Abstract

The understanding the productive and reproductive potential of indigenous cattle is vital for designing an appropriate cattle breeding and management strategies. This study aims better understanding the reproductive and productive potential of indigenous cattle reared in the three cattle production system of Bena-Tsemay district of South Omo. The face-to-face household survey was conducted by interviewing 150 households of eight purposively selected Kebeles from the three cattle production systems. Age at First Services (AFS), Age at First Calving (AFC), Calving Interval (CI), Days Open (DO) and Number of Service Per Conception (NSPC) were consider as reproductive traits, while Daily Milk Yield (DMY) and Lactation Length (LL) were considered as productive traits. The collected data were analyzed by using One-Way ANOVA by using SPSS, version 20. In pastoral production system, the heifer early comes (P<0.001) at AFS and AFC than agro-pastoralist and crop-livestock production systems and however, it was non-significant (P>0.001) for later of two production systems. The result from this study also reveals that there was longer (P<0.001) numbers of DO were observed for cow reared in pastoral system than agro-pastoral and mixed crop-livestock production systems however, the shorter (P<0.001) CI was reported from pastoral production system than later of two production systems. The higher (P<0.001) average DMY and longer (P<0.001) LL were reported from crop-livestock and agro-pastoral production systems than pastoral production system. Based on the results from this study, it was concluded that the reproductive and productive performances of cattle in the study area were low and therefore, the collaborative efforts needs in the indigenous cattle breed genetic improvement, improvements in feeds and feeding systems and strengthening veterinary supply services.

Keywords: Agro-pastoral; Crop-livestock; Pastoral; Reproductive and productive traits