World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

CHARACTERIZATION OF CATTLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN METEKEL ZONE, NORTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA

Oumer Sheriff Mohammed* and Wendimu Bireda

ABSTRACT

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Metekel Zone, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Northwestern Ethiopia to characterize cattle production system, herd size and structure, trait preference of cattle owners and constraints of cattle production in three districts of Wombera, Bullen and Dibate between December, 2014 and May, 2015. From the three districts, 180 representative farming households were selected using purposive random sampling and administered pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaires. Focus group discussions with key informants were held in six different sites. The results of the study revealed that mixed crop-livestock farming was the dominant farming system in the study area. The average livestock size per household was 12.35±0.66 cattle, 7.20± 0.25 goats, 6.34±0.30 sheep, 5.04±0.23 chicken and 1.58±0.78 donkeys. Cattle were the dominant species reared by the respondents and they are used for different purposes like milk production, income generation from sell of live animals and animal products and draft power (traction purpose). Traits like large body size, good fertility, fast growth rate, disease resistance and color were the most preferred traits in the study area. Natural pasture, crop byproducts, improved pasture, household residue and grain were the major feed resources. Feed shortage (Index=0.40), disease incidence mostly trypanosomiasis (Index=0.19), drought (Index=0.17), water scarcity (Index=0.13), predator attack (Index=0.05), lack of market access (Index=0.04) and land scarcity (Index=0.02), in that order of importance, were the major livestock constraints in the study area. From the results of the study, it is recommended to enhance the cattle production system by injecting small amounts of resources into its production, improve cattle feed conservation mechanisms like hay making, reduce wild fire and enable to utilize the pasture efficiently. Intervention options should also be designed to alleviate the major constraints of the livestock production system in the study area.

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