Cleanliness versus cow comfort – an insolvable problem?

Cubicle should provide good resting comfort as well as clean udders. Dairy cows in cubicle houses often face a restrictive environment with regard to resting behaviour, whereas cleanliness may still be impaired. This study aimed to determine reliable behavioural measures regarding resting comfort applicable in on-farm welfare assessments. Furthermore, relationships between cubicle design, cow sizes, management factors and udder cleanliness (namely teats and teat tips) were investigated. Altogether 15 resting measures were examined in terms of feasibility, inter-observer reliability (IOR) and consistency of results per farm over time. They were recorded during three farm visits on farms in Germany and Austria with cubicle, deep litter and tie stall systems. Seven measures occurred to infrequently to allow reliable recording within a limited observation time. IOR was generally acceptable to excellent except for 'collisions during lying down', which only showed good IOR after improvement of the definition. Only three measures were acceptably repeatable over time: 'duration of lying down', 'percentage of collisions during lying down' and 'percentage of cows lying partly or completely outside lying area'. These measures were evaluated as suitable animal based welfare measures regarding resting behaviour in the framework of an on-farm welfare assessment protocol. The second part of the thesis comprises a cross-sectional study on resting comfort and cow cleanliness including 23 Holstein Friesian dairy herds with very low within-farm variation in cubicle measures. Height at withers, shoulder width and diagonal body length were measured in 79-100 % of the cows (herd size 30 to115 cows). Based on the 25 % largest animals, compliance with recommendations for cubicle measures was calculated. Cleanliness of different body parts, the udder, teats and teat tips was assessed for each cow in the herd prior to morning milking. No significant correlation was found between udder soiling and teat or teat tip soiling on herd level. The final model of a stepwise regression regarding the percentage of dirty teats per farm explained 58.5 % the variance and contained four factors. Teat dipping after milking which might be associated with an overall clean and accurate management style, deep bedded cubicles, increasing cubicle maintenance times and decreasing compliance concerning total cubicle length predicted lower teat soiling. The final model concerning teat tip soiling explained 46.0 % of the variance and contained three factors. Increasing litter height in the rear part of the cubicle and increased alley soiling which is difficult to explain, predicted for less soiled teat tips, whereas increasing compliance concerning resting length was associated with higher percentages of dirty teat tips. The dependent variable ‘duration of lying down’ was analysed using again stepwise regression. The final model explained 54.8 % of the total variance. Lying down duration was significantly shorter in deep bedded cubicles. Further explanatory though not significant factors in the model were neck-rail height, deep bedding or comfort mattresses versus concrete floor or rubber mats and clearance height of side partitions. In the attempt to create a more comprehensive lying down measure, another analysis was carried out with percentage of ‘impaired lying down’ (i.e. events exceeding 6.3 seconds, with collisions or being interrupted) as dependent variable. The explanatory value of this final model was 41.3 %. An increase in partition length, in compliance concerning cubicle width and the presence of straw within bedding predicted a lower proportion of impaired lying down. The effect of partition length is difficult to interpret, but partition length and height were positively correlated on the study farms, possibly leading to a bigger zone of clear space for pelvis freedom. No associations could be found between impaired lying down and teat or teat tip soiling. Altogether, in agreement with earlier studies it was found that cubicle dimensions in practice are often inadequate with regard to the body dimensions of the cows, leading to high proportions of impaired lying down behaviour, whereas teat cleanliness is still unsatisfactory. Connections between cleanliness and cow comfort are far from simplistic. Especially the relationship between cubicle characteristics and lying down behaviour apparently is very complex, so that it is difficult to identify single influential factors that are valid for all farm situations. However, based on the results of the present study the use of deep bedded cubicles can be recommended as well as improved management with special regard to cubicle and litter maintenance in order to achieve both better resting comfort and teat cleanliness.

