Dairy production

30/07/2022

The dairy sector is a major pillar in the socio-economic standing of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); functioning both food security and income generation roles, particularly at small household level. In general, dairy cattle remain the key player among the livestock groups in the sector, accounting for 80% in the milk industry (De Leeuw et al 1999). Recent statistics show an average of 0.17 animal units (AU of 400 kg live weight) household-1in the region (Winrock International 1992), with an estimated milk yield TLU-1(TLU of 250 kg liveweight) of 70 kg year-1(Staal et al 1997). The overall production for the region is estimated at 1.27 million tonnes annually, against the annual demand of 103 million tonnes, basing on the FAO requirement of 200 litres person-1year-1and the estimated population of SSA of 519 million (Sere and Steinfeld 1996). Moreover, statistics present very low milk yield dairy cow-1year-1of 340 kg in SSA compared to 5100 in developed countries (De Leeuw et al 1999). These statistics are evidently chilling in light of the rapidly growing human population in most parts of the region.
In Uganda, the dairy sector contributes 40-50% of the livestock GDP (DDA 2001/2002), which in turn contributes 17-19% of the agricultural GDP. Dairy plays a crucial role in the nutrition of most households with per capita milk consumption of about 40 litres (DDA 2001/2002). Recent statistics for the country present a desperate scenario, of annual milk yield of 900 thousand tonnes, against a requirement of 4.8 million tonnes (based on FAO annual per capita requirement and current national population). Research efforts have made strides in identifying the causes of the production-demand gap in the SSA region and a spectrum of interventions to bolster the productivity. Unfortunately, these efforts have by far yielded insignificant results.

Among the critical elements often overlooked in research and development processes is the recognition of systematic parametric variations within a sector, which if considered could provide entry-points for targeting intervention efforts. One such high potential entry-point is the recognition of the existence of a dairy intensification "vector" across a country or region, along which exist sections with sequentially marked nuclei of fairly uniform socio-economic and biophysical dairy sub-systems features. In this case, intensification is defined as an increase in agricultural production per unit of inputs (which may be labour, land, time, fertiliser, seed, feed or cash). If the dairy intensification "vector" is properly mapped out as groups or "categories", the product would provide a guide for targeting interventions with fair precision. To achieve this definitely requires systematic and detailed understanding of the structure of this perceived vector, including all instrumental socio-economic and biophysical phenomena, particularly those related to resources and managerial capacity of the dairy systems.
Categorisation of dairy production systems in Uganda has been done variously. Okwenye (1994) classifies dairy production systems into three groups, namely pastoral, small-scale crop and livestock farms and specialised dairy farms. This classification is based on number of stock, feeding and grazing management and breeds reared. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) jointly with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (MAAIF/ILRI 1996) indicated that cattle production systems in Uganda form a continuum with semi-nomadic pastoralism at one end and zero grazing on the other. The study, which used non-detailed and overly qualitative information, categorised dairying in the country into intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems. A critical consideration in the process was the level of capital investment and dairy cattle management (MAAIF/ILRI 1996), but excluded the inherent pressure exerted on the available resources such as livestock herd populations relative to available land, and its extended effect on plant nutrient stocks and their sustainable supply. Kasirye (2003) later categorised dairy production in the country based on size of holding, as communal grazing, free range grazing, fenced grazing and zero grazing. On the other hand, Fonteh et al (1998) conducted a fairly more detailed characterisation within smallholder dairy systems in Uganda and ended up with three categories, namely, urban, peri-urban and rural. Furthermore, each of the categories was further sub-divided into 4-10 sub-categories based on grazing and feeding management, major limiting resource, sources of cash income and wealth assessment.
Admittedly, the diversity of dairy categories generated by previous efforts reflects not only on the diversity of the foundation criteria used, but also on the objectives of each research effort. Hence, intervention efforts must take cognisance of the original aims and criteria for each categorisation process, as well as their (categories) strengths and limitations in representing the presumed categories. The more obvious inference is that the range of categories generated based on non-uniform criteria is a good recipe for category overlaps; a factor that renders intervention targeting fairly erratic and less objective. As such, efforts are required to harmonise the categorisation process and attain more robust categories particularly based on intensification. This is only achievable through a systematic and detailed process involving largely quantitative data.

