| Livestock Research for Rural Development 36 (3) 2024 | LRRD Search | LRRD Misssion | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD Newsletter |
At the end of the 1970s, the knowledge of young livestock scientists in tropical countries about local resources for livestock production systems was very weak. The training lacked conceptual and methodological approaches to face the task of better understanding the offer of agroecosystems and the knowledge of producers. One of the main barriers to overcome was having scientific publication media for works that were generated in Asia, Latin America and Africa and that did not have the opportunity to be known by their colleagues who faced similar challenges.
Scientific journals were needed with special attributes: free, friendly, open, with clear strategic lines on research topics appropriate to the tropical and subtropical regions of the world characterized by an enormous diversity of plants and domestic animals (species and races). But in addition, publications should circulate quickly and it was desirable that works be accepted in the main languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese and French).
The magazine Tropical Animal Production, published first in Cuba and then in the Dominican Republic by Thomas R. Preston, took the first steps in terms of strategic issues and openness to young researchers from the tropical world, but the edition was slow and its circulation reduced due to to the formal channels of written publications.
Later, at CIPAV (Center for Research in Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems) in Colombia, the idea was taken up due to the need to have a forum to show the results of new approaches to adjusting tropical animal production to the resources available in each region. Digital media that were just beginning to develop in international communications opened a futuristic door that made it possible to overcome the drawbacks of rapid editing and global dissemination. Maintaining the same editorial and thematic principles but with a new revolutionary tool in the digital medium, LRRD magazine was born in 1989, being a pioneer in the world of digital electronic magazines. Then, with the arrival of the Internet, the process was even faster and the work of researchers from the global south reached all corners of the planet from the CIPAV base site www.cipav.org.co.
Mission and Vision of LRRD with current topics for the scientific community have been fully fulfilled. Since then, it has been published uninterruptedly for the last 36 years with an impressive number of articles (4619), origins of authors from dozens of countries on all continents and millions of readers (more than 1,200,000 visits per year).
We are grateful to all the persons who have participated in the development and conduct of LRRD since its first appearance in 1989:
We thank, most sincerely, all who have collaborated in the development and execution of the LRRD journal during the 36 years of its service to researchers especially those in developing countries in the tropics.
Thomas R Preston,
Senior Editor LRRD
Enrique Murgueitio,
Executive Director CIPAV
1 March 2024