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Stocking rate effects on sheep and forage productivity under rubber in Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1997

D. T. CHONG ,
I. TAJUDDIN ,
Abd. M. S. SAMAT ,
W. W. STÜR  and
H. M. SHELTON
D. T. CHONG
Affiliation:
Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, Experimental Station, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
I. TAJUDDIN
Affiliation:
Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, Experimental Station, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
Abd. M. S. SAMAT
Affiliation:
Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, Experimental Station, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
W. W. STÜR
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
H. M. SHELTON
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
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Abstract

The productivity of grazing sheep was assessed under 7-year-old rubber at the Rubber Research Institute of the Malaysia Experimental Station at Sungai Buloh near Kuala Lumpur between October 1988 and May 1990. The sheep were Dorset × Marlin crossbred lambs and they grazed planted leguminous cover crops and naturally occurring species at a range of stocking rates.

In the immature rubber trial, presentation yields of forage declined with time regardless of stocking rate. In the mature rubber trial, presentation yields of forage were low (<1000 kg/ha) due to low light transmission. High stocking rates (>6 sheep/ha) resulted in a decrease in the proportion of palatable species, namely Pueraria phaseoloides, Paspalum conjugatum, Asystasia gangetica and Mikania micrantha and an increase in the proportion of the less palatable species such as Calopogonium caeruleum and Cyrtococcum oxyphyllum.

Daily liveweight gains ranged from 100 g/lamb per day at 4 sheep/ha to 70 g/lamb per day at 14 sheep/ha in the immature rubber trial. Only the lowest stocking rate of 2 sheep/ha was continuously sustainable in the mature rubber trial. The estimated maximum liveweight gain that could be achieved under immature rubber was 266 kg/ha per year at a stocking rate of 13·2 sheep/ha.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 128 , Issue 3 , May 1997 , pp. 339 - 346
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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