20/07/2022

Production systems
An estimated 80 to 90 percent of milk in developing countries is produced in small-scale farming systems. These operations are based on low inputs, so production per dairy animal is quite low. Most milk produced by smallholders in developing countries comes from one of the following production systems:
Rural smallholder dairying: Dairying is often part of a mixed farming system in which manure is used for cash crop production. Dairy animals are fed on grass, crop residues and cultivated fodder. Supplementary feeding is practised only when feasible.
Pastoral/agropastoral dairying: These systems are land-based and milk is often the most important subsistence item. Dairy production is generally associated with cropping, but nomadic pastoralists practise little or no agriculture and roam the land in search of grazing grounds and water.
Landless peri-urban dairying: This is a purely market-oriented production system located within and close to the boundaries of cities. Peri-urban dairy producers benefit from their closeness to markets, but their production is based on purchased inputs and may encounter problems of feed supply and waste disposal. In recent decades, a peri-urban dairy sector has developed very rapidly around the larger cities of many developing countries, in response to expanding market demand. The concentration of milk production in close proximity to urban centres may threaten human health.
In addition to these traditional small-scale milk production systems, some developing countries have large-scale dairy enterprises. Generally, large-scale producers do not account for a large share of national milk production.

07/02/2022

Dairy farming is the practice of raising animals for the purpose of milk and dairy products, although any species of cattle or any other mammal can produce milk. Dairy farming focuses on popular species such as dairy cows, sheep and goats, of which dairy farming is the main stage in dairy farming. Dairy farming is a stage in agricultural farming to produce fresh milk.

19/10/2021

Ethiopia has the largest inventory of livestock in Africa. However, its productivity and commercialization remains low. This is after decades of interventions by the government and international donor agencies to improve the sub-sector. Recent research found that the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has undervalued the contribution of ruminant livestock production to gross value of ruminant’s contribution to agriculture. The dairy sub-sector contributes 63% to the total value of ruminant output. By underestimating livestock’s contribution, the GOE has underfunded the development of this sub-sector. Recent figures indicate that the livestock sector contributes about 12-16% of national GDP, 30-35% of agricultural GDP, 15% of export earnings and 30% of agricultural employment. Smallholder farmers represent about 85% of the population and are responsible for 98% of the milk production. Productivity however is relatively low, quality feeds are difficult to obtain and support services are inadequate.

There is an immediate and growing shortage of dairy products in all major cities of Ethiopia and the trends of economic prospects for dairy industry performance and development are rather good both at small holder and on more commercial levels. There are different constraints affecting milk production potential of dairy cattle in most parts of Ethiopia including shortage of grazing land, disease and parasites, shortage of land for cultivation of improved forage, inadequate veterinary service, low milk production potential of local zebu cattle, inadequate Artificial Insemination (AI) service and labor shortage. In order to alleviate the aforementioned constraints, increasing efficiency of AI services, improvement of veterinary services, introduction of improved forage crops and fodder trees are important.

Keywords: Smallholder Farmers; Dairy Products; Artificial Insemination; Veterinary Services

