Determinant factors of livestock production in a rural community in the southwest of Holguín, Cuba

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the determinant factors of livestock production in a rural community in the southwest of Holguín province. Edaphoclimatic information was obtained from spatial data of the region and from the production of 21 farms through the variables annual milk production, herd size, productivity, body condition, natural grass area and number
of paddocks. Factorial analysis was carried out and the statistical model of impact measurement was applied. The historical annual precipitation is 1073 mm and gives a dry character to the region, where vertisols, fersialitic and humic sialitic predominate, with limitations in drainage and tendency to salinization. The determining factors are production, feeding and management, which explain 78.9 % of the variance and allowed to determine the impact of agroecosystems on the farms (two of them with a
positive impact on production and different breeding systems). In the environmental situation of the southwest of Holguín, the precipitations do not advise the development of milk production systems; however, the rural livestock deploys them. It is recommended to mitigate the impact of the agroecosystem to work for a dual-purpose zootechnical flow, with regionalized species under rotational methods, making sure to concentrate all the activities seasonally and maintain the key processes indispensable and at a minimum level in the dry period. In addition, researchers must evaluate social aspects of farms through extension practices to increase social and collective learning, by virtue of an environmental and productive education.
Key words: dual-purpose livestock, dry agroecosystem, rearing system, Cauto basin