Cattle management practices and milk production on mixed smallholder organic pineapple farms in Central Uganda
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Date
2016
Authors
Nalubwama, S.
Kabi, F.
Vaarst, M.
Smolders, G.
Kiggundu, M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tropical animal health and production
Abstract
A longitudinal study to assess animal management
practices and milk production was conducted for a period of
12 months on 30 smallholder farms keeping dairy cattle and
certified organic pineapple production in Luwero and
Kayunga districts, based on questionnaire and on-farm collected
data. Farm sizes were 9.3 ± 6.7 acres in tethering system
and 4.3 ± 2.6 acres in zero-grazing. Fifty-four percent of the
zero-grazing herds had animal housing facilities. All farmers
in tethering system kept cows on earthen floors and calves
without bedding. Hygiene level in existing farms was low.
Majority of calves were fed once a day by restricted suckling
(77 %). Seventy-four percent of tethered cows were only fed
on natural grass, while cows under zero-grazing system had a
more diversified diet but with 82 % feeding mainly Napier
grass. Most farms (87 %) used bulls for breeding. Milk production
was higher (P < 0.05) in zero-grazing (6.5 L/cow/day)
than tethering system, and higher (P < 0.05) for Holstein-
Friesian crossbred cows (5.2 L/cow/day) than local breed
cows (2.6 L/cow/day). Less than 1 L of milk per farm per
day on average was sold. Disease treatments were exclusively
for helminths, East Coast fever, and trypanasomiasis.
Spraying of ticks and deworming were important control measures
of vector-borne diseases. There is potential to develop
alternative feed resources for dairy cattle and biorational pesticides
for control and treatment of vector-borne diseases.
Description
Keywords
Cattle management, Milk production, Organic
Citation
Nalubwama, S., Kabi, F., Vaarst, M., Smolders, G., & Kiggundu, M. (2016). Cattle management practices and milk production on mixed smallholder organic pineapple farms in Central Uganda. Tropical animal health and production, 48(8), 1525-1532. DOI 10.1007/s11250-016-1123-5