19/10/2021

The main source of milk production in Ethiopia from the cow (Table 1) but small quantities of milk are also obtained from goat and camel in some region particularly in pastoralist areas.
Four major systems of milk production can be distinguished in Ethiopia, these are:
a. Pastoralism
b. Highland Smallholder
c. Urban and pre-urban (small and medium dairy farms in backyards in and around towns and cities).
d. Intensive dairy farming.
a) Pastoralism
Even though, information on both absolute numbers and distribution vary, it is estimated that about 30% of the livestock population are found in the pastoral areas.
The pastoralist livestock production system which supports an estimated 10% of the human population covers 50-60% of the total area mostly lying at altitudes ranging from below 1500 m.a.s.l. pastoralism is the major system of milk production in the low land. However, because of the rainfall pattern and related reasons shortage of feed availability milk production is low and highly seasonally dependent.
b) The highland smallholder milk production
The Ethiopian highlands possess a high potential for dairy development. These areas occupying the central part of Ethiopia, over about 40% of the country (approx. 490.000 km2) and are the largest of their kind in sub-saharan Africa (Tedla et al, 1989). In the highland areas agricultural production system is predominantly substance smallholder mixed farming, with crop and livestock husbandry typically practised within the same management unit. In this farming system all the feed requirement is derived from native pasture and a balance comes from crop residues and stub grazing.
The majority of milking cows are indigenous animals which have low production performance with the average age at first calving is 53 months and average calving intervals is 25 months. Cows had three to four calves before leaving the herd at 11-13 years of age, the average caw lactation yield is 524 litres for 239 days of which 238 litres is offtake for human use while 286 litres is suckled by the calf. But also a very small number of crossbred animals are milked to provide the family with fresh milk butter and cheese. Surpluses are sold, usually by women, who use the regular cash income to buy household necessities or to save for festival occasions (Mugerewa). Both the pastoralist and smallholder farmers produce 98% of the country milk production (MOA, 1985 E.C).
c) Urban and peri-urban milk production
This system developed in and around major cities and towns which have a high demand for milk. The main feeds sources are agro-industrial by products (Oil Seed Cakes, Bran, etc) and purchased roughage.
The system comprises small and medium size dairy farms located mainly in the highlands of Ethiopia. Farmers use all or part of their land for home grown feeds.
Generally, the primary of the production system is to sale milk as a means of additional cash income.
d) Intensive Dairy Farming
This is a more specialized dairy farming practised by state sector and very few individuals on commercial basis. Most of the intensive dairy farms are concentrated in and around Addis Ababa and are basically based on exotic pure bred stock. The urban, peri-urban and intensive dairy farmers are produce 2% of the total milk production of the country .
2. Major constraint dairy development system in Ethiopia.
The livestock sub-sector in general and the dairy sub-sector in particular docs not make a contribution to the national income considering with it size. The reasons for this are numerous and include both non-technical and technical constraints. This paper is trying to discus in particular constraints only.
a). Non-technical constraints
The non-technical constraints of dairy development generally include a variety of socio-economic and institutional considerations, which is most cases and are will common constraints to other agricultural sector in the country.
i) Human population
The high rate of population increase (2.9-3 % per annual) is reckoned to affect livestock development. The demand for livestock products directly related with the annual population growth which the livestock production is lag behind with the rate of population growth (1.1 %) (Table 2) (ILCA, 1987).
Moreover, high population growth has forced people to cultivate more and more land. The necessity to extend the cropping areas to support the increasing population in the highlands, the carrying capacity of the land is stretched beyond its limits, which resulted in law production performance of the livestock.
ii) Livestock population
One of the serious constraints to the livestock development in Ethiopia rest on the importance attached to the economic functions of the livestock found in various agro-ecological zones, overall, livestock in Ethiopia are used as input function, asset and security function.
Farming methods in Ethiopia have remained unchanged for centuries, cultivation is carried out using oxen drown traditional ploughs in the highland this demand high dependency on animal power (as an input function). High population growth has forced people to plough more land, which in turn demand more ploughing capacity Therefore, to fulfil this demand more ploughing capacity requires for the presence of a higher cattle herd, which created pressure on grazing land and ultimately poor economies of peasant farm.
The other economic benefit of livestock, as a source of additional income consideration as assets and security are also important, and due to low productive indigenous stock these functions requires to maintain large herd and demand additional area of grazing land.
In the law lands the pastoral nomads maximum benefit from livestock through milk and meat (The out put function): Further more, in order to overcome low productivity of their livestock and recurring draught large number of stock is maintained as security function as well (M. Tesfaye, 1991).
Table 2: Output volume and average annual changes
VOLUME (000 MT)
ANNUAL GROWTH (%)
COMMODITY
ETHIOPIA
(%)
EAST AFRICA
ETH
EAST AFRICA
SUB-SAHARA AFRICA
Beef
224
(22)
1,020
0.4
3.1
2.4
Mutton
86
(36)
237
2.2
3.0
3.1
Goat Meat
66
(32)
209
2.2
1.9
2.5
Poultry Meat
71
(38)
189
2.6
4.0
6.8
Cold Milk
515
(14)
4,323
1.1
4.3
3.5
Eggs
76,590
(35)
221,228
1.0
4.7
5.7
Hides & Skins
70,542
(28)
251,020
0.5
2.5
2.1
SOURCE:- ILCA, (1987)
b). Technical constraints
The major technical constraints are
1. Animal Health Disease
2. Feed and Nitration
3. Genotype
i) Animal health
Animal health and improved management is also one of the major constraint of dairy development in Ethiopia which cause poor performance across the productive system. Many of the problems result from the interaction among the technical and non-technical constraints themselves e.g. poorly fed animals develop low disease resistance, fertility problem, partly because the animal health care system relies heavily on veterinary measures, poor grazing management systems continue to cause high mortality and morbidity (e.g internal parasites), many of the disease constraints which affect supply are also a consequence of the non-technical constraints e.g. insufficient money to purchase drugs or vaccines.
ii) Feed and nutrition
In highland zones, high population growth and density are causing the shortage of grazing land on which livestock production by small holders depends. In the lowland areas, the shortage of feed and water during the dry season forces animals and livestock keepers to trek long distances in search of food. The quality of feed also deteriorates during the dry season in both the mixed farming and pastoral system (A. Anteneh, 1992).
iii) Genetics
The genetic of Ethiopia's livestock have involved largely as a result of natural selection influenced by environmental factors. This has made the stock better conditioned to with stand feed and water shortages, disease challenges and harsh climates. But the capacity for the high level of production has remained low.

