The cattle farming development in la Reunion requires new forms of territorial coordination

In Reunion Island, the dynamism of the livestock farming sector together with a policy of support for the “Outermost Regions” and the development of the “Hauts” (heights) led to the appearance and expansion of the dairy and suckler cattle industries structured over a time span of 20 to 30 years. With 500 breeders, the two cooperatives are developing the production of milk and meat, which is respectively of 21.8 million litres and 1500 tonnes. They declare that their targets are to approximately double the production by the end of the decade. Combined with those of the sugar cane industry, these targets appear difficult to reach, in the present situation of land speculation and town and country planning. We put forward the hypothesis that the farming industries must seek new forms of territorial coordination, for the continuation of their development. Complementarities must be found between the sectors, as forage and effluents transfers between lowlands and highlands. This evolution has to take part of the future changes on environmental standards (setting up of a National Park). We present some examples of the research work undertaken by the Cirad cattle-farming centre in partnership with the production and processing networks, for the purpose of providing references and decision support tools.