Ef. Thomson et Fa. Bahhady, A MODEL-FARM APPROACH TO RESEARCH ON CROP LIVESTOCK INTEGRATION .1. CONCEPTUAL-FRAMEWORK AND METHODS, Agricultural systems, 49(1), 1995, pp. 1-16
For several decades better crop-livestock integration of farming syste
ms in West Asia and North Africa has been promoted as a way to improve
crop and livestock output. To achieve this integration, pasture or fo
rage legumes are usually introduced into rotations or grown on fallow
land. This paper reports the conceptual framework and methods used in
a six-year on-station project which used model farms to investigate th
e benefits of closer crop-livestock integration and improved husbandry
practices. Three farm types were compared. One consisted of a model f
arm, experimental sheep flock and natural pasture managed using tradit
ional (T) practices. The second had the same enterprise combination bu
t rotations that allowed better integration (I) of the crop and sheep
enterprises which were subjected to improved management practices. The
third farm type consisted of a sheep flock and natural pasture, with
poor (C, control) management practices being applied to the sheep floc
k. The model farms and experimental flocks were managed by researchers
.