Case Management in der ambulanten gerontopsychiatrischen Versorgung

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein am Strengths-Modell orientiertes Case Management-Projekt zur Prozess- und Ergebnisoptimierung der bereits bestehenden ambulanten gerontopsychiatrischen Versorgungsstruktur untersucht. Dazu arbeitete eine Krankenpflegerin mit psychiatrischer Fachausbildung in einer Berliner Sozialstation auf Basis einer professionellen Beziehung für 4-6 Wochen bei Klientinnen mit gerontopsychiatrischen Problemlagen, erstellte ein Assessment, leistete notwendige Unterstützung zunächst selbst, vermittelte gestützt auf die eigenen Erfahrungen weiterführende Dienste, leitete diese Dienste an, zog sich dann aus dem direkten Kontakt mit den Klientinnen zurück und blieb beratend für die weiterführenden Dienste verfügbar. Zur Untersuchung des Projekts wurden qualitative und quantitative Verfahren eingesetzt. Zur Beschreibung der Inhalte wurden die für jede Klientin verfasste Dokumentation und die Ergebnisse von grob strukturierten Interviews mit der Case Managerin, angelehnt an eine reduzierte Form der Methode Grounded Theory, in einem iterativen Prozess analysiert. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde dann untersucht, inwieweit die einzelnen Arbeitsinhalte des Case Managements die sozial-räumlichdingliche Umweltanpassung und Proaktivität der Klientinnen unterstützten. Die Wirkungen des Projektes auf Kognition, Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens (ADL), Instrumentelle Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens (IADL), Stimmung sowie soziales und störendes Verhalten wurden mittels eines standardisierten Fragebogens mit einem quasi-experimentellen prospektiven Untersuchungsdesign analysiert. Zur Analyse der subjektiven Wirkung des Projektes auf Angehörige wurden in den Ergebnissen von grob strukturierten Interviews mittels eines iterativen Prozesses Themen identifiziert. Die Klientinnen (n=11) erhielten durchschnittlich 23 Stunden Case Management. Neben den typischen Case Management-Aufgaben führte die Case Managerin, basierend auf den Gewohnheiten, Interessen und Selbsteinschätzungen der Klientinnen, therapeutische und pflegerische Maßnahmen durch und unterstützte dabei die sozial-dinglichräumliche Umweltanpassung und Proaktivität der Klientinnen. Zusätzlich wurden Hauspflegerinnen von der Case Managerin individuell in der Wohnung von Klientinnen hinsichtlich der Kommunikation mit und Unterstützung der Proaktivität von Klientinnen angeleitet. Die Hauspflegerinnen führten die von der Case Managerin eingeleiteten Maßnahmen erfolgreich fort. Bei den Klientinnen zeigten sich signifikante Verbesserungen in Gedächtnis, Stimmung, IADL-Funktionen und Sozialverhalten, aber nicht in ADL-Funktionen und störendem Verhalten. Diese Verbesserungen wurden subjektiv von den Angehörigen (n=7) bestätigt. Zusätzlich empfanden Angehörige eine zeitliche aber keine psychische Entlastung. Mit diesem Projekt wurde gezeigt, dass ein zeitlich begrenztes klientenzentriertes Case Management kognitive, soziale und emotionale Funktionen von gerontopsychiatrisch Erkrankten verbessert, Angehörige zeitlich entlastet und dass Hauspflegerinnen bei entsprechender Anleitung die vom Case Management eingeleiteten Maßnahmen fortführen können. In Folgestudien mit größerem Umfang sollten diese Ergebnisse überprüft werden um dann zu entscheiden, ob dieser Ansatz geeignet ist, die ambulante gerontopsychiatrische Versorgung gemeindenah zu verbessern.

