weight gain and nutrient utilization performances of tropical goats feed moringa leaves with cafeteria leftover

Abstract

Background: Dairy cattle feed supplies in the tropics, and particularly in Ethiopia, are mostly derived from base diets (natural and improved grasslands, agricultural wastes, fodder trees and shrubs), agro-industrial by-products, and non-conventional feeds. The availability of major feed resource kinds, sources, and dairy cattle feeding practises are primarily influenced by agro-ecology and season, as well as their interactions.

Objectives: The research was carried out in the Chencha district of Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, with the goals of assessing available, feeding system, opportunity, limits, and copying strategy of dairy cattle production, as well as estimating feed balance.

Methods: Data was gathered through primary and secondary data sources, field observations, key informant interviews, focus group talks, and individual interviews. The survey data was stratified into altitudes, coded, and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and the general linear model approach. Cross tabulation was used to examine the statistical variance of categorical data.

Results: The presence of different feed resource types, distinct agro-ecologies (P < 0.05), and crop residue accessibility were the major opportunities for dairy cattle production in the study district, but land scarcity, a lack of dry season forages, and land degradation due to erosion were the major constraints for dairy cattle feed production. In the research district, the main feed resource copying approaches were reducing the number of dairy animals, saving optional feeds, and purchasing optional feeds. The total mean of dairy cow feed supply to TLU in terms of DM production each year was 3.86 tonnes of DM/HH/annual, with a negative feed balance of 8.09 tonnes that varied with seasons and agro-ecology (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, the low production of dairy cattle in the district is clearly related to the scarcity of feed resources. To address these issues, alternative feed production technologies should be implemented, such as farmers practising forage development on their own crop land and collecting crop residues during crop harvesting times and storing them under shed, the nutritive value of different types of fodder trees and shrubs should be further determined in the future, and feed storage methods, particularly hay and silage, should be used when there are an abundance of feed resources available.