Smallholder dairy production and dairy technology adoption in the mixed farming system in Arsi highland, Ethiopia
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Date
2000Language
enType
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Bulale, A. I. 2000. Smallholder dairy production and dairy thechnology adoption in the mixed farming system in Arsi highland, Ethiopia. PhD thesis, Humboldt University.
Permanent link to cite or share this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81582
External link to download this item: https://www.agrar.hu-berlin.de/de/institut/departments/dntw/tierztropsubt/studium/abschlussarbeiten/arbeiten_abg/pdf/bulale
Abstract/Description
The objectives of the study were: to characterise h
ousehold resources and determine
their interdependencies and relationships, to find
out the levels of adoption of dairy
production technologies and to estimate milk produc
tion levels of crossbred cows and calf
growth performance under farm conditions. The study
sites Bilalo and Lemmu, are
located in the Arsi highland of Ethiopia. The sites
were selected because it was in these
areas where major crossbreeding and dairy developme
nt activities were undertaken by
CADU/ARDU/SEAD projects and as the result, crossbre
d animals were mainly
concentrated here.
The methods of data collection were a combination o
f formal survey, on-farm
performance monitoring and the use of secondary dat
a. A total of 204 farmers, 96 from
Bilalo and 108 from Lemmu, who reared crossbred dai
ry cows, were interviewed once
through questionnaires between Jul. 96-Feb. 97. Ser
vice co-operative lists were used to
select the farmers in question, in other words, a s
ub-population of farmers in the area,
i.e. all those with crossbred animals were included
in the survey. For dairy performance
study, however, a random sampling technique was emp
loyed, although accessibility of
the area was considered in the selection too. In th
is case, 68 farmers, 37 from Bilalo and
31 from Lemmu, with crossbred animals in their herd
were monitored for milk
production, calf growth and mortality from July 96
to May 98. The information collected
included: household size and household age structur
e, livestock number and
composition, cattle herd composition, cattle breed
composition, farm size, cultivated
area, grazing area, grain production, costs and inc
ome from crop and livestock activities,
livestock management practices and information on d
airy technology adoption, which
were: concentrate feeding, forage cultivation, buck
et feeding, pasture fencing, cow shed
and AI service utilisation. The recorded milk produ
ction and reproductive traits were:
lactation length, lactation yield, 305-days lactati
on, annual yield and calving interval.
Factors affecting milk yield and reproduction such
as upgrading levels, lactation number,
season of calving, year of calving and calf rearing
method were also recorded. Factors
affecting calf growth such as dam upgrading levels,
parity, sex, season of birth, year of
birth and calf rearing methods were recorded. Calf
mortality was also recorded.
The overall mean for household size was 7.9 persons
per family with an average
household size of 7.8 and 8.0 for Bilalo and Lemmu,
respectively. The overall mean
proportions of children and adults in the area were
61.3% and 38.7%, respectively. The
smallest proportion of the population was for those
older than 50 years with overall
proportion of only 5.8%.
The average farm size in the area was 4.27 ha per h
ousehold, 4.81 ha for Bilalo and 3.79
for Lemmu. The average cultivated area was 2.44 ha
or 57.1% of the farm size, with
2.67 ha at Bilalo and 2.22 ha at Lemmu. The average
holding of grazing land was 1.56
ha of 36.5% of the farm size with households at bot
h sites allocating equivalent amount
of area for grazing. Farmers on average allocated 1
.22 ha or 500/o of the cultivated area
to barley, which was the dominant crop in the area.
The second most important crop was
wheat with an average allocation of 0.48 ha or 19.7
%. Teff (Eragrostis abessinica) and
linseed occupied the least proportion of cultivated
, area at both sites. The annual average
amount of fertiliser used per household was 3.16 q
with 3.95 q and 2.45 q for Bilalo and
Lemmu, respectively. Other inputs such as improved
seeds, herbicides and insecticides
were very small. The annual average grain output pe
r household was 39.53 q and
comparable at both sites.
The average livestock holding per household was 21.
24 animals or 11.86 TLU, with 10.77
TLU for Bilalo and 12.83 TLU for Lemmu area. Cattle
was the most important animal and
constituted on average 80.4% (9.53 TLU) of the live
stock herd. The average holdings per
household for horses, sheep, asses and goats were 1
.61 TLU (13.5%), 0.42 TLU (3.5%),
0.23 TLU (1.9%) and 0.07 TLU (0.6%), respectively.
On average, composition of cows
was 30.3% (2.89 TLU) of the cattle herd. The propor
tion of oxen was the largest in the
cattle herd which was 43.2%. The overall proportion
of cows of local breed (Arsi) in the
cattle herd was 16.60/0 (1.58 TLU) and those of cro
ssbred cows was 13.8% (1.31 TLU).
