Household-level farming and marketing practices determining body condition score and economic value of cattle in Cambodia

摘要

TheCambodiancattleindustryisatacrossroads.Increasingaccesstomarketsandadecreasingdemandforcattleasasourceofdraughtpowerisleadingtoarethinkingbysmallholdercattleownersastothepurposeofcattleraising.Manyfactors,includingcattlequalityandmarketingpractices,determinefarmgateprices.ThisstudyusedStructuralEquationModelling(SEM)toexaminethehouseholdcharacteristicsthatdeterminecattleBodyConditionScore(BCS)andmarketingpracticesthataffectcattleprices.CattlewithhigherBCSachievedhigherprices.Marketingfactorssuchasaccesstopriceinformationdidn#8217;taffectprices,althoughfarmersperceivedtheyhadlackofappropriatepriceinformationduringHSoutbreaksandpriceswerelowerwhereoutbreakshadoccurred.FarmsthatkeptcattlefordraughtorforfatteninghadhigherBCSsand,therefore,prices.Oldermalecrossbredcattleachievedthehighestprices.Wealthierhouseholdsusedacombinationofearlyweaningandcastrationtoachievegreaterreturns.Thebodyconditionhadasignificantlypositiverelationshipwithcattlepricereceivedbysmallholders.Therefore,BCSisanindicatorfordeterminingthepriceofcattle.ThevalueoftheunstandardisedcoefficientbetweenBCSandsellingpricewas0.913.ThiscoefficientindicatesthatasBCSincreasesby1(onascalefrom1to5)theaveragepriceofcattlewillincreaseby$US91.30.Smallholdersnowhavetheopportunitytoproduceanimalsfordomesticandinternationalmarkets,anditisimportanttomaximisequalityandmarketabilityofthecattle.