 2007; Alonso, 2010). The main changes are summarized below.

• Mean annual temperature: Increased in 0,6ºC. During the last 20 years of the 20th century, the mean air temperature in two of the eastern provinces and four months of the year reached or exceeded the mean of 26ºC.
• Mean sea level: Increase rate: 2,14 mm/year. Mareographic records made in the northern coast of Havana City indicate an annual mean increase of 1,8 mm.
• Intense hurricanes (categories 3, 4 and 5). During the 20th century, the hurricane frequency increased in 30% and 13% of the total reached category 4 or 5.
• Variations in the rainfall regime: During the past century, the national annual rainfall decreased in 200 mm and in the last 40 years of the 20th century, in 90 of the 169 municipalities of the country the rains started in June, instead of May, with a spatial pattern from East to West.
• Loss of the water potential, displacement of the marine intrusion.
• Changes in crop yield patterns.
• Decrease of mangroves
• Identification of climate-sensible human diseases.

Although the forest area has increased in the country as a product of reforestation programs led by the state, in livestock production a substantial loss of species diversity has occurred, mainly species of high forage value, and the weed invasion has increased in more than 39% of the total area, due to the bad management of grazing areas.

General characteristics of the period 2000-2010 and their repercussion on the Island

In Cuba since the 17th century (more than 400 years ago) the soil has been subject to excessive intensification and exploitation, at first because of a commercial demand in the colony and after the triumph of the Revolution with a social purpose, but with alarming affectations to soil and climate.

The period 2000-2010 was characterized by great events and transformations which occurred worldwide and remarkably affected the national context and livestock production (González et al., 2004; Milera, 2010; Mirabal-Plasencia, 2010).

The processes showed lack of access to rationality and the products of that technological revolution; the attempt of the planet to establish a new accumulation regime and a new institutionality as essence of that economic revolution; as well as the emergence of powerful social movements under values, interests and commitments different from those which generated the problems to be solved.

Among those events and transformations, there are some which for their characteristics and transcendence have marked their time.

The events that had direct impact on our country were the collapse of the Eastern socialist bloc and the enhancement of the blockade by the United States, which hindered the development of science and the country in general (due to the decrease of the productive capacity), and the supply of food products to the population.

Within the framework of neoliberal globalization, the economic growth and technological development (objectives-means) of society have prevailed over the objectives-goals: improving life conditions, quality and level of the whole population (Blanco et al., 2007).

In livestock production, the stage was characterized by a continuous decrease of pasture areas as a result of the lack of fertilizers, fuel and others; a lower dependence on imported inputs and higher self-sufficiency as compared to previous periods (González et al., 2004).

Organic agriculture, integrated pest management, minimum tillage, more efficient irrigation systems, rational use of agrochemicals, use of biofertilizers and biopesticides, use of vitroplants and transfer, in general, of biotechnological strategies to the agricultural sector, continued to be developed. The efficiency levels of small-scale farming production increased; low-input agriculture discarded the feasibility of conventional methods.

The stimulation according to the work results and the changes made in the prices of milk and meat collection, brought about an increase in delivery and a significant percentage stopped being used in cheese manufacture and market sale. Powdered milk and supplements for livestock were imported.

In the early 1990's livestock production had 541 145 ha of improved pastures with more than 20 cultivars, according to the national inventory. In 2008 only around 16% of the areas had cultivated pastures and 39% were occupied by Dichrostachys cinerea. In pasture cultivation only the planting of forage grass areas for cutting received priority.

Strategies were missing for feeding cattle from pastures and forages, their preserved forms, seed production and the plantation of other species, including trees, which was started and neglected.

Land was distributed to more than 100 thousand leasers, who have 55% of livestock and produce more than 60% of milk and 45% of the meat on 27% of the land. In the farms diversified systems are used with agroecological techniques, renewable energy is used and innovations are developed, turning into reference areas.

In agriculture and livestock production more efficient irrigation systems are used and a rational use of agrochemicals is made.

