Assessment of Breeding Practice of Dairy Cattle in Central Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in central zone, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, aimed with assessment of breeding practices of dairy cattle. The study of the survey covered 180 households found in per-urban and rural areas of Ahferom, Adwa and Laelay michew district which included 113 in rural areas and 67 in per-urban areas of the districts. The Information was collected from secondary data, group discussion, AI technician, household level survey questionnaire, farm visit and personal observations. The data were analyzed using SPSS (16) and SAS (9.1).Trait preference of farmers for dairy cattle was analyzed using ranking index method. Dairy cattle were kept for generating income (35.6%), milk consumption (32.2%) and milk consumption and breeding (16.1%) in the study area. Purchased dairy cattle (69.9% and 68.7%) were the main foundation stock followed by own (20.35% and 17.91%) in rural and per-urban areas respectively. Mating system in the study area were AI (42.8%), AI with estrus synchronization (22.2%) and natural mating (35%). Households obtained breeding bull from neighboring (61.4%), own (21.3%) and village (17.3%). Individual performance and pedigree selection were used as selection criteria for dairy cattle. Trait preference of farmers were milk yield (1st) body weight (2nd)) and fertility (3rd) for both rural and per-urban areas. Community based breeding program is the best option to improve dairy breeding practice in the study area. Keywords: Dairy Cattle, Breeding Practice, Rural, Per-urban