Breeding Practices, Reproductive and Productive Performance of Dairy Cows: The Case of West Wollega Zone, Gimbi District, Ethiopia

Amanuel Bekuma; Lemma Fita; Ulfina Galmessa

నైరూప్య

Breeding Practices, Reproductive and Productive Performance of Dairy Cows: The Case of West Wollega Zone, Gimbi District, Ethiopia

Amanuel Bekuma, Lemma Fita, Ulfina Galmessa

The study was conducted from January 2018 to May 2018 with the objective of studying breeding practices, reproductive and productive performance of dairy cows in Gimbi district, west Wollega zone. A total of 120 dairy producers were randomly selected from four representative kebeles (Chuta Giyorgisi, Lelisa Yesus, Bikiltu Tokuma and Enango Dembali) and interviewed. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed to gather the required data and the collected data were analyzed by using statistical package for social science (SPSS Version 20). As the study result indicated about 89% of the households were used natural mating as method of breeding and only 3% of them were utilized AI but they perceived as it had no worth. The mean age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC) and calving interval (CI) of local cows was 42.23 ± 7.4; 51.73 ± 6.97 and 15.03 ± 1.04, respectively. And 29.02 ± 2.65; 38.14 ± 5.43 and 14.48 ± 1.19 was the mean age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC) and calving interval (CI) of crossbred cows, respectively in the study area. All the reproduction parameters included in this study were significantly different at (P<0.05) between breeds. Moreover, 1.18 ± 0.52 and 5.83 ± 0.28 liters were the daily milk yield of local and crossbred dairy cows, respectively. The indigenous dairy cow has 7.15 ± 0.13 months of lactation length, whereas 8.87 ± 0.18 months were the lactation length of crossbred dairy cow. Comparing with the recommended standard, the dairy cows of the study area were familiarized with poor reproductive and productive potential. Thus, the benefits derived from dairy cows were not commensurate with their number. Since genetic improvement of livestock has a major impact on animal productivity and reproductively, its effects are permanent, cumulative and usually highly cost effective; practicing advanced breeding methods (cross breeding though AI and sound estrus detection), upgrading genetic makeup of the animal (crossing local with Holstein Friesian) and practicing good management system in the study area is highly needed.