Environmental Impact Assessment (Volume IV ) of Livestock Production in Grassland and Mixed Rainfed Systems in Temperate Zones and Grassland and Mixed-Rainfed Systems in Humid and Subhumid Tropic and Subtropic Zones (Except Africa)

J. Richard Conner, Wayne T. Hamilton, Urs P. Kreuter, Dennis P. Sheehy, James R. Simpson, Jerry W. Stuth;Animal Production and Health Division

Environmental Impact Assessment (Volume IV ) of Livestock Production in Grassland and Mixed Rainfed Systems in Temperate Zones and Grassland and Mixed-Rainfed Systems in Humid and Subhumid Tropic and Subtropic Zones (Except Africa)

Autores

J. Richard Conner, Wayne T. Hamilton, Urs P. Kreuter, Dennis P. Sheehy, James R. Simpson, Jerry W. Stuth;Animal Production and Health Division

Descripción

Mixed farming systems in true temperate zones (MRT) are the dominant AZ-LS category for most of the northern hemisphere (Table IV.1). Countries in the former U.S.S.R. collectively account for 47 percent of the agricultural land in this category. This category is significant in the southern hemisphere only in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile. It accounts for 26.3 percent of the world’s human population, 17.4 percent of its pasture land, and 43.4 percent of its arable land. Its agricul tural lands consist of almost equal parts arable and pasture land, and it supports a population density of.8 ha/capita. The MRT supports almost one-fourth of the world’s cattle and one-fifth of its sheep and goats (Table IV.2). As with agricultural land, countries of the former U.S.S.R. account for more than one-third of the cattle and sheep. Most of the goats (55 percent), however, are found in China. Based on livestock unit equivalents, cattle account for 86 percent of the feed demand gen erated by the three types of livestock in the MRT.