Characterization of Farmer and Forage Supply in a Sheep Smallholder System in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Forage plays a crucial role in the ruminant farm as the main diet whereas the forage availability is fluctuated, and low quality. This research was carried out to study the characteristics of sheep farming, forage diversity and supply at fattening period of local sheep in a small-scale farm area i.e., Ciaruteun Udik Village, Subdistrict Cibungbulang, Bogor Regency, at West Java, Indonesia. The study involved 64 farmers that have 5-15 sheep. Forage diversity and quality were analysed descriptive while relationship between collecting method and forage supply was performed linear model. The results showed that forage supply related to the forage collecting method, sheep ownership, forage container, and feeding time. The research was identified 69 forage species in the field around the farming area, while in the sheep barn there were 70 forage species. The differences occurred due to farmer also add forage from other sources such as paddy field, home garden and forage trader. The plants on forage sources classified as grasses were 36.3%, 1.50% legumes and 62.2% broadleaves plants. The highest forage diversity was found in fallow land areas around community residents. The proximate analyses showed that nutrient content on farms were similar to forage sources.

Keywords

• barn, forage supply, local sheep, performance, plant diversity