The carrying capacity of cattle utilizing agricultural wastes in a small Chinese village

Abstract

The population of draft animals in a small Chinese village in Shandong province almost doubled very shortly after their decollectivization in early 1987. An energetic study of the cattle population over a 3-year period (1987–1990) permitted the calculation of the carrying capacity for the cattle based on the agricultural wastes produced yearly in a specific area of the North China plain. Extrapolation of these data to the entire draft animal population strongly suggests that although the draft animal population has increased significantly, the local feed resources (consisting mainly of byproducts of crops grown for human use) can sustain the larger number of draft animals.