Livestock Research for Rural Development 28 (7) 2016 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD Newsletter

Citation of this paper

Indigenous breeding practices and selection criteria of goat owners in Konso and Meta-Robi districts, Ethiopia: implications for designing community-based breeding strategy

Netsanet Zergaw, Tadelle Dessie1 and Kefelegn Kebede2

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, PO Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Netsisolo@yahoo.com
1 International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2 Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Abstract

This survey investigated indigenous knowledge on goat breeding and management practices and selection criteria of farmers in Konso and Meta-Robi districts, Ethiopia. A total of 240 households was selected for administration of semi-structured questionnaire.

The majority (89.1% in Konso and 74.8 % in Meta-Robi) of respondents had a breeding buck. The main sources of breeding buck in the study areas were own flock. Mating was majorly (98.3% in Konso and 95.8% in Meta-Robi) uncontrolled. The majority of respondents was practiced selection of breeding male (89.7 % in Konso and 94.1% in Meta-Robi) breeding female (80.2 % in Konso and 98.3% in Meta-Robi). Growth rate, body size and resistance to disease were the main buck selection criteria in Konso while, body size, coat color as well as growth rate was in Meta-Robi. Selection of doe for Body size, litter size and coat color the major considered criteria of replacement in Konso while, twining ability, body size and frequent kidding were in Meta-Robi. Farmers’ indigenous knowledge on goat breeding practices and management and selection criteria should form the basis of all community-based breeding programs.

Keyword: breeding practices, indigenous knowledge, selection criteria


Introduction

Farmers’ and pastoralists’ strategies are expressed in their indigenous breeding and management practices, breeding/production objectives, and marketing strategies (Valle Zárate 1999). A village-based breeding strategy would require a good understanding of the community’s indigenous knowledge of their animals (Koehler 2003). Farmers’ and pastoralists’ indigenous strategies take into account the production environment, long-standing tradition of livestock production practices, management skills, socioeconomic and cultural factors, and the availability of inputs and services (Valle Zárate 1999).

Definition of the breeding objective forms the initial step in the development of genetic improvement programs. Logically, this definition is preferable to start with a few of the most relevant traits in a breeding objective rather than complex combinations of all the important traits (Philipsson et al 2006). Thereafter, the number of traits can be limited to major interest while considering producer’s preferences in order to reduce the risk of it being neglected, being unproductive or not performing its intended function (Kosgey 2004; Kosgey et al 2006; Bett et al 2009). It is also important to have a clear understanding of the environment, including prediction of the future requirements when developing breeding objectives and setting selection criteria (Solkner et al 1998; Olivier et al 2002; Kosgey et al 2006).

In general livestock farmers place more weight on morphological selection criteria (subjective selection) than production selection criteria (objective selection) (Gavigan and Parker 1997). Breeding objectives should be set within the country or regional overall development policy frameworks, be farmer-driven, but subjected to regular reviews (Philipsson et al 2006). Thus, the study was undertaken to investigate indigenous knowledge on goat breeding and management practices and selection criteria adopted by farmers in Konso and Meta-Robi districts, Ethiopia.


Materials and methods

Environmental setting of the study locations

The survey was conducted in Meta-Robi and Konso districts. Meta-Robi is located 100 km north-west from the capital Addis Ababa. The district lies in a hilly landscape at elevations from 1,200 to 2,900 m.a.s.l and located at 9020’ N latitude and 38010’ E longitude. The mean annual temperature and rainfall ranges from 230C to 310C and 750 mm to 1100 mm, respectively. Precipitation is relatively low and mainly occurs during two seasons: The small rainfall, locally called ‘Belg’ rain, between March and April, and the big rain called ‘Meher’ rain between June and September (MKC-RDA 2009). Over 95 % of the population practices mixed crop-livestock production system (Emmenegger 2012).

Konso is located 595km away from Addis Ababa in the southwest of Ethiopia; it is located at 50 17' 36'' N latitude and 370 29' 05'' E longitude and lies between 600 to 2100 m.a.s.l (Konso district agricultural office 2008). The temperature ranges between 12 to 330C (Tesfaye 2003). The annual rainfall variation is between 400 and 1000mm. The rain follows a bimodal pattern there are two rainy season’s i.e.”Belg” big rains with the period starting mid February and lasts until April and the small rain period ”Meher” occurring around October and November (Cheung 2008). The production system is integrated crop-livestock system (Forch 2003).