Territorial and local development in Cuba has obstacles which have begun to be solved, but they still face the lack of autonomy, centralization of the financial model, central control of investments, resource limitation and the lack of a decentralizing culture of territorial governments, because for more than 30 years the State has fulfilled its rector-provider-controller role, among others (León and Miranda, 2006); however, advances are made in decentralization with the new measures the State is implementing.

In spite of the limitations and obstacles, local economic development represents a privileged space to enhance economy and is the ideal niche for innovation. The population promotes it due to its benefit, which guarantees temporary continuity and autonomy. It knows better the needs, likes, customs and traditions, for which it can establish priorities and identify the available resources for using them with efficacy, with neither duplicity nor unnecessary actions.

The decrease of the slaughter age in fattening and the age of incorporation of heifers is necessary, because it would lead to a positive economic-environmental effect on mitigation, as it contributes to decrease contamination.

The environmental strategy does not foreseen the payment for environmental services and the necessary integration among the sectors of livestock production, forestry, beekeeping, water resources and others, is not observed.

The municipal strategy for local development is created; however, its implementation is hindered due to the lack of horizontal economic connections among agents and adjustments of the legal framework.

The country has human capital and research centers which generate technologies; nevertheless, a higher integration and the improvement of the current extension program are necessary.

Climate change has an important effect on food security, because it has an acute incidence on food availability and accessibility. It also affects their stability and utilization.

Food systems constitute the main axis in food security, because they include the whole chain, from production to consumption. For all people to have physical or economic access to nutritive, innocuous and sufficient food at all times in order to satisfy their dietetic needs and their preference for an active and healthy life (food security), it is necessary to respect and fulfill in each country: the right to produce (to protect the national economy) with fair prices; the right to have healthy food (availability, accessibility, stability, utilization); and the right of each people to define its own model, its own agrarian and food policies for producing food in order to feed the local and national population.

Food security depends directly or indirectly on the services of the forestry or agricultural ecosystem, for example, the soil, water conservation, arrangement of hydrographic basins, fight against land degradation, protection of coastal zones and mangroves and biodiversity conservation.

Mitigation actions in the livestock production area

Diversified, integrated, independent and decentralized systems, which produce energy, food and feed without affecting the ecosystem, are one of main challenges of livestock production.

In Cuba livestock production areas have more than 50 pasture varieties, among which grasses, legumes and other herbaceous and perennial tropical trees are included, with high efficiency in capturing solar energy, many of them C4, of deep roots, which are adapted to different soil types with minimum imported inputs; there are also multiple purpose crops, and other permanent and temporary ones of superficial roots.

All these plants with a soil and water strategic management can fix carbon (and nitrogen, in the case of legumes) at different depths, prevent erosion and mitigate the climate change.

The application of the principles of the existing technologies adjusted to the edaphoclimatic and agroecological conditions of the locality can constitute the success of sustainable production systems.

What should be done in order to protect ecosystems and at the same time try to satisfy the increasing food demand?

Significant changes in policies and institutions, substantial technological innovations and improvements in the capacity of people to manage local ecosystems and adapt to their alteration, are necessary.

In livestock production the problem is neither reforestation per se, nor planting what is in fashion; it is protecting the soil, plants and animals, from herbaceous and tree genetic resources according to regionalization, which contribute to cover the needs or requirements of the animals and which are resilient systems to mitigate the climate change.

There are many experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean in the application of silvopastoral systems (SPS).

The use of timber and forage trees associated to grasses and herbaceous legumes or in multistrata has been a successful practice (Iglesias et al., 2007; Hernández et al., 2007; Murgueitio, 2009). The great advantage of the system is the complementation of two activities that allow a long-term patrimonial increase (forestation) and the availability of circulating capital (livestock production), that is, trees constitute the savings bank and the animals are the petty cash (Esquivel and Lacorte, 2010).

