aistand south~ern afrkca - (PDF, 101 mb) - USAID

The central highlands (Holetta)
In this area the ralnfall pattern is bimodal, with
a short rainy period from February to April and
a longrainyseason from mid-June to September.
The annual temperature ranges between 18'C
and 24"C and rainfall is recorded between 1000
and 1100 mm. The predominant soil type is
Vertisol. Mixed farming is a common practice in
the traditional sector and major food crops
include wheat, barley, teff, pulses and oilseeds.
The central zone is the most densely populated
regrion in the country with 9.5 million inhabitants
and over 60% of the total cattle and
sheep populations. Consequently, grazing areas
are not only largely limited but also overgrazed.
The Dairy Development Enterprise of the
Ministry of State Farms, Coffee and Tea Development
has most of its dairy farms in this zone
and collects milk form farmers within a radius of
120 km ofAddis Ababa.
The subhumid zone (Bako)
Thi is a zone covering a total area of about 750
km with an altitude range of 1600 to 2000 m.
The area receives annual rainfall of 1200 mm,
89%of which falls between May and September.
The rainfall pattern here is also bimodal, with
short rains coming in March and April. There is
a distinct dry season extending usually from
November tc February. Temperatures average at
27"C with a range of 22-31"C. The dominant soil
types are Nitosols with fertile alluvial soils in
valley bott3ms and depressions. Major crops in
the area, in order of importance, are maize, teff,
noug, pepper, sorghum, millet and pulses.
Although 70%of thc farmers own cattle, there is
an acute shortage of milk in most urban centres
of the region, mainly because of low production
of the indigenous cattle and the lack of an
established collection and marketing system for
milk.
The experimental animals and
feeds
Earlier research work at the Holetta and Bako
centres indicatr.d that Friesian and Jersey
crossbredsweresuperiorindairyproductionand
reproductive traits at both locations. It has also
been observed thc t oats and vetch at Holetta and
Rhodes grass and Leucaena at Bako performed
better than other evaluated forage crops. These
constituted the livestock feed packages in the
two areas. For the programme Fi crosses at
Barka, an indigenous zebu breed with Friesian
and Jersey were used. In this study 20 of these
cows were used on-farm at Holetta and 10 were
used at Bako. Experimental cows grazed on
unimproved natural pasture during the day and
on communal land in the highlands and in an
enclosed area in the subhumid zone. They were
enclosed at night and fed on sup- plamental
oat/vetch or Rhodes hay depending on the site;
concentrates were given whenever available.
Cows were hand milked in the morning and
52
evening after first giving allowance for a few
minutes of calf sucklin,.
Selection of participating farmers
When the project started in 1988, priority was
given to farmers' cooperatives, due to the
government policy of the time. Later with a
change in economic policy, cooperatives were
dissolvd and the orientation switched to
individual farm holdings. In both situations, a
team of researchers in the disciplines of animal
production, nutrition s-id feeds, health and agricultural
economics supported by other technical
staff were responsible for selecting farmers
eligible for the project. The selection criteria
were site suitability for dairy farming,
accessibility and the commitment of farmers to
buy a pregnant crossbred cow or heifer and to
adhere to project conditions.
Obligations of participating
farmers
Project farmers had to sign a memorandum of
understanding with IAR concerning the following
points:
• that they establish an improved pasture ofa
recommended forage variety, enough to
suttain plj. animais all year-round
• that they handle project animals according to
given recommendations and refrain from
either using them for purposes unrelated to
the project or selling them until after the
p ,ject had ended
• that they provide all labour inputs required
on-farm by the project
that they construct a simple separate barn for
project animals to enable overnight supplementary
feeding.
Obligations of the research centre
According to the memorandum of understanding,
IAR's obligations were to:
sell a pregnant cow or heifer to the farmer at
a subsidisrd price
* make seeds of improved forage crops
available tc project farmers
. provide farmers with technical support
regarding improved dairy management and
forage production
* help farmers get veterinary drugs and
vaccines.
Data recording
On-farm data were collected on the following:
* daily milk yield of each cow
• monthly animal weight
. iasemination date
* calving date
* calfbirth weight
• animal health.