Transformationale Führung als Erfolgsfaktor des Interim Management

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde untersucht, wie Führung zur Bewältigung von Unternehmenskrisen und Umsetzung von Veränderungen im Kontext des Interim Management beitragen kann. Dazu wurde die Theorie transformationaler Führung um aufgabenbezogene und indirekte Führung und den Einsatz von Positionsmacht ergänzt. Damit wurden diese erfolgskritischen Führungsdimensionen erstmals in einem gemeinsamen theoretischen Rahmen verbunden und die Auswirkungen einer kombinierten Anwendung untersucht. Dieser neue Ansatz wurde als „Total Range of Leadership“ bezeichnet. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung konnten neue Erkenntnisse zum Kontext und den Erfolgsfaktoren des Interim Management sowie zu den Auswirkungen und Wirkungsmechanismen transformationaler Führung und des Total Range of Leadership gewonnen werden. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Interim Management ein hoch effektives Veränderungsinstrument ist. Als erfolgsrelevante Rahmenbedingungen wurden die Ausstattung der Interim Manager mit umfassenden Vollmachten sowie die Unterstützung durch die Auftraggeber, als wichtigster Erfolgsfaktor des Interim Management aber eindeutig die Anwendung transformationaler Führung und des Total Range of Leadership identifiziert. Die Anwendung transformationaler Führung im Rahmen des Total Range of Leadership wirkt sich positiv auf Persönlichkeit, Einstellungen, Kompetenz und Verhalten der Mitarbeiter sowie Organisationsstruktur, Unternehmenskultur, organisationale Lernfähigkeit und finanziellen und marktbezogenen Erfolg von Unternehmens aus. Dabei erzielt transformationale Führung die bei Weitem größte Wirkung aller Führungsdimensionen. Es konnte aufgezeigt werden, dass transformationale Führung diese Wirkung nur in Verbindung mit der kompetenten Anwendung von transaktionaler, aufgabenbezogener und indirekter Führung entfalten kann. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse deuten außerdem darauf hin, dass eine transformationale Führungsbeziehung nur dann entstehen kann, wenn die Mitarbeiter Vertrauen in die professionelle Kompetenz und die Integrität ihrer Führungskraft fassen. Als normative Grundlagen transformationaler Führung wurden die Gewährleistung der Wohlfahrt und des Nutzens der Geführten sowie der Bezug auf und die Berücksichtigung von geteilten und allgemein akzeptierte Werten, insbesondere der distributiven und prozeduralen Gerechtigkeit, identifiziert. Insgesamt deuten die Erkenntnisse der Untersuchung darauf hin, dass mit dem Total Range of Leadership ein ganzheitlicher Führungsansatz entwickelt wurde, der alle aktiven und positiven Führungsverhaltensweisen umfasst, die zur Bewältigung von Krisen und Durchführung von Veränderungen in Unternehmen sowie für effektive Führung überhaupt erforderlich sind.

