Dairy production in the south western rangelands of Uganda like other agricultural production enterprises in the country, is responding to the increasing demand for food products arising from the ever increasing population. As a result, the farms have now adopted the rearing of cross bred Ankole x Friesian cows which produce more milk. However, the area experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern with two pronounced dry seasons that make pasture resources scarce hence greatly impacitng on the productive perfomance of the cross bred cattle during these times. Development of the feed resources in the area is seen to have a key role in ensuring sustainability in improved perfomance of the cross bred cattle in the dry season.
The objectives of this study were to assess the on farm feed resouce availability and utilisation, to assess the influence of seasonal feed availability on milk production of cross bred dairy cattle and to evaluate the milk yeild response to supplementation of grazing lactating crossbred dairy cattle. Data has been collected through a cross-sectional study of 75 dairy farming households in six subcouties of Kiruhura District, a longitudinal study of 10 farms in the small, medium and large scale categories based on acreage and a feeding experiment on two farms where grazing cattle were supplemented with hay and concentrate.
Preliminary results reveal a dairy production system whose dominant feed resource is natural pastures. Pasture management practices like fencing, paddocking and bush clearing are important but not fully practiced on the farms making pasture scarcity a recurrent problem in the dry season. The stocking rates on most of the farms are high making it even harder for cows to meet their daily intake requirements.
Mary Tibezinda
Ewa Wredle, SLU
Denis Mpairwe, Makerere university