Importance of the management of SPSi to turn them into systems resilient to climate change

• Water and utilization efficiency in production systems. Tree planting in paddocks and farms contributes to grasses and herbaceous legumes having moisture availability and being less affected by sun rays and high temperatures. However, a group of practices is also important, such as: knowing the water intake of livestock and the expense due to cleaning in milking or the sheds of any animals species. From this information biodigestors with channels can be used in aquaculture and the irrigation of cut forages, without wasting water, in addition to the energy that is generated. Another way of saving water can be through beddings of residues or straw in the pens of confined or semi-confined animals, to which efficient microorganisms are applied; afterwards these beddings are used in compost elaboration. The pumps or hydraulic rams and wind mills are also efficient methods to use this precious liquid, without using renewable energy.
• Planting with conservationist tillage (minimum tillage) and soil protection covering it with green manure, is a way to mitigate the erosive effect of sun and wind.
• The use of organic manures, such as earthworm humus, compost, litter, excreta, green manures and biofertilizers, are innocuous practices for the environment. The soil must be protected during the initial period of crop growth; in this aspect, green manures fulfill an important function, especially to increase fertility. They can be planted in the period between the main crops, mixed in association with other crops or in perennial form in the resting areas. Fertilization, by increasing the obtained biomass, increases the available carbon to be captured in the soil. In order to achieve soil fertility the balanced combination of its physical, chemical and biological characteristics is necessary, allowing plants to take from it the nutrients they need for their growth and development. This is only possible when the climate, animal management and cultural management are harmonically conjugated.

The premises to solve the problem of livestock production seem to be three: the first one, to produce in situ enough biomass in quantity and quality for feeding the animals; the second, that the food systems contribute to mitigate the climate change not only in the protection of soil, water and the environment, but in the fact that the diets used reduce the methane amounts and this is possible with tree species (Galindo et al., 2000; Galindo et al., 2007; Sosa et al., 2007); and the third, to achieve a quality product for human health (Rubino, 2002).

The growth and development of livestock production has been hindered by diverse factors, among them the lack of introduction of low-cost and high surplus results, which use the resources of the locality and substitute imports that allow profitability for the farmer; this is only achieved from systems that use herbaceous and tree plant genetic resources.

The industry has determined that milk quality depends on the industrialization process; yet, the concept of quality milk because of the provenance of the consumed feedstuffs (confinement with supplements, supplemented grazing or grazing without supplements) is a modern idea, which takes into consideration the contents of antioxidant and beneficial compounds for human health (Rubino et al., 2010). The concepts of livestock production development are framed within the precept of lower cost-higher productivity; nevertheless, quality should begin to be valued with regards to human health (Galina et al., 2007).

Below a pyramid is shown (figure 1), symbolizing silvopastoral systems integrated in five strata, with the use of the genera studied and adapted to the edaphoclimatic conditions of the Island (Paretas and López, 2007).

This pyramid is supported by an agroecological management.

First stratum. Soil is the first one and constitutes the basis of the system.

Second stratum. It is the one covered by grasses for grazing (Panicum, Cenchrus, Andropogon, Brachiaria, Cynodon) and herbaceous legumes (Glycine, Teramnus, Stylosanthes, Macroptilium, Arachis, Pueraria, Clitoria), as well as forages for cutting with high yields (sugarcane, elephant grass, Guatemalan gamagrass) and intercrops (Dolichos, Canavalia, Mucuna).

Third stratum: Forage trees in high-density biomass banks for cutting or grazing: Leucaena, Erithrina, Moringa, Bauhinia, Cratylia, Morus, Tithonia, Trichanthera, Gliricidia.

Fourth stratum: Timber and fruit trees: cedar, mahogany, majagua, ocuje, teak, baría, avocado, mango, apricot, guava, coconut, sugar apple, cherimoya, plum, genip, cashew.

Fifth stratum: Trees and palms: carob tree, kapok tree, eucalyptus, guácima, guáimaro, Jamaica plum, yaba, caguairán, palms.

Men should be at the top with the knowledge to design and manage the spatial arrangements regarding the edaphoclimatic conditions of the site or farm.

Main results with silvopastoral systems

There are results in milk production and cattle fattening, with low and high density of leucaena in grazing, in different cattle breeds.

When studying a SPS of Leucaena-Panicum maximum with low density (595 trees per ha), the availability and nutritional value of the associated system were higher than in the monocrop and gains higher than 500 g/animal/day were reached without supplementation. This indicator depends on the breed, incorporation weight and feeding system. With Zebu cattle higher gains are obtained than with crossbreds (Iglesias et al., 2007) and in associated systems they were higher with regards to the one with the grass only (tables 1 and 2).