Sensorische Erfassung von Grünlandbiomassen als Grundlage für ein teilflächenspezifisches Management im Ökologischen Landbau

Vor dem Hintergund der Integration des wissensbasierten Managementsystems Precision Farming in den Ökologischen Landbau wurde die Umsetzung bestehender sowie neu zu entwickelnder Strategien evaluiert und diskutiert. Mit Blick auf eine im Precision Farming maßgebende kosteneffiziente Ertragserfassung der im Ökologischen Landbau flächenrelevanten Leguminosen-Grasgemenge wurden in zwei weiteren Beiträgen die Schätzgüten von Ultraschall- und Spektralsensorik in singulärer und kombinierter Anwendung analysiert. Das Ziel des Precision Farming, ein angepasstes Management bezogen auf die flächeninterne Variabilität der Standorte umzusetzen, und damit einer Reduzierung von Betriebsmitteln, Energie, Arbeit und Umwelteffekten bei gleichzeitiger Effektivitätssteigerung und einer ökonomischen Optimierung zu erreichen, deckt sich mit wesentlichen Bestrebungen im Ökogischen Landbau. Es sind vorrangig Maßnahmen zur Erfassung der Variabilität von Standortfaktoren wie Geländerelief, Bodenbeprobung und scheinbare elektrische Leitfähigkeit sowie der Ertragserfassung über Mähdrescher, die direkt im Ökologischen Landbau Anwendung finden können. Dagegen sind dynamisch angepasste Applikationen zur Düngung, im Pflanzenschutz und zur Beseitigung von Unkräutern aufgrund komplexer Interaktionen und eines eher passiven Charakters dieser Maßnahmen im Ökologischen Landbau nur bei Veränderung der Applikationsmodelle und unter Einbindung weiterer dynamischer Daten umsetzbar. Beispiele hiefür sind einzubeziehende Mineralisierungsprozesse im Boden und organischem Dünger bei der Düngemengenberechnung, schwer ortsspezifisch zuzuordnende präventive Maßnamen im Pflanzenschutz sowie Einflüsse auf bodenmikrobiologische Prozesse bei Hack- oder Striegelgängen. Die indirekten Regulationsmechanismen des Ökologischen Landbaus begrenzen daher die bisher eher auf eine direkte Wirkung ausgelegten dynamisch angepassten Applikationen des konventionellen Precision Farming. Ergänzend sind innovative neue Strategien denkbar, von denen die qualitätsbezogene Ernte, der Einsatz hochsensibler Sensoren zur Früherkennung von Pflanzenkrankheiten oder die gezielte teilflächen- und naturschutzorientierte Bewirtschaftung exemplarisch in der Arbeit vorgestellt werden. Für die häufig große Flächenanteile umfassenden Leguminosen-Grasgemenge wurden für eine kostengünstige und flexibel einsetzbare Ertragserfassung die Ultraschalldistanzmessung zur Charakterisierung der Bestandeshöhe sowie verschiedene spektrale Vegetationsindices als Schätzindikatoren analysiert. Die Vegetationsindices wurden aus hyperspektralen Daten nach publizierten Gleichungen errechnet sowie als „Normalized Difference Spectral Index“ (NDSI) stufenweise aus allen möglichen Wellenlängenkombinationen ermittelt. Die Analyse erfolgte für Ultraschall und Vegetationsindices in alleiniger und in kombinierter Anwendung, um mögliche kompensatorische Effekte zu nutzen. In alleiniger Anwendung erreichte die Ultraschallbestandeshöhe durchweg bessere Schätzgüten, als alle einzelnen Vegetationsindices. Bei den letztgenannten erreichten insbesondere auf Wasserabsorptionsbanden basierende Vegetationsindices eine höhere Schätzgenauigkeit als traditionelle Rot/Infrarot-Indices. Die Kombination beider Sensorda-ten ließ eine weitere Steigerung der Schätzgüte erkennen, insbesondere bei bestandesspezifischer Kalibration. Hierbei kompensieren die Vegetationsindices Fehlschätzungen der Höhenmessung bei diskontinuierlichen Bestandesdichtenänderungen entlang des Höhengradienten, wie sie beim Ährenschieben oder durch einzelne hochwachsende Arten verursacht werden. Die Kombination der Ultraschallbestandeshöhe mit Vegetationsindices weist das Potential zur Entwicklung kostengünstiger Ertragssensoren für Leguminosen-Grasgemenge auf. Weitere Untersuchungen mit hyperspektralen Vegetationsindices anderer Berechnungstrukturen sowie die Einbindung von mehr als zwei Wellenlängen sind hinsichtlich der Entwicklung höherer Schätzgüten notwendig. Ebenso gilt es, Kalibrierungen und Validationen der Sensorkombination im artenreichen Grasland durchzuführen. Die Ertragserfassung in den Leguminosen-Grasgemengen stellt einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Erstellung einer Ertragshistorie in den vielfältigen Fruchtfolgen des Ökologischen Landbaus dar und ermöglicht eine verbesserte Einschätzung von Produktionspotenzialen und Defizitarealen für ein standortangepasstes Management.