19/10/2021

The main source of milk production in Ethiopia from the cow (Table 1) but small quantities of milk are also obtained from goat and camel in some region particularly in pastoralist areas.

Four major systems of milk production can be distinguished in Ethiopia, these are:

a. Pastoralism
b. Highland Smallholder
c. Urban and pre-urban (small and medium dairy farms in backyards in and around towns and cities).
d. Intensive dairy farming.
a) Pastoralism

Even though, information on both absolute numbers and distribution vary, it is estimated that about 30% of the livestock population are found in the pastoral areas.

The pastoralist livestock production system which supports an estimated 10% of the human population covers 50-60% of the total area mostly lying at altitudes ranging from below 1500 m.a.s.l. pastoralism is the major system of milk production in the low land. However, because of the rainfall pattern and related reasons shortage of feed availability milk production is low and highly seasonally dependent.

b) The highland smallholder milk production

The Ethiopian highlands possess a high potential for dairy development. These areas occupying the central part of Ethiopia, over about 40% of the country (approx. 490.000 km2) and are the largest of their kind in sub-saharan Africa (Tedla et al, 1989). In the highland areas agricultural production system is predominantly substance smallholder mixed farming, with crop and livestock husbandry typically practised within the same management unit. In this farming system all the feed requirement is derived from native pasture and a balance comes from crop residues and stub grazing.

The majority of milking cows are indigenous animals which have low production performance with the average age at first calving is 53 months and average calving intervals is 25 months. Cows had three to four calves before leaving the herd at 11-13 years of age, the average caw lactation yield is 524 litres for 239 days of which 238 litres is offtake for human use while 286 litres is suckled by the calf. But also a very small number of crossbred animals are milked to provide the family with fresh milk butter and cheese. Surpluses are sold, usually by women, who use the regular cash income to buy household necessities or to save for festival occasions (Mugerewa). Both the pastoralist and smallholder farmers produce 98% of the country milk production (MOA, 1985 E.C).

c) Urban and peri-urban milk production

This system developed in and around major cities and towns which have a high demand for milk. The main feeds sources are agro-industrial by products (Oil Seed Cakes, Bran, etc) and purchased roughage.

