Integrating livestock in cropping systems plays an important role in agriculture in many different cultures. “Crop-animal systems, in which livestock play a multi-purpose role, are the backbone of Asian agriculture.”(Devendra,Thomas,2002). Integrating livestock is also vital to agriculture in India, and West Africa. Since the climates and soil conditions are different for all geographic regions, it is impossible to develop a constant method that works. This causes the different regions to spend massive amounts of time on researching which methods work best and what should be done. The research breaks down each geographical region into the needs of the culture, the land available, and what can survive in the corresponding climates and soil conditions. This report will describe the conditions in the above regions, and the research that has been or is being done.

In Asia, “Animal production is a major component of the agricultural economy, and its importance exceeds food production alone.”(Devendra,Thomas,2002). Most official statistics are deceiving and underestimate the importance of animals because they do not factor in the multi-purpose role that livestock plays in agriculture. Livestock doesn’t have a season, like crops do, since they are alive until they are butchered. This can help with seasonal food variability and availability. Livestock also helps resource poor farmers, giving them financial stability and agricultural sustainability.

Asian agriculture has many complex production systems which depend on the characteristics of the environment in their located region. The climate in Southeast Asia can be described as humid/sub-humid with an estimated length of growing period equal to 270 days per year. The climate in South Asia can be described as arid/semi-arid with an estimated length of growing period equal to 180-270 days per year. This results in the Asian region using little amounts of irrigated agriculture, and depending heavily on rain-fed production systems. Most of the soil throughout Asia has a low fertility resulting in difficulty growing crops. This reemphasizes that Asian agriculture depends highly on animals. Using the animal dung to fertilize the soil will raise the fertility of that soil, making it easier to grow crops.(Devendra,Thomas,2002).

Integrating livestock in India is of high importance to the agricultural production there. “Increased use of prime agricultural land for cropping and non-agricultural uses in many tropical countries implies that crop residues become more important as a source of feed for livestock.”(Schiere,Singh,De Boer,2000). Past research for this region focused on laboratory measurements of feed quality, but neglected the application in the field. Recent research took the field application into consideration, resulting in a more effective method for breeding and managing cereal crops to produce more and better straw.(Schiere,Singh,De Boer,2000).

The climate of India is difficult to describe because of its large geographical size. India has three seasons: summer (ranging from March to June), Rainy (ranging from June to October), and winter (ranging from October to March). Although the climate of India is said to be tropical, there is a winter season that limits the growth of crops, making livestock an important tool for agricultural success.

“Farming systems in West Africa’s semi-arid zone consist of mainly purely nomadic pastoralism and purely sedentary crop production with a minor crop-livestock production system.”(Ngambeki,Deuson,Preckel,1992). Farmers in this region do not seem to fully understand importance of integrating cropping and livestock. The research shows that that doing this could, “utilize their intermediate farm products of crop residues, draft power, and animal manure to tackle production constraints such as shortage of animal feed, labor bottlenecks, and soil degradation.” (Ngambeki,Deuson,Preckel,1992). The research report proceeds to say that if the farmers would use crop-livestock linkages they would witness very effective results. The use of the linkages would allow them to make efficient use of their land with less chemical fertilizers. It would also raise their income and allow for a more sustainable production system.

The climate of West Africa can be described as tropical. West Africa has an ideal climate and soil content for growing crops. This allows for good production of crops and the potential for agricultural success. If the farmers would learn the livestock integrated methods, the West African region could improve substantially.

Overall, it is easy to see that integrating livestock in cropping systems is an important tool for world-wide agricultural success. Past and present research shows that the integrated livestock method has many positive effects on any region that uses it. It is the future of agriculture and provides many solutions to the many problems of farmers across the world.