Sustainability of Cow Milk Production Units in Marcos Espines Jurisdiction, Tungurahua-Ecuador

Physical and productive indicators were assessed in 70 cattle dairies (CaDa), along with the technical, environ-mental, economic and social sustainability indicators of 10 CaDa in Marcos Espinel jurisdiction, Píllaro Canton, Tungurahua-Ecuador, and the dynamic behavior of these indicators for 10 yea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRevista de producción animal Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 1 - 5
Main Authors Redimio M. Pedraza Olivera, Verónica Rivera Guerra, Jorge Velasco, R. Jara, Raúl Guapi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ediciones Universidad de Camagüey 01.05.2015
Subjects
milk production
sustainability
sustainability indicators
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Summary:Physical and productive indicators were assessed in 70 cattle dairies (CaDa), along with the technical, environ-mental, economic and social sustainability indicators of 10 CaDa in Marcos Espinel jurisdiction, Píllaro Canton, Tungurahua-Ecuador, and the dynamic behavior of these indicators for 10 years in a case CaDa. The CaDas averaged 150 l of milk/day, with animal production of 15 l of milk/day, stocking rate over two animals/ha and herd made of 20-25 animals. Chemical fertilizers were widely used in the pasture lands; commercial supplements were used as well. The labor costs were high; everything was associated to cost increases in milk production and a decrease in farm cost-effect indicators. The technical, social, and economic sustainability indicators accounted for 100 % im-pairment in the units; the environmental indicators revealed positive values. However, the rate of special sustainable cattle raising indicated unsustainability for all the case CaDas. The dynamic behavior of sustainability in the case CaDa showed positive values for some indicators, such as energy efficiency; and impairment of others, such as economic sustainability. The study concluded that the CaDa had a generally unsustainable behavior.
ISSN:0258-6010