The system comprises small and medium size dairy farms located mainly in the highlands of Ethiopia. Farmers use all or part of their land for home grown feeds.

Generally, the primary of the production system is to sale milk as a means of additional cash income.

d) Intensive Dairy Farming

This is a more specialized dairy farming practised by state sector and very few individuals on commercial basis. Most of the intensive dairy farms are concentrated in and around Addis Ababa and are basically based on exotic pure bred stock. The urban, peri-urban and intensive dairy farmers are produce 2% of the total milk production of the country .

2. Major constraint dairy development system in Ethiopia.
The livestock sub-sector in general and the dairy sub-sector in particular docs not make a contribution to the national income considering with it size. The reasons for this are numerous and include both non-technical and technical constraints. This paper is trying to discus in particular constraints only.

a). Non-technical constraints

The non-technical constraints of dairy development generally include a variety of socio-economic and institutional considerations, which is most cases and are will common constraints to other agricultural sector in the country.

i) Human population
The high rate of population increase (2.9-3 % per annual) is reckoned to affect livestock development. The demand for livestock products directly related with the annual population growth which the livestock production is lag behind with the rate of population growth (1.1 %) (Table 2) (ILCA, 1987).

Moreover, high population growth has forced people to cultivate more and more land. The necessity to extend the cropping areas to support the increasing population in the highlands, the carrying capacity of the land is stretched beyond its limits, which resulted in law production performance of the livestock.

ii) Livestock population

One of the serious constraints to the livestock development in Ethiopia rest on the importance attached to the economic functions of the livestock found in various agro-ecological zones, overall, livestock in Ethiopia are used as input function, asset and security function.

Farming methods in Ethiopia have remained unchanged for centuries, cultivation is carried out using oxen drown traditional ploughs in the highland this demand high dependency on animal power (as an input function). High population growth has forced people to plough more land, which in turn demand more ploughing capacity Therefore, to fulfil this demand more ploughing capacity requires for the presence of a higher cattle herd, which created pressure on grazing land and ultimately poor economies of peasant farm.

The other economic benefit of livestock, as a source of additional income consideration as assets and security are also important, and due to low productive indigenous stock these functions requires to maintain large herd and demand additional area of grazing land.

In the law lands the pastoral nomads maximum benefit from livestock through milk and meat (The out put function): Further more, in order to overcome low productivity of their livestock and recurring draught large number of stock is maintained as security function as well

19/10/2021

17/10/2021

Most dairy cows will be kept indoors for part or all of the year. Cows typically have less opportunity to act naturally and exercise when indoors, compared to when they are at pasture, however indoor housing may be necessary during bad weather. Good housing design and management are essential for good welfare. Crowded conditions, poor ventilation and high humidity increase the injury and disease.

Rest is very important to cows, especially during lactation, and they need somewhere comfortable to lie. Cows that are kept on concrete floors with inadequate bedding, or in housing with poorly designed cubicles, will be more likely to develop mastitis. Hard flooring is also more painful for lame cows to stand and walk on, and cows may slip and injure themselves if floors are wet from excrement.

17/10/2021

Given a natural healthy life, cows can live for twenty years or more. High-yielding dairy cows will typically be slaughtered after three or four lactations because their milk production drops and/or they are chronically lame or infertile.

17/10/2021

Over the last fifty years, dairy farming has become more intensive to increase the amount of milk produced by each cow. The Holstein-Friesian, the most common type of dairy cow in the UK, Europe and the USA, has been bred to produce very high yields of milk. Milk production per cow has more than doubled in the past 40 years. An average of 22 litres per day is typical in the UK, with some cows producing up to 60 litres in a day during peak lactation. The average yield in the US is even higher, at over 30 litres per day.

