Characterization Of Dairy Cattle Production Systems In Debremarkos City Administrative Woreda Of East Gojjam Zone Amhara Regional State

The study was conducted in Debremarkos Woreda, Amhara National Regional State, fromrnOctober 2007 to may 2008 with a with the objective of characterization of dairy cattle productionrnsystems /practices of the Woreda; to get base line data on the status of dairy cattle productionrnlevels in the study area and identify the .constraints and opportunities of dairy production. All 7rnkebeles of Debremarkos were included in the study. A total of 200 house holds were selectedrnrandomly based on the proportion of total house holds in each kebele site using random nLunberrntable. In formations were collected from secondary data, by key informant group discussion,rnhousehold level questionnaire survey, fann visit and personal observations. The data werernanalyzed using the SPSS computer soft ware and Ex-cell programs. The mean land holding inrnrural farms were 1 ha and except 5 persons the rest of urban area farms were landless. The meanrnlivestock holding was 8.36 TLU in rural areas and 5.32 TLU in urban areas. Cattle constituentrn98.86 % and 92.44 % of total TLU per household in Urban and rural sites respectively. In urbanrnsites cows constitute 41.20 % of cattle herd and steers 0.60 % and in rural sites steers constitutern20.31 % and cows 29.00 % of cattle herd. The propOltion of cross breed and local breed cows inrnurban areas was 31.10% and 69.90% and for rural areas it was 3.38 % and 96.62% respectively.rnMain feed resources were crop residues and communal grazing land and most commonrnsupplements include hay, atela, wheat bran and noug cake mix as concentrates. For the last twornyears AI service was not available in the Woreda. During the survey period 72.0% of urban arearnand 93.2% Of rural area households used uncontrolled natural mating. Common animal healthrnproblems were black leg, anthrax. abortion, foot and mouth disease, ticks, liver fluke. Animalrnhealth service (treatment and vaccination) for the last two years was not available in the Woreda.rnOnly 7.5 % of urban area households used private veterinary service. The average daily milkrnyield was 1.50±0.68 and 7.30±4.65 litters for local and cross bred cows respectively. There was arnsignificant difference in mean daily milk yield, lactation length, AFC and CI, for local breedrncattle between urban and rural areas but there was no significant difference for cross breedsrnexcept calving interval in between urban and rural areas. Main milk processing milk productsrninclude butter, ayib, sour milk, butter milk, whey and "Metata." The main milk market outlet wasrncontractual type of informal marketing either for hotels and restaurants or neighboring consumers.rnLack of improved breed cattle, disease, feed shortage, milk market, space and water werernIXrnidentified in decreasing order of impOliance as constraints for dairy production. From this study,rnit was recommended that: Extension service should be improved; dairy cooperatives and bullrnservice should be established.rnKey words: Characterization, Dairy cattle, Production systems, Debremarkos

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