Welcome to Volume 13, Number 4 of Livestock
Research for Rural
Development, the fortieth issue of the journal.
Increase in number of
issues of LRRD in 2001
The numbers of papers
submitted to LRRD has increased considerably and currently is on average two
papers per week. As a result, it will be possible to publish two
additional numbers in 2001, making a total of 6 issues for the year.
Inevitably this has increased considerably the work load on editors and
reviewers, all of whom give their time and efforts without remuneration. But
even with the best will, human and mechanical errors can occur. For example,
the Server of UTA crashed on 31 August and we could not retrieve mail for
almost one week.
Receipt of papers is
usually confirmed the day they arrive and almost always they are sent to two
reviewers the same day. We expect reviewers to send recommendations as to
acceptance of papers for publication in LRRD, and comments, within two weeks of
receiving the paper.
If authors do not receive
information concerning their papers within two weeks of submitting them, they
should remind the chief editor on: trpreston@email.com
It will also decrease our
work load and speed up publication, if authors follow carefully the style and
format of LRRD by consulting published papers in earlier issues.
Attention is drawn to the style of references and tables which is where most
mistakes are made. Please read the section on "Notes to authors" for
details.
Proof reading of papers
A paper written for LRRD in
"html" has a number of supporting files including the
"style" of headings and the images of graphs and photos. This creates
some difficulties for editors and authors for the final
"proof-reading" of the papers. When the final version of the paper is
sent to the author, the editors have to ensure that the supporting files are
attached along with the paper; and the author, when she / he receives the
paper, has to put all the files in the same folder to be sure that when
the the paper is opened it will appear complete on the screen. To avoid
these inconveniences, each paper as it is edited in final html format will be
made available as a provisional "url" which can be found on the UTA
Home Page:
http://www.forum.org.kh~wwwuta
and then by clicking on
"lrrdedit" will give the menu with list of contents for the
particular issue where the paper can be located.
Authors can then check the
paper for possible errors or last minute corrections and inform the editors
accordingly.
It appears that at present
there are no defined standards for citing papers published
electronically. Obviously it is an advantage for such citations to
include the "URL" which will take the reader direct to the paper in
question. The correct citation for LRRD is now shown in the "Heading"
of each paper.
The editorial strategy of
Livestock Research for Rural Development is to promote the distribution of
ideas and hypotheses as well as the documentation of relevant research findings
in sustainable use of natural renewable resources. The medium for the
former (ideas and hypotheses) traditionally has been through the presentation
of short research communications usually at a conference, seminar, workshop or
a meeting of members of a scientific association. At such meetings, when many
short papers are submitted, these may be accommodated in simultaneous sessions
for oral presentation or increasingly in the form of posters. The latter
procedure is proving to be the more attractive as it facilitates the
dissemination of information by having it available on a continuous basis
throughout a meeting rather than at selected times as is the case with
theatre presentations.
In the same way that the
"tele-conference", employing E-mail and Web communication, is
emerging as a cost-effective alternative to the localised (in time and place)
scientific gathering, so the "electronic journal" can become a medium
for the "poster" presentations. The editors of LRRD are encouraging
this approach by means of a section in the journal devoted exclusively to "poster"
presentations. It is hoped that by creating a medium for presenting ideas based
on preliminary observations, readers interested in the data will be encouraged
to enter into a dialogue with the authors. Details for the submission of the
posters are given in "guides to authors".
HTML is the native language
for publishing documents on the World Wide Web and is understood by all Web
browsing software. The journal, as the principal means of publication of
developing world sustainable agriculture, needs to be easily available to the
widest possible audience of interested people. Using HTML as the on online
publishing format has three principal advantages. The first is that everybody
who finds the journal can read it with their Internet browser (Microsoft
Internet Explorer or Netscape are amongst the most common). Secondly, the
Internet search engines such as Alta Vista, Infoseek and others will index the
pages. Thirdly, articles can be posted on the Web as
"pre-publication" papers as soon as they are formatted in HTML, thus
increasing tremendously the speed of communication of information.
All previous issues of the journal
have now been converted to HTML format (thanks to CIPAV staff in Colombia),
thus there is available on the Internet through the CIPAV web pages a library
of over 12 years of research in the field of developing world sustainable
agriculture.
The HTML version of LRRD is
available on the Web at:
http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrdhome.html
and
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/lrrd.htm
trpreston@email.com
in Cambodia
ReneSansoucy@aol.com
in France
Volumes 1 to 9 of LRRD are
now available in HTML format on a CD ROM disk. Readers who wish to receive
copies should send their requests to;
UTA has now moved the base
of its activities to the Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia. A new Home page has been created which provides details of past
and present activities. The URL is recently changed to:
http://www.forum.org.kh/~wwwuta
In line with the move of
UTA to Cambodia, a new Ecological Farm has been set up on the campus of the
Royal University of Agriculture, in Chamcar Daung, Dangkor District, Phnom
Penh. A new Home page for the Ecological farm is in construction. The
previous URL (http://www.hcm.fpt.vn/inet/~ecofarm) is now
discontinued.
Much interest has been
generated in the low-cost plastic biodigesters and the duckweed ponds which are
an integral feature of ecological farming. A manual giving practical
details of these technologies has been prepared for FAO and is available
at:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/recycle/default.htm
In addition to this manual
which uses "still" pictures, more detailed guides on the Biodigesters
and the Duckweed ponds are available on CD-ROMs in combined Video and Text
format:
1. Productive use of
livestock wastes: a manual for installation of low-cost plastic biodigesters
2. Productive use of
livestock wastes: a manual for the use of biodigester effluent and ponds
for duckweed production
Prices are USD10.00 for
each CD-ROM disk plus freight. Details can be had from Lylian Rodriguez at (note new address):
This is an electronic
edition of the book `Tropical Feeds', originally written by Dr Bo Göhl, and
published by FAO in 1971. The database (program prepared by Dr A W Speedy and
Nick Waltham) is available on CD-ROM from: The Senior Officer (Feed Resources),
Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Via della terme di Caracalla,
00100-Rome, Italy. The most recent version (version 8) is available on:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/
No 126,
Tropical animal feeding: A manual for research workers (Thomas R Preston) 1995,
pp 305 (English)
No 132,
Feeding pigs in the tropics (Rena Perez) 1997, pp 185 (English)
No 134,
Tratamiento y utilización de residuos de origen animal, pesquero y alimenticio
en la alimentación animal (Editors: Vilda Figueroa y Manuel Sánchez) 1997, pp
255 (Castellano)
No 135,
Roughage utilization in warm climates (Michel Chenost and Chedly Kayouli) 1997,
pp 226 (English et Français)
No 139,
Tree foliage in ruminant nutrition (Ronald A Leng) 1997, pp 100 (English)
Duckweed;
a tiny aquatic plant with enormous potential for agriculture and environment
(Ronald A Leng) 1999, pp 108 (English)
No 42,
Using fodder from trees and shrubs to feed livestock in the tropics (O B
Smith), pp 52 (English, Français, Castellano)
No 43,
Feeding animals on straw (F Dolberg), pp30 (English)
No 44,
Processing of cassava and sweet potatoes for animal feeding (V Ravindran), pp
49 (English)
No 45,
Multinutrient block handbook (L O Garcia and J I Restrepo), pp 28 (English)
No 46, Use
of cassava and sweet potatoes in animal feeding (V Ravindran), pp 47 (English)
Copies can be obtained
from: The Senior Officer, Feed Resources Group, AGA, FAO, 00100 Rome Italy