For further information contact: Michael Peters

The Challenge

The ultimate goal of forage research at CIAT is to improve the standard of living of small farmers in the tropics. To address this goal, understanding the constraints and opportunities in diverse small-farming systems is crucial. Hence, forage germplasm research at CIAT aims to identify germplasm options for multiple functions in subhumid and humid tropical agroecosystems throughout the world. Use of improved forages to increase livestock productivity remains the main focus, but use of forages in natural resource management and for income generation other than directly from livestock production is gaining importance.

Major Components and Challenges of Forage Germplasm Research

Germplasm Acquisition

Over the past 30 years, CIAT researchers and their partners have assembled an extensive collection of over 22,000 forages, including about 18,400 samples of 654 legume species and about 1,900 samples of 178 grasses. Germplasm collection and introduction will remain significant activities of forage germplasm research because such research needs to respond to dynamic changes in the biophysical and socioeconomic environments.

Germplasm Characterization and Evaluation

Germplasm evaluation aims to identify and describe key traits of legume and grass species—largely undomesticated—that respond to the constraints and opportunities in complex small-farming systems. In view of this complexity, forage evaluation needs:

• To address multiple functions, which can be competitive but also synergistic.
• To develop evaluation procedures addressing multiple functions within the system.
• To develop tools for targeting forages to different biophysical and socioeconomic niches.
• To focus on developing forage options for less favorable environments, where most smallholders are located and where the limited inputs available are seldom applied to forages. Some major constraints include extended droughts and low-fertility, acid soils. Forage evaluation, therefore, concentrates not only on adapting germplasm to such conditions, but also on developing germplasm that will also maintain and improve soil fertility.
• To address year-round quality of forage species, particularly shrubby species, adapted to low-fertility, acid soils. Emphasis on animal nutrition requires a portfolio of materials that will complement each other, thereby maintaining high quality throughout the year. In contrast, to maintain soil fertility, a different combination of slow and fast degrading forages is necessary.
• To respond to the needs of its major clients: the small and medium-scale farmers of the tropics. Germplasm evaluation, therefore, needs farmer involvement in research and development, and links between on-station and on-farm evaluations.

Achievements and Constraints

Over the past 30 years, CIAT researchers and their partners have successfully identified a wide range of forage technologies for livestock production, land management, and income generation in many biophysical and socioeconomic environments. Several core collections of grasses and legumes have been developed for further evaluation and targeting of germplasm. At present, for subhumid and humid tropical environments, the following technical options exist:

• Pasture grasses tolerant of grazing and extended droughts, and adapted to low-fertility, acid soils.
• Pasture legumes tolerant of grazing, but with limited drought tolerance.
• Herbaceous legumes tolerant of extended drought, but with limited grazing tolerance.
• Shrubby legumes tolerant of extended droughts, but many with limited forage quality.
• Cover crops for plantations, but with limited drought tolerance.

Information on the Following is Scarce

• High-quality, shrubby, legume forages adapted to low-fertility, acid soils and tolerant of extended droughts.
• Short-term forage legumes for multiple use.
• Methods for evaluating forage germplasm simultaneously for multiple functions.
• Methods of incorporating farmer participation early in the selection and evaluation of suitable germplasm.
• Tools for targeting forages at particular niches.

Focus of Current Work

Because of limitations in the current set of available options and the need to improve access to information for forage technology adoption, work on forage germplasm is emphasizing:

• Germplasm characterization and evaluation to amplify the genetic base for drought-tolerant, high-quality, and shrubby or herbaceous legumes adapted to low-fertility, acid soils.
• Evaluation of short-term multipurpose species.
• Adaptation of methods for the simultaneous evaluation of forages for feed and soil improvement.
• Development of a participatory procedure for germplasm evaluation, selection, and dissemination.
• Development of databases and of tools based on geographic information systems (GIS) for germplasm targeting, and for information sharing and dissemination.
• Exploration of new ways of linking with partners in research and development, employing participatory procedures.