The estimated total amount of annual dry matter sup
ply per household, which was from
crop residues, individual grazing area, fodder cult
ivation and purchased concentrates was
17502 for Bilalo and 15722 kg for Lemmu. Crop resid
ues provided 51.2% and 53.3% of
the annual dry matter supply per household at Bilal
o and Lemmu, respectively. The
annual dry matter supply per household from individ
ual grazing area was estimated to be
40.1 % for Bilalo and 44.4% for Lemmu. The contribu
tions of purchased concentrates
and cultivated fodder were small.
In the analyses of crop livestock interdependencies
, factors affecting grain production,
cultivated area and herd size were studied. Among f
actors affecting grain yield per
household, area cultivated was the only factor whic
h affected the annual grain yield per
household significantly at both sites. Relationship
between grain yield and cultivated area
was the highest as evidenced by the regression anal
yses. Other factors such as
household size, oxen holding and fertiliser amount
did not exert significant influences.
Cultivated area was, however, significantly influen
ced by farm size, cattle holding and
sheep holding. Herd size per household was signific
antly influenced by household size,
cultivated area and grazing area. The significant a
nd positive effect of household size on
herd size would indicate that farmers can probably
change the size of their livestock
enterprises much more flexibly than their cropping
activities since land is scarce, thereby
insuring income and livelihood through larger lives
tock herd. Partial correlation analyses
among various household resources showed high and s
ignificant correlations. The highest
correlation was between oxen holding and herd size
which was 0.85-0.90.
Results of dairy production technology adoption sho
wed that forage cultivation, bucket-
feeding and pasture fencing were the least adopted
dairy production technologies with
less than 40% adoption rates. Artificial inseminati
on was adopted by 46% of all farmers.
The highest adoption rates were for cow shed and co
ncentrate feeding with over 60%
adoption rates.
The effects of credit, extension and age household
heads did not influence the adoption
of all dairy production technologies. Cultivated ar
ea had positively and significantly
affected pasture fencing. The adoption of artificia
l insemination was negatively and
significantly affected by area cultivated. The rela
tionship between crossbred cow herd
size and pasture fencing technology was positive an
d significant. However, the
relationship between labour devoted to crop product
ion and the adoption of concentrate
feeding and cow shed was negative and significant,
suggesting that there was a
competition between dairy and crop production for l
abour. The effect of formal education
on most of the technologies was positive and signif
icant for concentrate feeding,
evidence of importance of education in technology a
doption process.
The average contribution of livestock products to g
ross farm income of households was
47%, out of which, 46% carne from milk and milk pro
ducts. The overall average gross
margin in the study area was 5852 Birr per year, of
which, livestock contributed 56%.
The high contribution of milk and milk products to
farmers’ income clearly demonstrates
the positive effect of integrating smallholder dair
y production in the farming system.
Calving intervals of crossbred cows were found to b
e very long. The overall means of
calving intervals at Bilalo and Lemmu were 558 and
582 days, respectively. Only number
of lactation and calving season exerted significant
influences. The overall mean for
lactation length of crossbred dairy cattle was 363.
5 days at Bilalo and 383.7 days at
Lemmu. Year and season of birth had significantly i
nfluenced the lengths of lactation. The
overall means for lactation yield, 305-days lactati
on and annual yield were 2235.9,
1850.5 and 1460.6 litres, respectively, for Bilalo.
The corresponding figures were 1708.4,
1477.7 and 1064.8 litres, respectively, for Lemmu.
Upgrading levels and calf rearing
methods significantly influenced the milk yield tra
its. High grade and hand milked cows
produced higher yields than the low grade and parti
ally suckled cows.
In the study area, the growth rates of calves were
generally poor. Calves reached 60 and
54 kg at 9 months of age at Bilalo and Lemmu, respe
ctively. Dam upgrading levels
significantly influenced body weights of calves at
most ages, with high grade dams
producing heavier calves. Parity and sex of calves
did not influence body weight at most
ages. Calf rearing methods showed significant effec
t on body weights of calves at 210,
240 and 270 days at Bilalo with partially suckled c
alves being heavier than those bucket-
fed calves, At Lemmu, however, calf rearing methods
did not influence body weights of
calves. Year of birth did not influence body weight
s at almost all ages, while season of
birth significantly influenced body weights at earl
y ages.
Mortality rates of calves were 16.7 and 11,5% for B
ilalo and Lemmu area, respectively.
The main causes of mortality were diarrhoea and bla
ckleg diseases, accounting for 27.8
and 22.2% of all mortalities, respectively.
AGROVOC Keywords
Subjects
DAIRYING; FARMING SYSTEMS;Countries
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