Breeding practices in indigenous dairy cattle breeds in Northern Amhara, Ethiopia

Godadaw Misganaw, Zewdu Wuletaw* and Workneh Ayalew**

Aksum University, Aksum, Ethiopia
godadaw@gmail.com
* GIZ, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
** National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI)
Papua New Guinea, P.O Box 1639, Lae 411, Morobe Province

Abstract

This study was aimed at understanding of the general indigenous dairy cattle breeding activities of the community and major conformational traits particularly used by smallholder farmers in selecting better indigenous dairy cows. The study was conducted in Fogera, Dembia and Wogera districts of northern Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Interviews using pre-tested structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to generate the data. SPSS was employed to analyze the data.

The most common mating system in all sites was natural controlled mating, but free mating and AI also exist in small frequencies. The first breeding objective of the community was obtaining better milk yield. The farmers’ trait preferences was mostly includes higher milk off-take, faster growth rate, adaptability to local feed conditions and diseases, and breeding ability, traction and butter fat yield of the cattle. In doing so, Fogera cattle breed was preferred by most of the participants of the study, due to better expression of the dairy traits. Among the selection criteria of farmers for indigenous dairy cows, navel size, udder and teat size, and pelvic width were commonly stated and hold the first three ranks of selection in all districts.

Key words: conformation traits, dairy breeds, selection criteria

Introduction

After cattle were domesticated, specialized breeds were developed with improved dairy and/or beef production. Domestic animal production has proven to be good sources of food all over the world, and a rapid growth in milk and dairy consumption has been seen in many developing countries over the last years (FAO 2002).

In dairy cattle breeding, most of the dairy farmers in the highland, midland and the lowland areas of Ethiopia used natural mating by using indigenous breeding bull.  But crossbred bull in the highland and midland agro-ecologies were used for service. Some farmers used AI along with natural mating in highland and midland areas. Some of the farmers also preferred seasons for mating for their dairy cattle. They mate their cows in such a way that the calving falls during the wet season to take the advantage of abundant feed supply which promotes better milk production and hence a better chance of survival of calf (Tesfa 2009).

Conformation traits have been known to have medium to high heritability (Kistemaker and Huapaya 2006)   and often can be recorded in a single assessment, which makes them reliable and relatively cheap traits that can be included in selection indices for several purposes.In some part of Ethiopia, farmers exercise selection for indigenous dairy cows depending on the appearance of some conformation traits and milk production history of the ancestors (Zewdu 2004 and Takele 2005).

In Ethiopia, the human and animal populations are very much affected by nutritional problems; primarily due to lack of food of high nutritional value (Gebrekidan et al 2012). In order to address this problem and upgrade the nutritional status of the population, actions should be taken to improve animal production so as to ensure better supply of animal protein of high nutritive value (Ashebir 1992). Among animal protein milk is the one, whose demand continues to increase and plays a very important role in feeding the rural and urban population of Ethiopia (Asaminew 2007).Therefore, in order to meet this demand, improving the potential milk production status of indigenous dairy cattle through selection and breeding of cows by conformation traits is a practical approach for a country which lacks appropriate and standard performance recording.

Objectives

To investigate the breeding and selection practices of indigenous dairy cattle breeds in Northern Amhara, Ethiopia

• To outline general description of the dairy breeding activities of the community in the study area;
• To explore and identify major conformational traits particularly used by smallholder farmers in selecting better indigenous dairy cows

Materials and Methods

Description of the study area

The study was conducted in Fogera district of South Gondar zone, Wogera and Dembia districts of North Gondar zone in Northern Amhara, Ethiopia. These three distincts (Woreda) were selected due to the known cattle breeds that are found in them in large population sizes. In an earlier exploratory study, (Zewdu 2004) reported these cattle breeds have good milk yielder cows and the communities use some conformation traits to evaluate milk production potential of heifers and cows.

The natural breeding tract of the Fogera breed extends from 1774 to 2410 meters above sea level, with mean annual rainfall and average temperature of 1216mm and 25.5^oc, respectively (IPMS 2005).

The capital of Dembia district, Kola-Diba is located 775 Km from Addis Ababa and 35 km from its zonal capital city of Gondar. The total area coverage of the district is 3724 km². About 291,000 human population lives in the district. The altitude ranges from 1700 to 2700 meters above sea level. The average annual rainfall of this district is 930 mm. The temperature varies from 18⁰c to 29⁰c (DWAO 2011).

