Productive and income contributions of sheep, goat, and cattle, and different diversification schemes in smallholder production systems of Northern Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

Wool production oriented sheep keeping is the most important rural activity in Patagonia, Argentina, followed by goat and at a lower extent cattle production. The existing perception on the smallholder production systems from most decision makers (e.g., policy) is that they are marginal, with low productivity and have negative returns. Since the Argentinean economic scenario has changed drastically in the last decade, the aim of this study was to analyze the economic and productive contribution of different livestock species in smallholdings. The results showed that the post-1990's economic scenario turned most smallholder livestock systems to have positive economic performance, but there were still productive restrictions that limited to fully benefit from these favorable circumstances. Goats were the most profitable livestock due to their higher productive performance, followed by sheep and cattle, with poorer performances. A strong cooperation between the intervention programs and research institutions is recommended to overcome the current production bottlenecks, by focusing on cattle and sheep production systems.

Ecosystem services and disservices associated with pastoral systems from Patagonia, Argentina – A review

“…For example, a regional study covering 106 smallholder households in north Patagonia and its diversity of systems (Fig. 1) showed that livestock contribution to household income was greater than 96%, especially by sheep, and that a sharp decline of wool prices resulted in outmigration of 42% of the rural population in the 1990s (Villagra et al, 2015). Next to sheep, goat rearing is also common and it generally promotes the settlement of families in the driest areas of the region, where productivity is low and other farming activities are not possible.…”

Bases para una ley de pastizales de regiones áridas y semiáridas de la Argentina

“…Por otro lado, el sur de la provincia de Neuquén, la denominada Línea Sur de Río Negro y el noroeste de Chubut presentan una matriz mixta de productores capitalizados y estancias de amplias superficies, con predominancia de sistemas ganaderos extensivos ovinos-bovinos, y familias ganaderas de pequeña escala y comunidades indígenas, con sistemas mixtos ovinos-caprinos-bovinos Golluscio et al 2010;Villagra et al 2015). En general, el sistema de pastoreo involucra distintos ambientes de pastizales, que son utilizados con pastoreo continuo o con una lógica móvil, pero en el marco de límites espaciales definidos bajo un uso predial.…”

“…Principio de producción agropecuaria. La ganadería extensiva de base pastoril es la principal actividad productiva, de la cual dependen economías locales por ingresos económicos, abastecimiento de alimentos y fuentes de trabajo (Andrade 2012;Villagra et al 2015). En muchas zonas, la actividad pastoril preserva recursos genéticos locales (Lanari et al 2008).…”

“…En dicha región, los pastizales están afectados, en distintos grados, por procesos históricos de desertificación (del Valle et al 1998), siendo creciente tanto la amenaza del cambio climático como el desarrollo de actividades económicas que conllevan cambios en el uso de la tierra (Mazzoni and Vázquez 2009). Desde un punto de vista socio-productivo, la mayor proporción de los pastizales se encuentra bajo uso ganadero ovino, caprino o bovino (Villagra et al 2015). Mientras que intensidades intermedias de pastoreo demostraron tener diversos beneficios para los ambientes de pastizal (Oñatibia et al 2015), estudios locales evidenciaron que el sobrepastoreo es uno de los factores relevantes en promover procesos de degradación (Bisigato and Bertiller 1997;Perelman et al 1997;Oñatibia and Aguiar 2016;Enriquez and Cremona 2018).…”

Woody encroachment and soil carbon stocks in subalpine areas in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

“…In Mediterranean mountains, grassland ecosystems are extremely important as producers of many goods and services for society (provisioning, regulation, support, culture) and as contributors to the support of a rich biodiversity (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005;Raudsepp-Hearne et al, 2010;Bernués et al, 2014). Grasslands provide forage for large wild herbivores and for livestock, so they play a prominent role in the mountain economy and even in many country economy's (Villagrasa et al, 2015).…”