17/10/2021

milk process

17/10/2021

With the growing global human population, a huge demand for livestock products can be expected in the coming years (1). At the same time, the global climatic conditions are predicted to become warmer and diverge across the continents (2). According to the climate change models, the mean global temperature may be 2.6–4.8°C warmer by 2100 as compared to the conditions that prevailed in 2010 (2). This situation could thus lead to heat stress, which is a potent factor negatively influencing livestock production as it alters water availability, the quality of forage and roughage, and the production and reproduction characteristics and health status of the animals (3). Among all the domesticated production animals, dairy cows are most susceptible to heat stress as a result of the intensive long-term breeding done in them so as to improve their milk production, which has led to a higher metabolic heat generation in these animals (4). Furthermore, in tropical countries, where the impact of climate change is predicted to be more severe, dairy cattle are primarily reared in an extensive system, unlike that of chicken and pig which follow a semi-intensive system of rearing. This further contributes to the greater susceptibility of dairy cows to heat stress. In order to dissipate excess heat during thermal stress, the animal exhibits various physiological and metabolic adaptive mechanisms which are energy consuming, and this is believed to cause a proportional decline in milk yield in these animals (5). Furthermore, heat stress was also reported to alter the milk composition through reduction in total protein content and total fat content in milk (6).

Milk production is one of the most important economic traits in cattle which, being polygenic, is affected by many genes. Advancements in the field of molecular genetics have aided in identifying various candidate genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) regions which were found to have an association with milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, and other milk production traits (7). This information on genomic sequence variation has been applied widely in livestock improvement schemes as they are backed up with a supporting proof of genotypic data and its confirmed association (8, 9).

Apart from the genetic factors, environmental factors also influence milk production, among which ambient temperature is one of the most important abiotic factors (10). An annual milk loss of ~2% of the total milk production of the country was reported due to thermal stress on the animal (10). It is also estimated that the loss in milk production due to global warming would rise up to 3.2 million tons by 2020 and would exceed 15 million tons by 2050 (10). This statistic is quite alarming, and this warrants developing suitable mitigation strategies to reverse the condition. The ability of the cattle to perform normal biological functions in various adverse environmental conditions denotes its resilient capacity (11). Although several management and nutritional strategies are available to ameliorate the heat stress impact on livestock, still these strategies may not be offering a permanent solution to the issue. Hence, a better understanding of the genetic differences and molecular mechanisms involved in thermo-tolerance and innate resilience is necessary. In a couple of recent review articles on the subject, emphasis was given to assess climate resilience generally in ruminant species, and negligible reports are available on the subject with respect to establishing climate resilience in dairy cattle (3, 11–13). Furthermore, not many reviews were attempted, in particular on the application of genomic tools and statistical models, to establish climate resilience in dairy cattle. Hence, generating and synthesizing information from various research reports (14–16) in this line could be very useful and may provide vital information for improving climate resilience in dairy cattle. Such information could be very useful for designing future breeding strategies to establish climate resilience in dairy cattle.

With this background, this review was targeted to synthesize information pertaining to the application of various advanced genomic tools and statistical models that are currently available to identify climate-resilient dairy cows.

17/10/2021

The current changing climate trend poses a threat to the productive efficacy and welfare of livestock across the globe. This review is an attempt to synthesize information pertaining to the applications of various genomic tools and statistical models that are available to identify climate-resilient dairy cows. The different functional and economical traits which govern milk production play a significant role in determining the cost of milk production. Thus, identification of these traits may revolutionize the breeding programs to develop climate-resilient dairy cattle. Moreover, the genotype–environment interaction also influences the performance of dairy cattle especially during a challenging situation. The recent advancement in molecular biology has led to the development of a few biotechnological tools and statistical models like next-generation sequencing (NGS), microarray technology, whole transcriptome analysis, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) which can be used to quantify the molecular mechanisms which govern the climate resilience capacity of dairy cows. Among these, the most preferred option for researchers around the globe was GWAS as this approach jointly takes into account all the genotype, phenotype, and pedigree information of farm animals. Furthermore, selection signatures can also help to demarcate functionally important regions in the genome which can be used to detect potential loci and candidate genes that have undergone positive selection in complex milk production traits of dairy cattle. These identified biomarkers can be incorporated in the existing breeding policies using genomic selection to develop climate-resilient dairy cattle.