The capital of Wogera district, Amba-Giworgis, is located 778 km from Addis Ababa and 40 km from its zonal capital city of Gondar. The total area coverage of the district is 1821 km2. Its human population is 232,000. The altitude of the district ranges from 1600 to 3000 masl. The average annual rainfall is 500 mm. The temperature varies from 10^oc to 28⁰c (BSA 2009).

Data Collection

A total of thirty (30) households in each district were selected randomly to administer a questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to explore general information about major conformational traits used by farmers to assess milk production potential of their heifers and cows. The appearances of conformation traits of what are regarded by the farmers as ‘good dairy cow’ were also examined for each breed. Breeding practice, trait preference and rank of conformation traits in selection criteria were assessed by semi structured questions. In addition, group discussion was also used to fill any emerging information gap.  Totally six open group discussions were carried out at selected sites and both district and Kebele extension workers were involved in the discussions. The discussions focused on establishing whether and how farmers select and breed cows for milk production, and what criteria they apply. Furthermore past and current practices of farmers in selection were also assessed.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics on survey data were generated using SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS 2007). Ranking analysis was undertaken for data on conformation traits as related to selection of cows, sources of breeding bulls and trait preferences. In the preference ranking method, index was computed using weighed averages and indexes were ranked using auto ranking with MS-Excel 2007.The following formula was used to compute index as employed by Musa et al (2006):

Index = R_n × C₁ + R_n-1 × C₂ ... + R₁ × C_n/å( R_n × C₁ + R_n-1× C₂ + ... + R₁ × C_n)

Where, R_n = the last rank (example if the last rank is 8^th, then R_n = 8, R_n-1 = 7, R₁ = 1).

C_n = the % of respondents in the last rank, C₁ = the % of respondents ranked first

Results and Discussion

Breeding practice

The breeding practices that reported in the study area are mostly natural mating but AI also rarely practice. Bulls can be used for two main types of natural mating, either free mating in the range or controlled mating. In the former system, heat detection is carried out by the bull and cows in heat are usually mated several times during each heat period.  In controlled mating systems, heat detection is carried out by the farmer and each cow is mated once or twice during each heat period.

Majority of the respondents 96.6 %, 100 % and 96.2 % from Fogera, Dembia and Wogera sites respectively; reported that castration is common breeding management practice for male animals (Table 1). The farmers report from Fogera district also indicates that, there were different reasons for castration activity. The first major reason (62.8%) was to make bulls tame for different farming activities; secondly reason (22.8%) is to avoid the difficulty with breeding bulls running around for mating. The third reason (14.4%) is to remove unwanted bulls from mating (Table 1).

In mating type three alternatives were presented to the sampled households. In Fogera district 62.8 % of the respondents practice natural controlled mating, which mean bulls were selected and allowed to mate cow; around 22.8% of them reported the use of free mating, which mean there was no selection of breeding bulls. This result is similar to the trend reported by Azage et al (2009) on the highland zebu cattle in Metema district. The remaining 14.4% of the sampled households in Fogera district reported use of AI technology through AI technicians (Table 1). However, in Dembia districts only natural mating was reported by the sampled households especially natural controlled breeding takes place. In Wogera district 61.5 %, 27 % and 11.5 % of respondents reported to be practicing natural controlled mating, natural free mating and AI technologies, respectively (Table 1).

Most of the farmers in Fogera and Wogera districts also report that mating is seasonal. It occurs from September to January. There are several reasons that emerged from the focus group discussion and individual farmer interviews as to why mating tends to be seasonal in these two districts: 1) availability of good pasture grass; 2) the marshy and muddy black soil of the Fogera plains dry up during this period; 3) less fly and insect burden during this period, and 4) breeding bulls have less work burden for ploughing and have more time to stay with breeding cows. Farmers also mentioned that cows also manifest more signs of heat during this time. But reported frequencies of seasonality of mating vary between districts, from 30% in Dembia to 87.5% in Wogera (Table 1). Seasonality of mating is also reflected in the reported calving patterns and these also differ between the districts (Figure 2).

It was also noted from the individual farmer interviews and the focus group discussions that obtaining the desired type of breeding bulls has become increasingly difficult in the study area. The farmers reported to be using a mix of three sources breeding bulls – their own herd, market and neighbors – at different proportions between the districts (Figure 1). This corroborates well with the earlier report by Zewdu et al (2006), who found out that the majority of farmers in north western Ethiopia obtain their replacement breeding animals from their own farm and from their relatives and neighbors. Own bull means a bull obtained or produced within their own herd. Neighbor’s bull is obtained in their surrounding and available in communal grazing lands. Bought (market) bulls are obtained from the market, which is used either by bringing estrous cow to the market where bulls on sale are available, or buy the bull and bring it to the herd. In Fogera and Wogera districts farmers primarily use their own bull. In Dembia farmers primarily rely on bulls from neighbors as well as their own home-bred bulls.

