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Cows (n = 21), dried off for a minimum of 45 days, and nulliparous heifers (n = 26), at ages > 18 months old, were placed on a 12-day Lactation Induction (LI) protocol. One group of animals (including both cows and heifers) received 3-minute mammary gland stimulation, along with the LI protocol. Another group, again including both cows and heifers, received no stimulation. Only the LI protocol consisted of two injections of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α; 25 mg) 11 days apart, followed by subcutaneous injections of 17ß-estradiol (0.1 mg/kg BW/d) and progesterone (0.25 mg/kg BW/d) beginning 1 day later and continuing for seven (7) days. After this step, all animals received another injection of PGF2α on day 8, followed by intramuscular injections of reserpine (5 mg/d) and dexamethasone (20 mg/d) on each of days 9 to 12. All animals were milked, beginning on day 13, for a period of 154 days. For all animals, the success rate for lactation induction was 78% ± 6.3% and the mean weekly milk yield was 78.2 kg. Neither value was affected by mammary stimulation. Parity did not significantly impact on the success rate, but it did affect the mean weekly milk yield. Milk yield varied significantly (p < 0.001) with week, peaking during week 9. Peak milk production and persistency were 101.6 kg ± 5.9 kg and 16.9 weeks ± 2.4 weeks respectively, with neither being significantly (α = 0.05 level) affected by stimulation or by parity. However, heifers (at 8.2 weeks ± 1.0 week) tended (p = 0.1) to reach peak milk production earlier than cows (at 10.7 weeks ± 1.3). The milk produced was sold at a net profit per animal treated of $2206.31 TT. Hence, one can conclude that a Lactation Induction protocol can be a useful management tool to increase production and profitability of dairy operations in the tropics.

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As the world's population increases, the issue of food security presents a serious challenge. Currently, food security is reliant on a very narrow range of cultivated plant species and is also limited to traditional animal husbandry practices. The use of edible wild plants can be considered to support food security efforts. Such plants have shown to be more resilient compared to traditionally cultivated crops and also have superior nutritional attributes. The issue of protein food security can be addressed through production improvements for local or indigenous chickens, livestock production systems and wildlife to some extent. Food security in developing countries would increasingly become more dependent on widening the biodiversity from which food is selected and utilized and insects, like wild plants, provide another such opportunity. Contemporary reproductive technologies such as lactation induction, embryo transfer and artificial insemination among others can bolster food security efforts in developing countries. Improvements in forage species as well as processing technologies to improve nutritional value of low quality forages can improve overall animal nutrition. Irrespective of the concerns related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), these sources of food could be beneficial globally. The formation of farmers' groups can be a strategic approach to food security in resource poor developing countries for the purposes of collective action and resource sharing. Sustainable food security requires the integration of several multi-dimensional approaches into a holistic management model to achieve the food security objectives in many developing nations.