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The manual includes information about trends in livestock production and manure management in Asia, a systems approach to sustainable manure management, production and composition of manure, manure management during housing and storage, processing and handling of manure to reduce pollution and improve nutrient utilization, and field application and utilization of manures. It concludes with the main conclusions and recommendations from an experts meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

This manual is aimed at all levels of scientific, technical and administrative personnel involved in the development of sustainable livestock production systems with environmentally sound manure management in Asia, including Ministries of Agriculture/Livestock/Environment, Faculties of Agriculture and Animal/Plant/Soil Sciences, Institutions involved in Environmental Sustainability, and Local Authorities responsible for Livestock Development Services. It is hoped that the manual will assist livestock personnel in Asia to apply the guidelines to improve existing management systems and develop new systems that are efficient, cost effective and sustainable for different livestock farming systems under varying socio-economic environments.

The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were H.P.S. Makkar, P.E. Vercoe and P.J. Boettcher of the Animal Production and Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. Financial and technical support was provided by the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Agrosystems Research Unit of Plant Research International at Wageningen.