Breeding objective

Breeding objective is defined as the reason (s) for which animals are specifically bred for, assuming that farmers have made a deliberate choice to genetically improve the next generation of animals in terms of their performance in relation to their parent generation. The focus is therefore on one or more traits. The objectives are likely to be affected by the cost of production and the revenue from product sales related to a genetic change in the target trait. Cattle in the northern Amhara have multipurpose functions. These include traction, milk production, income generation, manure, reproduction and meat production (Zewdu et al 2006). The current study also tried to explore the expressed and perceived breeding objectives of the society by emphasizing on milk production

The first important breeding objective stated by the sampled farmers in each study site was obtaining better milk yield (Table 2). This is similar to the results of a previous study by Zewdu (2004). Milk was mentioned as one of the most important functions of the local cattle and one of the primary reasons for keeping indigenous cattle. An increase in milk yield will bring additional income from the sale of butter. More milk production also means better-fed calves that will have better pre- and post-weaning survival rates. These calves will also grow better and hence reach puberty earlier thus reducing age at first calving (Zewdu et al 2006). Similarly, Piotr et al (2004) also reported that recently the cattle breeding objective are focused on the increase of milk yield, under the assumption that profit would increase with increased yield per cow. Production circumstances have given rise to interest in directly reducing cost of production, and breeding objectives are moving from increasing yield to increasing economic efficiency.

Secondly, in addition to increasing milk production, obtaining of good breeding bull, and plough ox, good mothering ability and shortening of calving intervals were aimed at the same time. The farmers believed that good breeding bull brings gross improvement through natural control mating system. Keeping desirable bulls can contribute to improve herd performance over time. Since the farming system of the area is mixed crop-livestock, bulls are needed in different farming activities. Alongside increasing milk production, getting the suitable plough oxen was examined. Mothering ability of the cow is also taken into consideration. Docility of the dairy cow at the time of milking and any management aspect is also considered important. The sampled households are also keen to have more number of calves per cow. This is obtained through shortening of calving interval. They believe that shortening of calving interval is achieved by selecting for ancestors that have short calving interval and applying the tools of genetic improvement with the proper management system. Coat color is also taken in to account at the time of setting the breeding objective, but not in Wogera districts. This is not only for eye pleasure but also for higher market value.

The success of following stated breeding objectives was also assessed. Only 40 % of the respondents stated that they achieved their planned breeding objectives in full and another 50 % said they partially achieved them in Fogera district (Table 2). Only 10 % of the respondents in Fogera district said that they have difficulty to realizing breeding objectives, due to scarcity of feeds, presence of disease, parasites, biting insects and lack of proper management. In Dembia district due to a serious feed scarcity, around 73.4 % of the respondents said they have not achieved the stated breeding objectives. However, in Wogera district 61.5 % of the sampled households indicated partial achievement of the desired breeding objectives (Table 2).

Breed and trait preferences

In Fogera district the widely known cattle breed is Fogera. Some of the sampled farmers indicate the presence of other cattle breeds.  But, about 43.3 % of the respondents have no knowledge about the existence of other cattle breeds (Table 3). The other breed names mentioned are Simada, Woji (highland cattle), Belessa and animals with some exotic blood level. Except the Simada cattle, the breeds were reported in small frequency.

In Dembia district almost all of the sampled households have knowledge of cattle breeds other than Dembia cattle, which are Simada, Fogera and animals with exotic blood level. As depicted in Figure 3 almost 90 % of the respondents indicated their preference to have Fogera cattle breed due to high demand to milk production.

As sampled household report from Wogera district, Simada and animals with exotic blood level were mostly existed alongside the dominant Wogera cattle (Table 3). But most of the societies prefer other cattle type which is not reported as reside in the area, Fogera cattle breed. However, during the focus group discussion, the participants indicate that, as they have some background information about this cattle breed production performance especially high milk yield potentials and attractive body colour. Following this around 54.3 % of the sampled respondents prefer Fogera cattle and 36.7 % prefer Simada cattle breeds as indicated in (Figure 3).

Summary of the reported trait preference of the respondents in Fogera, Dembia and Wogera districts were presented in Table 4a, b and c, respectively. As indicated in Figure 3, the sampled households prefer Fogera cattle breed. The major preferred traits were milk yield, growth rate, adaptation, breeding ability, draught power, butter fat yield and coat colours of the cow.