Data collection

The household survey used a set of semi structured questionnaires. This questionnaire was designed to obtain information from respondents on breeding management, mating system, the purpose of keeping goats and selection criteria. Based on the goat population size and the relative significance of goats to the livelihood of the communities, four villages were accordingly selected from each district for the administration of the questioner. A total of 120 well experienced goat owners were randomly selected for administration of the semi-structured questionnaire. Focus group discussions (FGD) were held with selected farmers that included the elderly, women and people believed to be knowledgeable about past and present social and economic status of the area.

Data management and analysis

Collected data through questionnaire were coded and entered into the SPSS package (SPSS for windows, release 14.0 2006). For data involving frequencies, descriptive statistics were in use and Chi-square or t-test was employed when required to test the independence of categories or to assess the statistical significance. Index was calculated for ranked variable (selection criteria for selecting breeding buck and doe) in reference to its formula: Index = Sum of (5 X number of household ranked first + 4 X number of household ranked second + 3 X number of household ranked third + 2 X number of household ranked fourth + 1 X number of household ranked fifth) given for an individual reason divided by the sum of (5 X number of household ranked first + 4 X number of household ranked second +3 X number of household ranked third + 2 X number of household ranked fourth + 1 X number of household ranked fifth) for overall reasons.


Results and discussion

Breeding management

The Majority (89.1% in Konso and 74.8 % in Meta-Robi) of respondents had a breeding buck (Table 1). Some of respondents from both districts who owned buck reported providing of special management for breeding buck such as provision of crop residue, local brewery by product and water.

The number of breeding buck per household was equivalent among the two districts. The average service life of a buck in the flock was smaller in Meta-Robi (2.3 years) than Konso (4 years) (Table 1); after which it will be usually castrated or disposed through sale or slaughter. A similar practice of changing the serving bucks every 5.5years (around Dire Dawa) and 4.4±2.01 years (around Asayta) to prevent inbreeding were reported by Grum (2010) and Feki (2013), accordingly. Apparently, the average age at which the breeding buck is changed, revealed in Meta-Robi, relatively may considered better in the prevention of inbreeding. Apparently, The smaller average service life of a breeding buck in Meta-Robi may be considered better in the prevention of inbreeding.

The major purposes of keeping bucks were for mating (64.5% for Konso and 67.7 % for Meta-Robi) and for both mating and fattening (11.8 % for Konso and 21.2 % for Meta-Robi). The main sources of breeding buck in Konso were own flock and inherited from the mother or father, whereas own flock was in Meta-Robi. Jaitner et al (2001) reported that utilization of breeding rams originated within the same flock and less knowledge of sheep keeper about inbreeding in both crop-livestock and pastoral system implies that the relationship of animals within the flock and within the village is narrow and inbreeding is increasing.

Table 1. Breeding management of the study areas

Descriptors

Konso

Meta-Robi

p

N

%

N

%

Breeding buck possession

Yes

106

89.1

89

74.8


No

13

10.9

30

25.2


Source of breeding buck

Own flock

45

40.9

43

64.2


Inherited

36

32.7

20

29.9


Neighboring market

25

22.7

-

-


Distant market

4

3.6

4

6


Purposes keeping a breeding buck

Mating

71

64.5

67

67.7


Fattening

6

5.4

11

11.1


Mating and fattening

13

11.8

21

21.2


Mating and cash income

20

18.2

-

-


Number of breeding buck (Mean±SD)

109

1.7±1.06

90

1.7±0.8

0.08

Average years serving buck (Mean±SD)

103

4±1.9

100

2.3±1.1

0.04

N = Number of households; SD = Standard deviation


Castration

The majority of farmers use traditional castration method to castrate their buck while, some of the farmers in the districts took their goats to a nearby veterinary clinic to use burdizzo (Table 2). Alemu (2008) suggested that Lambs/kids should ideally be castrated as soon as the testicles descend into the scrotum (this can be from a few days of age to three weeks) and no sedation or pain killers are necessary if castration is done at this age.

