Cattle integration in oil palm plantation in Malaysia in the 21st century.

Malaysia relies on imports for a large part of its food and feed needs. The steadily increasing food import bill, which jumped from RM11.4 billion in 2000 to RM12.4 billion in 2002, is set to soar even higher - estimated at RM20 billion next year. In 1995 the food import bill was RM7.7 billion and within a decade the bill has increased nearly threefold. Local production of beef and mutton represent 39% and 9.2% respectively. The great demand for meat shows that there is good prospect of producing these products locally. The primary objective of introducing livestock into the tree crop plantations originally was first and foremost to reduce the cost of weeding. Thus under the tree crop-livestock intergration system, livestock production was not given the necessary attention that would generate optimum animal growth response. However, with recent shift in emphasis towards good grazing management aimed at balancing feed consumption to what is naturally available in the plantation, there is need to be constantly monitor the quantity as well as quality of available forages grazed. With 4 million hectares of rubber and oil palm, coupled with the growing demand for beef and the need to increase the self-suffiency level of local beef producers, the development of large scale ruminant production under plantation crops offers considerable scope for the expansion of the livestock industry in the country. Present knowledge of livestock integration and soil management practices indicates that cattle can be effectively integrated under oil palm. Some of the benefits of livestock integration include savings in weeding cost, reduction of chemical fertilizers and income from the sale of livestock. Future integration of livestock in sloping/steep lands will depend on the current progress of the ruminant industry within the plantation sector. Integration of beef cattle with primary crops is being actively promoted under the new agriculture policy (NAP3) in Malaysia since more than one million hectares of oil palm plantation in the country are considered suitable for livestock integration.This progam is aimed at increasing the national beef output through optimization of land use. Cattle grazing on the edible weeds and grasses under the trees can help alleviate environmental pollution through reduction of herbicide application. However, more research is needed in order to collect data on cattle production parameters and long term impacts to the crops, soils and the economics of livestock-primary crop integration.