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in small ruminants and their senstivity to treatments with ethnobotanical remedies in Cholistan, Pakistan

Livestock production contributes substantially to the livelihoods of poor rural farmers in Pakistan; strengthening pastoral communities plays an imperative role in the country’s thrive for poverty alleviation. Intestinal helminths constitute a major threat for pastoral livestock keepers in the whole country because chronic infestation leads to distinct losses in livestock productivity, particularly the growth of young animals. Synthetic anthelmintics have long been considered the only effective way of controlling this problem but high prices, side effects and chemical residues/toxicity problems, or development of resistance, lead to their very limited use in many pastoral systems. Additionally, poor pastoralists in remote areas of Pakistan hardly have access to appropriate anthelmintic drugs, which are also relatively expensive due to the long routes of transportation. The search for new and more sustainable ways of supporting livestock keepers in remote areas has given rise to studies of ethno-botanicals or traditional plant-based remedies to be used in livestock health care. Plant-based remedies are cheap or free of cost, environmentally safe and generally create no problem of drug resistance; they thus might substitute allopathic drugs. Furthermore, these remedies are easily available in remote areas and simple to prepare and/or administer. Cholistan desert is a quite poor region of Pakistan and the majority of its inhabitants are practicing a nomadic life. The region’s total livestock population (1.29 million heads) is almost twice that of the human population. Livestock husbandry is the primordial occupation of the communities and traditionally wealth assessment was based on the number of animals, especially goats and sheep, owned by an individual. Fortunately, about 60% of this desert region is richly endowed with highly adapted grasses, shrubs and trees. This natural flora has a rich heritage of scientifically unexplored botanical pharmacopoeia. Against this background, the present research project that was conducted under the umbrella of the International Center for Development and Decent Work at Kassel University, focused on a development aspect: in the Cholistan desert region it was firstly examined how pastoralists manage their livestock, which major health problems they face for the different animal species, and which of the naturally occurring plants they use for the treatment of animal diseases (Chapter 2). For this purpose, a baseline survey was carried out across five locations in Cholistan, using a structured questionnaire to collect data from 100 livestock farmers (LF) and 20 local healers (LH). Most of LF and LH were illiterate (66%; 70%). On average, LH had larger herds (109 animals) than LF (85 animals) and were more experienced in livestock husbandry and management. On average LF spent about 163 Euro per year on the treatment of their livestock, with a huge variability in expenditures. Eighty-six traditional remedies based on 64 plants belonging to 43 families were used. Capparaceae was the botanical family with the largest number of species used (4), followed by Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophyllaceae (3). The plants Capparis decidua (n=55 mentions), Salsola foetida (n=52), Suaeda fruticosa (n=46), Haloxylon salicornicum (n=42) and Haloxylon recurvum (n=39) were said to be most effective against the infestations with gastrointestinal parasites. Aerial parts (43%), leaves (26%), fruits (9%), seeds and seed oils (9%) were the plant parts frequently used for preparation of remedies, while flowers, roots, bulbs and pods were less frequently used (<5%). Common preparations were decoction, jaggery and ball drench; oral drug administration was very common. There was some variation in the doses used for different animal species depending on age, size and physical condition of the animal and severity of the disease. In a second step the regionally most prevalent gastrointestinal parasites of sheep and goats were determined (Chapter 3) in 500 animals per species randomly chosen from pastoral herds across the previously studied five localities. Standard parasitological techniques were applied to identify the parasites in faecal samples manually collected at the rectum. Overall helminth prevalence was 78.1% across the 1000 animals; pure nematode infestations were most prevalent (37.5%), followed by pure trematode (7.9%), pure cestode (2.6%) and pure protozoa infestations (0.8%). Mixed infestations with nematodes and trematodes occurred in 6.4% of all animals, mixed nematode-cestode infestations in 3.8%, and all three groups were found in 19.1% of the sheep and goats. In goats more males (81.1%) than females (77.0%) were infested, the opposite was found in sheep (73.6% males, 79.5% females). Parasites were especially prevalent in suckling goats (85.2%) and sheep (88.5%) and to a lesser extent in young (goats 80.6%, sheep 79.3%) and adult animals (goats 72.8%, sheep 73.8%). Haemonchus contortus, Trichuris ovis and Paramphistomum cervi were the most prevalent helminths. In a third step the in vitro anthelmintic activity of C. decidua, S. foetida, S. fruticosa, H. salicornicum and H. recurvum (Chapter 2) was investigated against adult worms of H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi (Chapter 3) via adult motility assay (Chapter 4). Various concentrations ranging from 7.8 to 500 mg dry matter/ml of three types of extracts of each plant, i.e. aqueous, methanol, and aqueous-methanol (30:70), were used at different time intervals to access their anthelmintic activity. Levamisol (0.55 mg/ml) and oxyclozanide (30 mg/ml) served as positive and phosphate-buffered saline as negative control. All extracts exhibited minimum and maximum activity at 2 h and 12 h after parasite exposure; the 500 mg/ml extract concentrations were most effective. Plant species (P<0.05), extract type (P<0.01), parasite species (P<0.01), extract concentration (P<0.01), time of exposure (P<0.01) and their interactions (P<0.01) had significant effects on the number of immobile/dead helminths. From the comparison of LC50 values it appeared that the aqueous extract of C. decidua was more potent against H. contortus and T. ovis, while the aqueous extract of S. foetida was effective against P. cervi. The methanol extracts of H. recurvum were most potent against all three types of parasites, and its aqueous-methanol extract was also very effective against T. ovis and P. cervi. Based on these result it is concluded that the aqueous extract of C. decidua, as well as the methanol and aqueous-methanol extract of H. recurvum have the potential to be developed into plant-based drugs for treatment against H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi infestations. Further studies are now needed to investigate the in vivo anthelmintic activity of these plants and plant extracts, respectively, in order to develop effective, cheap and locally available anthelmintics for pastoralists in Cholistan and neighboring desert regions. This will allow developing tangible recommendations for plant-based anthelminthic treatment of sheep and goat herds, and by this enable pastoralists to maintain healthy and productive flocks at low costs and probably even manufacture herbal drugs for marketing on a regional scale.

Opportunities and constraints of peri-urban buffalo and dairy cattle systems in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

