Alternatives to improve field AI delivery system to enhance beef and dairy

system in South region: Experiences, lessons and plans

Asrat TeraSouthern Agricultural Research

Institute(SARI),Hawassa

INTRODUCTION

Smallholder dairying generates income for the farm households on regular basis.

Milk and its derivatives provide a highly nutritious source of food.

The present trend of increasing urbanization, population growth, emergence and expansion of supermarkets, led to a shift in dietary habits.

Dilla- Hawassa and Halaba- Butajira milk shed could be considered as the most conducive area for high grade dairy animals and well connected to other potential market points such as Addis Ababa.

Considerable potential for creating employment opportunities in the rural and urban settings through integrating producers, processors and traders in the supply chain.

Meeting this huge demand for milk offers both a major opportunity and significant challenge to the smallholder dairy farmers.

The current output from small holder dairy sector, which is largely based on use of unimproved local cattle, is very low.

Increased milk production is achieved through genetic improvement of indigenous cattle.

However, overall improvement in the dairy sector could only be realized when genetic improvement programs are successfully integrated with improved feeding and management conditions.

Genetic improvement + improved feeding + improved health management + better marketing opportunities= better income.

A strategy should be designed to improve feed availability and quality, and feeding systems. Technologies for improved use of crop residues and other locally available protein and energy sources should be explored and utilized effectively.

To this end SARI in close collaboration with ILRI- IPMS project and woreda office of agriculture have started activities to improving AI efficiency through estrus synchronization.

In January 2011 in Dale woreda of Sidama zone alone 170 community cows and heifers were treated with hormone and successfully inseminated.

The reactions of farmers towards this intervention and the overall results achieved so far are very encouraging.

Such successful practices could thus be scale up/out across the Dilla-Hawassa and Halaba-Wolaita Soddo- Butajira milk shed.

However, the effort requires collaboration and partnership of institutions, stakeholders including farmers and farmers’ organization, awareness creation and mobilization at different tiers.

ObjectivesThe objectives of this project are: To build the capacity(AI tech. and farmers) To enable farmers in the milk-shade adopt better feed

production and utilization method, feeding and calf management system to improve productivity of their animals.

To design livestock disease management system to tackle major dairy health problems improve productivity and reduce calf mortality.

To enhance farmers, farmers’ cooperatives and private sector partnership for better milk & milk products marketing and feed and other input delivery

1.Organizational work Proposal development and consultation Team building(regional, zonal, woreda, field) Milk shed delineation Selection(woreda, kebele, farmer, animal)

Standard crush construction (30,000Br/crush)DSC06282.JPG

PD and data recording, isolation from bull Assembling all field equipments and supplies

Field work Organizing field staff as who does what???

(palpation, hormone arrangement, hormone injection, tagging, data recording, assistants)

Arranging farmers(every one wants to be served first)

Injection, data recording and tagging Heat detection(short and silent estrus???) Insemination(Inseminator, data recorder,

assistant, health technician, equipments)

Insemination PD after (2-3 months) Animal handling and pregnancy

management Assist during parturition Calf management Establishing dairy cooperatives Milk processing and marketing

1. Mobilization work is more tough than technical work thus Commitment! Commitment! Commitment! from all stakeholders(regional, zonal, woreda, kebele, field team).

2. Awareness creation especially farmers(heat detection and PD)

3. Allocation of enough resources( budget, logistic, field equipments, human)

FUTURE PLANS

Expand our activities to Halaba-Wolaita Soddo-Butajira milk shed for fluid milk and South omo for enhancing beef productivity

1. Mobilization and capacity building

Mobilization Trainings (DA’s and farmers)

.

2. Estrus synchronization and management of case animals

21 woredas of seven zones A total of 5,500 cows/heifers

farmers will be selected based on their interest.

women farmers encouraged

3.Development and dissemination of feed technologies

Assessment of available feed resources Scaling-up of forage and forage

improvement technologies to dairy production

Participatory evaluation and demonstration of improved forages species

Communal pasture improvement Feed Chopping and Silage making Urea treatments (EM treatments) Livestock disease management

4. Livestock disease management

5. Milk marketing cooperatives and input delivery Milk marketing Other inputs including equipments and drugs Milk value chain, marketing and input

delivery system

6. Monitoring and evaluation  Monitoring Hormone treated and inseminated

animals:

Expected output:As the result of the project intervention the

following outputs are expected: 1.Improved breed and household asset. As

the result of AI efficiency some 1750 cross breed dairy heifers and 1750 male cross animals (as dairy beef) will be produced by farmers by year one. This will be an additional asset of Birr (using current value of animals) 13,125,000 by 3500 farmers or hhs. at Halaba-Wolaita Soddo- Butajira milk shed in the region.

2. By year four to five some 3000 heifers start producing 18,000,000 liters of milk per lactation in the milk shade.

3. Integrated and improved forage crops into farming systems to improve, adopt and develop options for improving quantity & quality of the animal feed in the Halaba-Wolaita Soddo- Butajira milk shed.

4. Reduced calf loss and sustainable future replacement stock.

5. Improved nutritional status of the households and income obtained from the sale of milk and dairy products.

6. Improved institutional linkage created with major stakeholders and empowered farmers and other actors as result of involvement in the value chain. .

7. Different researches and reviews will be carried out that are used for policy and strategy formulation.

8. Lesson learned from this experience will be published as case study and research papers to be disseminated for scaling up.

Role of each institution in collaboration

Institutions Role and responsibilityAreka Agricultural Research center/SARI

Carry out leadership role and coordinate all research activities and technical backstopping, facilitate coordination including meetings, platforms and report writing.

Regional Bureau of Agriculture

Leadership role, coordination, joint monitoring and evaluation, technical support

Zonal departments of Agriculture

Commitment and mobilization of staff and leadership to woredas jointly monitor field level activities.

Cooperatives and Agriculture marketing Bureau

Organizing cooperatives and give technical advice, linking farmers, cooperatives and the private sector

Role of (contd…)

Institutions Role and responsibilityWoreda Administration

Political support and coordination and mobilization woreda staff, farmers and cooperatives

ILRI/IPMS Contribution to research activities, Assist BoA in hormone purchasing

Credit institutions Supply and manage creditYouth and women’s affairs offices

Mobilize women farmers

Universities Hawassa, Wolaita Soddo, Wachemo,Wolkitie

Participant farmers provide land and cow/heifer; work with

VOCA-Ethiopia Training on forage development

Budget 4,099,083

Thank you!