Traditional methods used for castration of bucks in Konso were crushing the vas deferens with wood made material, banding the testes until they wither from lack of blood flow and bite off the vas deferens. On the other hand, in Meta-Robi, the common methods were crushing the vas deferens using rounded stone locally known as ‘Allelo’ and banded the testes until they wither from lack of blood flow.

Table 2. Summary on castration

Descriptors

Konso

Meta-Robi

Overall

Prob.

N

%

N

%

N

%

Practice of castration

Yes

106

89.9

85

74.6

191

82.3


No

12

10.2

29

25.4

41

17.7


Castration methods

Traditional

99

90

58

69

157

80.9


Modern

4

3.6

26

31

30

15.5


Both

7

6.4

-

-

7

3.6


Age of castration (Mean±SD)

99

2.4±0.8

80

2.5±1.2

-

-

0.17

N = Number of households; SD = Standard deviation


Mating systems

Mating was predominantly uncontrolled (98.3% in Konso and 95.8% in Meta-Robi). Main reasons for lack of controlled mating in both areas were mixed flock herding and lack of awareness about the effect of inbreeding (Table 3). An advantage of natural uncontrolled mating is that it allows for all year round parturition. Conversely, uncontrolled mating, small herd sizes together with poor record keeping on the pedigree is expected to result in severe inbreeding in these flocks (Kosgey 2004). Equally important to note is that bucks were kept up to 4 years in Konso district. Tesfaye (2010) and Dereje (2011) also reported a predominance of uncontrolled mating within household flock.

Individual goat identification was mainly by the morphological appearance, such as naming, coat color, cutting the edge or piercing the ear (Table 2). Tesfaye (2010) reported that individual animal identification is a primary task, especially in animal breeding and designed feeding experiments for accuracy of data collection and subsequent performance evaluation.

Table 3. Mating system

Descriptor

Percentage of respondents

Konso

Meta-Robi

Overall

Mating system




Controlled

1.7

4.2

2.9

Uncontrolled

98.3

95.8

97.1

Reason for uncontrolled mating




Common grazing area

68.3

91.7

80

Lack of awareness

29.2

5

17.1

Lack of breeding buck

1.7

1.7

1.7

Combination of all reason

0.8

1.6

1.2

Individual goat identification system




Naming

7.6

40.8

24.2

Coat color

4.2

58.3

31.3

Cutting or piercing the ear

8.5

-

4.3

Combination of all

79.3

-

39.7

The purpose of keeping goats

Goats are kept in Konso relatively for multifaceted purposes than in Meta-Robi (Table 4). The majority of respondents (94% in Konso and 98% in Meta-Robi) keep the goat primarily for source of cash income. Similarly, other studies in Ethiopia (Tesfaye 2009; Grum 2010; Hulunim 2014) revealed that cash income, milk production and meat consumption are important reasons of goat for production.

Table 4. The purpose of keeping goats

Descriptor

Percentage of respondents

Konso

Meta-Robi

Overall

The first reason of keeping goats




Cash income

94.2

98.3

96.2

Saving

5.8

1.6

3.7

The second reason




Home consumption

62.2

27.5

44.85

Meat

6.7

44.2

25.45

Saving

12.6

23.3

17.95

Milk and skin

18.4

-

9.2

For ceremonies

-

4.9

2.45

Selection Criteria

The majority of respondents was practiced selection of breeding male (89.7 % in Konso and 94.1% in Meta-Robi) female (80.2 % in Konso and 98.3% in Meta-Robi). For selection of breeding stock, farmers mostly depend on information about the performance of the animal, information from relatives/ancestor and assessment of offspring. Average age of selection for breeding male and female (16.9 and 17.04 months in Konso Vs. 6.71and 6.83months in Meta-Robi) of the two districts were highly different. The result of Konso was in sharp contrast with the report of Dereje (2011) who reported age at a selection of goats in Eastern Ethiopia. Age at selection of animals for breeding might vary as a result of farmers’ decision, breed and production system.

