E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development

E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development Vol. 3 (6) pp. 082-093, August 2013; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2276-9897

The status of production, conservation and utilization of natural pasture hay for feeding dairy cattle in the greater Addis milkshed, central highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the production status, conservation practices and contribution of natural pasture hay for feeding dairy cattle in greater Addis milksheds of the central highlands of Ethiopia. Data were collected from 147 smallholder dairy farmers (84.4% male headed and 15.6 female headed households) using a structured questionnaire, observations, and sampling and measurements of pasture productivity. The average cattle herd size per household in the study areas was 11.8 Tropical Livestock Units (TLU), and the number of total cows and lactating cows owned per household were 4.2 heads and 2.5 heads on an average, respectively with higher proportion of crossbreds than local cows especially at Sululta and G/Jarso. Natural pasture hay was the dominant feed produced and conserved for feeding dairy cattle in the study areas. Peri-urban dairy farmers in Sululta and Ejere produce hay both on their own land and by contracting standing hay, while the urban dairy producers in Fiche town (G/Jarso) produce hay by contracting standing hay mainly from the pasture grown within government compounds available in the vicinity of the town such as the military camp. Overall, 81.6% of all the respondents (96.7% in Sululta, 38.5% in G/Jarso and 97.9% in Ejere) produce hay on their own land and/or by renting standing hay. The total average area of pasture land used for hay making per household in a season was 1.10 ha (1.15 ha in Sululta, 1.76 ha in G/Jarso and 0.83 ha in Ejere), with an estimated average pasture productivity of 6.38 tones DM/ha. The total average quantity of hay produced per household in a season was estimated to be 6.85 tones in dry matter basis. It was also estimated that majority (77.5%) of the households do not apply any management technique to improve pasture productivity other than protecting from livestock for three to four months during the active growing period. Dairy cattle were fed with hay as the major source of basal diet for an average duration of 8 months per year (10.5 months in G/Jarso, 8.5 months in Sululta and 5.4 months in Ejere). Majority of the households conserve hay in loose form and in open air for the whole duration while feeding. Such practices may lead to the loss in hay quality as a result of exposure to adverse weather conditions (such as the combined effects of wetting and drying cycles); a process generally termed as “weathering” loss. Therefore, the changes in hay quality during storage and the corresponding animal performance should be further studied in order to design proper feeding scheme that ensures adequate supply of the required nutrients in hay based feeding system of dairy cattle in the highlands of Ethiopia

Keywords: natural pasture hay, productivity, storage system, dairy cattle, central highlands of Ethiopia