As the indices in Table 4a, b and c indicate, in Fogera, Dembia and Wogera districts milk yield was ranked first by approximately 53.3 %, 63.3 % and 76.0 % of the respondents, respectively. These figures are slightly higher than previous studies by Takele (2005) on Sheko cattle.  Such high preference for milk yield is common in many traditional African cattle owners, who keep cattle primarily for milk and secondarily to accumulate stock as a form of investment (De Leeuw and Wilson 1987). The second most preferred trait in Fogera district differed from those of Dembia and Wogera districts. Adaptation ranked higher in Fogera perhaps because the swampy area of the Fogera plains not being very suitable to cattle other than the adapted Fogera cattle. Growth rate ranked second in both Dembia and Wogera.

As indicated in Figure 3, around 36.4 % of sample cattle farmers in Wogera district preferred Simada cattle breed for the following reasons: this cattle breed have thick (less water content) and delicious butter to the consumer, easy to management due to small appearance of body size and low feed requirement.

Selection practices

In all study districts selection for both male and female animals was practiced by most of the respondents. Selection takes place not only at the time of mating but also starts from the early ages of the calf.  The purpose of male animal selection in the study area was presented in (Figure 4). In all study areas the first purpose was selecting a bull that is suitable for ploughing, as the communities practice mixed crop livestock farming. Secondly, bulls are selected for breeding purpose depending on good physical appearance, known desirable pedigree history in milk yield, good reproductive performance and tolerance for seasonal feed scarcity and disease challenges. The final reason for selection of male animals reported by the sampled farmers except in Dembia was market demand.  In cattle markets buyers prefer male animals with attractive body color, good body condition and balanced physical posture.

As it is true for many other tropical developing countries, the cattle genotypes of Ethiopia have evolved largely as a result of natural selection for the traits such as survivability, ruggedness, heat tolerance and tolerance for diseases and seasonal shortage of feed (Abeygunawardena and Dematewewa 2004). Generally, selection can be two types; man-made and natural selection. Nature select competent animals but man selects useful animals. Now a day, manmade selection takes in to account both the usefulness and the survival of the animals.

Indigenous dairy cow selection criteria

All of the respondents reported that selection of female animals takes place by considering expected milk production potential. To achieve this, farmers apply their own selection criteria. These include body conformation and the performance history of their ancestors. All of the respondents and the focus group discussion participants indicated that conformation traits are used to select for good milking cows.

Eight conformation traits were identified and ranked by the respondents. As the percentage index indicates the ranking order vary in each study site. In Fogera district primarily navel flap size was ranked high. Then udder size, pelvic width, teat size, neck size and shape, wither height, body length and dewlap size was ranked (Table 5a). In Dembia district the same traits were identified but rankings were different from those in Fogera (Table 5b). Udder size was ranked first for selecting breeding and lactating cows followed by pelvic width. But for the heifers and dry cows, pelvic width was ranked first. This was followed by navel flap size, teat size, wither height, body length, dewlap size and, neck size and shape. The rankings of conformation traits in Wogera district is summarized in Table 5c. Pelvic width was ranked first, followed by teat size, udder size, navel flap size, body length; wither height, neck size and shape, and dewlap size.

Conclusion

• Natural mating was common practice and bulls are available from their own herd and neighbors. Obtaining selected/ desirable breeding bull for estrous cows during heat period is reported as a difficult task. The breeding objectives in each study site were better milk yield, getting good bulls both for breeding and traction service and good mothering ability of the cows. The stated breeding objectives were reported to be better achieved in Fogera and Wogera district than in Dembia. Fogera cattle breed was preferred in most of the sampled households in all sites; due to the perceived better milk yield, growth rate, adaptation and breeding ability. In general selection for milking cows was reported to be based on conformation traits of the cows and heifers, and some background history of their ancestors. The three most useful traits in this regard were; navel size (width and length), udder size and pelvic width in Fogera; udder size, pelvic width and navel size (width and lengh) in Dembia ; and pelvic width, teat and udder size in Wogera districts for Fogera, Dembia and Wogera cattle respectively.

Acknowledgement

This study is part of a graduate study at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. The Aksum University is acknowledged for providing study leave during the study time. The Amhara Regional office for GIZ-SLM (Sustainable Land Management) and Bahir Dar University provided finance for the conduct of the field work.

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Received 18 February 2014; Accepted 23 February 2014; Published 5 April 2014

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