Farmers’ perceptions of climate change and its implication on livestock production in mixed-farming system areas of Bale highlands, Southeast Ethiopia; Challenges and extents of Soil and Water Conservation measures in Guba-Lafto Woreda of North Wollo, Ethiopia; Evaluation of milk production performance of lactating Fogera cows fed with urea and effective micro-organisms treated rice straw as basal diet.

E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development

E3 Journal of Agricultural Research and Development Vol. 6 (1) pp. 001-011, February 2016; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2276-9897
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18685/EJARD(6)1_EJARD-15-015

Village Chicken Breeding Practices, Objectives and Farmers’ Trait Preferences in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Shishay Markos 1 * , Brhanu Belay 1 , Tadelle Dessie 1
1 Humera Agricultural Research Center of Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, P.o.box:62, Humera, Tigray, Ethiopia
2 Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, P.o.box:307, Jimma, Ethiopia
3 International Livestock Research Institute, P.o.box:5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
*Corresponding Author E-mail: shishaymarkos@gmail.com
Accepted 1 January 2016

Abstract

The survey aimed at assessing village chicken breeding objectives, trait preferences and priority traits of farmers for improvement through breeding in western Tigray. Multi stage sampling procedures were employed to select sample weredas, kebeles and respondents where three rural weredas, nine kebeles and 385 respondents were selected by purposive, stratified purposive and purposive random sampling techniques, respectively. Pretested questionnaire and focus group discussions were employed to generate data. Breeding practices were analyzed using descriptive statistics of SPSS 16. Kruskal Wall’s test of SPSS 16 was employed to test qualitative variable proportion difference across agroecologies. Ranking index was employed to rank all identified breeding objectives, trait preferences and preferred traits for improvement. Income and ceremony were the first prioritized breeding objectives. Plumage color (1st) and egg laid/clutch (2nd) were the major farmers ’trait preferences. Egg laid/clutch (1st) and growth (2nd) were the most preferred traits to be improved. Comprehensible knowledge on breeding practices, objectives and trait preferences of chicken owners are indispensable for development of holistic and sustainable genetic improvement and conservation programs. Hence, breeding objectives and trait preference should incorporate in designing agroecologically friendly and sustainable genetic improvement breeding programs to assure sustainable utilization, improvement and conservation of indigenous chickens.

Keywords: Breeding practices, Breeding objectives, Trait preference

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