In the big cities of Pakistan, peri-urban dairy production plays an important role for household income generation and the supply of milk and meat to the urban population. On the other hand, milk production in general, and peri-urban dairy production in particular, faces numerous problems that have been well known for decades. Peri-urban dairy producers have been especially neglected by politicians as well as non-government-organizations (NGOs). Against this background, a study in Pakistan’s third largest city, Faisalabad (Punjab Province), was carried out with the aims of gathering basic information, determining major constraints and identifying options for improvements of the peri-urban milk production systems. For data collection, 145 peri-urban households (HH) engaged in dairy production were interviewed face to face using a structured and pretested questionnaire with an interpreter. For analyses, HH were classified into three wealth groups according to their own perception. Thus, 38 HH were poor, 95 HH well off and 12 HH rich (26.2%, 65.5% and 8.3%, respectively). The richer the respondents perceived their HH, the more frequently they were actually in possession of high value HH assets like phones, bank accounts, motorbikes, tractors and cars. Although there was no difference between the wealth groups with respect to the number of HH members (about 10, range: 1 to 23), the educational level of the HH heads differed significantly: on average, heads of poor HH had followed education for 3 years, compared to 6 years for well off HH and 8 years for rich HH. About 40% of the poor and well off HH also had off-farm incomes, while the percentage was much higher - two thirds (67%) - for the rich HH. The majority of the HH were landless (62%); the rest (55 HH) possessed agricultural land from 0.1 to 10.1 ha (average 2.8 ha), where they were growing green fodder: maize, sorghum and pearl millet in summer; berseem, sugar cane and wheat were grown in winter. Dairy animals accounted for about 60% of the herds; the number of dairy animals per HH ranged from 2 to 50 buffaloes (Nili-Ravi breed) and from 0 to 20 cows (mostly crossbred, also Sahiwal). About 37% (n=54) of the HH did not keep cattle. About three quarters of the dairy animals were lactating. The majority of the people taking care of the animals were family workers; 17.3% were hired labourers (exclusively male), employed by 11 rich and 32 well off HH; none of the poor HH employed workers, but the percentages were 33.7% for the well off and 91.7% for the rich HH. The total number of workers increased significantly with increasing wealth (poor: 2.0; well off:2.5; rich: 3.4). Overall, 69 female labourers were recorded, making up 16.8% of employed workers and one fourth of the HH’s own labourers. Apparently, their only duty was to clean the animals´ living areas; only one of them was also watering and showering the animals. Poor HH relied more on female workers than the other two groups: 27.1% of the workers of poor HH were women, but only 14.8% and 6.8% of the labour force of well off and rich HH were female. Two thirds (70%) of the HH sold milk to dhodis (middlemen) and one third (35%) to neighbours; three HH (2%) did doorstep delivery and one HH (1%) had its own shop. The 91 HH keeping both species usually sold mixed milk (97%). Clients for mixed and pure buffalo milk were dhodis (78%, respectively 59%) and neighbours (28%, respectively 47%). The highest milk prices per liter (Pakistani Rupees, 100 PKR @ 0.8 Euro) were paid by alternative clients (44 PKR; 4 HH), followed by neighbours (40 PKR, 50 HH); dhodis paid lower prices (36 PKR, 99 HH). Prices for pure buffalo and mixed milk did not differ significantly. However, HH obtaining the maximum price from the respective clients for the respective type of milk got between 20% (mixed milk, alternative clients) and 68% (mixed milk, dhodi) more than HH fetching the minimum price. Some HH (19%) reported 7% higher prices for the current summer than the preceding winter. Amount of milk sold and distance from the HH to the city center did not influence milk prices. Respondents usually named problems that directly affected their income and that were directly and constantly visible to them, such as high costs, little space and fodder shortages. Other constraints that are only influencing their income indirectly, e.g. the relatively low genetic potential of their animals due to neglected breeding as well as the short- and long-term health problems correlated with imbalanced feeding and insufficient health care, were rarely named. The same accounts for problems accompanying improper dung management (storage, disposal, burning instead of recycling) for the environment and human health. Most of the named problems are linked to each other and should be addressed within the context of the entire system. Therefore, further research should focus on systematic investigations and improvement options, taking a holistic and interdisciplinary approach instead of only working in single fields. Concerted efforts of dairy farmers, researchers, NGOs and political decision makers are necessary to create an economic, ecological and social framework that allows dairy production to serve the entire society. For this, different improvement options should be tested in terms of their impact on environment and income of the farmers, as well as feasibility and sustainability in the peri-urban zones of Faisalabad.

Family agriculture for bottom-up rural development: a case study of the indigenous Mayan population in the Mexican Peninsula

Since pre-colonial times the indigenous communities of Mayan origin in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, widely practice home gardens on a sustainable basis as the principal form of family agriculture. This study analyzes the structural complexity, functional diversity and management strategy of these indigenous home gardens in order to attempt to propose recommendations for improved family farming. The Mayan home gardens are structured into three or more vertical layers of multiple plant species of herbs, shrubs and trees, and horizontally into well-defined zones for production of both domestic and wild animals. The home gardens provide multiple services apart from food and nutrition security. For sustainable bottom-up rural development, we recommend the continuation of multifunctional home gardens.