When studying the edaphic macrofauna in the soil, it was significantly higher in the P. maximum-Leucaena system with the density of 595 trees/ha, when compared to the monocrop of P. maximum, in which 11 vs 16 species and 864 vs 2 443 individuals/m2 were counted, respectively (Sánchez, 2008).

Regarding natural enemies in this system, a total of 249 species were recorded, 121 new reports for Cuba and 147 species for the neotropical region. From them 43 and 44% were beneficial and were located in the herbaceous and tree stratum, respectively (Alonso, 2009).

In milk production, when studying a system with several grasses and herbaceous legumes associated to leucaena and a high tree density (25 000 plants/ha), Hernández et al. (2007) found a high availability (4,36 and 7,09 t DM/ha/rotation for the dry and rainy season, respectively) and a production of more than 5 000 kg/ha/lactation, with crossbred cows (H x Z), as well as high values of preference and diversity (table 3).

In these systems carbon sequestration, calculated from allometric equations (Mercadet and Alvarez, 2005), was 157,5 t C/ha/year in the fattening system with 595 plants of leucaena/ha, and in the high density system it was 425 t/ha/year; however, in the grass monocrop it was only 9,5 t/ha/year (Milera et al., 2010).

The results generated in research and production areas prove that SPSi are complex and have a higher diversity of herbaceous and tree species which are derived into a higher resilience to climate change.

Challenges of silvopastoral systems in science and production

Productive: Higher soil health and fertility; higher species diversity and tree cover level; better animal performance; higher forage quality; healthier plants with lower incidence of pests and diseases; adapted varieties and breeds which show higher productivity and stability in production; higher intensification, from the productive outputs they generate.

Socioeconomic: Institutional enhancement; local capacity-building, with updating courses that include attention to young men and women as generational relays; incorporation of product quality indicators for human health; the integration animal-forestry component to improve the profitability of productive systems; incorporating financial analysis; approving the development of incentives in livestock production as a more flexible regulatory framework; proposing and approving funding for environmental services; reducing establishment costs.

Environmental: Higher use of water in dry zones; use of trees that produce lower methane emission; increase of the edaphic fauna to improve soil health and fertility; increase of biological controls; species diversity-stability relationship; increase of C sequestration; rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and in-situ conservation; selection of tolerant and adapted material, participatory improvement (agrobiodiversity).

Political: Higher incidence on policies to achieve sustainable agriculture; SPSs should appear in biodiversity conventions; working and having incidence on farms and usufructuaries; credit and microcredit policies and incentives.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Livestock production, with more than 2 million hectares, can become a strength for Cuba in the mitigation of the climate change; this is because:

• The low population density in the countryside is not a problem anymore; the cooperatives, farmers and new usufructuaries are mainly responsible for food production.
• It is important to reflect on local development and the obstacles that are yet to be solved.
• The reorientation of the current extensionism system with STS approach also deserves priority attention.
• Payment for environmental services is an urgent need.
• Having more than 50 regionalized and adapted varieties is a strength, to start new animal production systems with agroecological bases; it is imperative to outline a strategy for their
  utilization and utilize unproductive areas, as well as the plantation of mixed banks and grains to substitute supplement imports.
• Without a strategy for the necessary seed production, it will be difficult to achieve this.
• It is necessary to outline strategies according to the situation of each province, aimed at solving food security and mitigating the effects of climate change in the livestock production sector.
• There is need of having livestock production models that use renewable energy, utilize plant genetic resources with low methane production and produce milk and meat with the concept of quality for human health.
• SPSs, with diversity of species of different development patterns, guarantee high DM availability; are self-sufficient; regulate the solar energy having incidence on the surface, with a protective effect against edaphic erosion and the system temperature; productions are satisfactory; there is lower methane production by ruminants; they are functional and resilient to climate change.
• The development of SPSs for animal production and the integration agriculture-livestock production with agroecological bases, means a challenge for future in-farm studies and for the production of healthy food for humans, with higher intensification than the monocrop, due to the diversification they achieve and the productive outputs they guarantee.