Buck selection criteria

Table 5 shows that in Konso, growth rate, body size and resistance to disease were attributed rated to be of great importance to farmers. Farmers in Meta-Robi had put more weight on body size, coat color as well as growth rate. The preference of body size and growth rate might be due to the fact that larger animals in particular were preferred as the fetched better market prices, had better growth rate and reached market weight sooner.

Table 5. Selection criteria for selecting breeding buck as ranked by respondents

Traits

Konso

Meta-Robi

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

I

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

I

Body size

14

18

15

17

17

0.29

75

29

6

3

0

0.39

Coat color

0

3

3

3

2

0.035

31

64

14

1

2

0.35

Growth rate

54

12

1

6

2

0.4

7

17

44

17

6

0.21

Libido

2

3

5

7

10

0.07

0

1

4

11

9

0.04

Hardship tolerant

0

0

0

7

7

0.025

0

0

1

2

12

0.01

Disease tolerance

3

1

4

14

15

0.09

0

0

0

0

5

0.004

Browsing/grazing ability

2

1

0

7

12

0.05

-

-

-

-

-

-

Kids weight

0

5

2

1

0

0.034

-

-

-

-

-

-

Long horn

1

0

1

0

0

0.01

-

-

-

-

-

-

R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 = rank 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. I = index: Index = sum of (5 for rank 1+4 for rank 2 + 3 for rank 3+2 for rank 4+ 1 for rank 5) given for an individual reason (attribute) divided by the sum of (for rank 1+4 for rank 2 + 3 for rank 3 + 2 for rank 4+ 1 for rank 5) for overall reasons.

Doe selection criteria

Farmers in Konso were selecting their does mainly considering body size, litter size and frequent kidding. On the other hand, selection of doe for twining ability, body size and frequent kidding were the major considered criteria of replacement in Meta-Robi (Table 6). According to FGD, favoring brown in Meta-Robe and white in Konso, over black color was common for selection of breeding buck and doe. In Ethiopia, goat coat color has a direct effect on goat marketing value. Due to cultural taboo, for instance, goat with full black coat color is not preferred for slaughtering for home meat consumption (Halima et al 2012). Black color animals, including goats, however, are believed to have superior adaptation to seasonal cold weather or cold nights as the dark pigment helps them to warm up earlier than goats with other coat colors (Robertshaw 2006).

Farmers from both districts were concerned with morphological selection criteria (subjective selection). Nevertheless, production selection criteria (objective selection) receive more importance. This is in agreement with Whickham (1993) who reported that traits used for selection should be objective criteria. Solkner et al (1998) also reported that genetic progress will be high for measurable traits (such as milk yield and body size) that have high heritability. In both districts in addition to production traits, coat color was given attention and it should be considered in breeding strategies and decision making.

Table 6. Selection criteria for selecting breeding doe as ranked by respondents

Criteria

Konso

Meta-Robi

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

I

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

I

Twining ability

20

19

21

31

15

0.23

44

21

23

9

7

0.25

Body size

40

25

16

10

9

0.27

27

35

31

6

1

0.24

Frequent Kidding

19

13

20

17

15

0.19

28

36

10

21

3

0.22

Coat color

-

-

-

-

-

-

17

22

25

26

4

0.19

Growth rate

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

4

15

13

25

0.07

Kid weights

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

2

2

0

1

0.013

Browsing ability

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

0

1

6

4

0.012

Horn shape

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

0

0

2

0

0.003

Disease resistance

17

17

20

13

11

0.18

-

-

-

-

-

-

Milk production

10

13

13

12

21

0.13

-

-

-

-

-

-

R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 = rank 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. I = index: Index = sum of (5 for rank 1+4 for rank 2 + 3 for rank 3 + 2 for rank 4+ 1 for rank 5) given for an individual reason (attribute) divided by the sum of (for rank 1+4 for rank 2 + 3 for rank 3 + 2 for rank 4+ 1 for rank 5) for overall reasons.


Conclusions


Acknowledgement

Sincere appreciation is extended to the ILRI project ‘Harnessing genetic diversity for improving goat productivity in Ethiopia’ that provided the finance and necessary facilitation.


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Received 27 February 2016; Accepted 21 June 2016; Published 1 July 2016

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