UTILIZATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS BY WALUGURU PEOPLE IN EAST ULUGURU MOUNTAINS TANZANIA

A study was done to assess utilization of medicinal plants in Nyachilo village situated in eastern Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered and informal discussions conducted to traditional healers and midwives. The respondents were selected from Changa, Mselelo, Tanana, Mitamba, Kimeza, Mandani and Kibundi subvillages. Within the subvillages random sampling was used to determine the number of respondents to be interviewed. The study found that plant medicines utilized in the area can be categorized into groups for treating convulsion, pain killers, rituals and casting evil spirits, treating diseases, relieving respiratory complications, and treating skin eruptions. Many medicinal plants are collected from the forests (37.3%) and farms (37.3%). However, 16.4 % of the medicinal plants are not easily accessible. The community perceives modern medical system far advanced in comparison with traditional healing system. Both systems however, are useful in their sights. The study also revealed that in most medicinal plants, leaves are used as medicines (31.7%), followed by roots (29.6%), then barks (20.7%). The community proposed that in order to sustain conservation of medicinal plants, the traditional healers should be trained on appropriate harvesting and utilization techniques of the medicines. It is recommended that appropriate agronomic techniques that will ensure cultivation of medicinal plants should be taught to the community so as to guarantee sustainable utilization in future

Calf health and management in smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania

Smallholder farmers’ knowledge and practice of dairy calf management on 129 farms with calves less than 10 months of age in Southeastern and Southern Highland areas of Tanzania was assessed. The method of study included both a farm visit and completion of a questionnaire. Most of the farmers were female, with a primary level of education, and majority kept 1–3 milking cows that yielded 6–10 l milk/cow/day. Most of the calves were fed milk using a residual calf suckling system. Weaning age was 3–8 months. Overall, the body condition of the calves was poor, ranged from 1 to 2.5 with a mode of 2. The majority of the farmers believed that helminthosis was the most common disease condition affecting the calves; diarrhea was ranked as the second. Calf death was reported by 20% of the farmers to have occurred in their herd lasting the 2 years prior to the study. Calf body condition score was related to body weight for calves younger than 9 weeks, and older than 23 weeks of age, whereas no such relationship existed in the age group 9 to 23 weeks. The sex distribution was skewed with less male calves being older than 23 weeks. We hypothesize that male calves experience inferior management compared with female calves. This study demonstrates a low level of knowledge on, and poor practices of calf management among the surveyed farmers that suggest the need for educational intervention

Performance and nutrient utilisation of dairy cows offered silages produced from three successive harvests of either a red clover–perennial ryegrass sward or a perennial ryegrass sward

The need to reduce reliance on imported protein feeds within the UK and Ireland has stimulated interest in locally grown forage legume crops, including red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). This 13-wk study examined the performance of 28 dairy cows offered silages produced from three successive harvests (H) of either a pure grass sward (GS) receiving 315 kg N/ha per annum or a red clover–perennial ryegrass sward (RCGS) receiving 22 kg N/ha per annum. The crops of H1, H2 and H3 were wilted for 48, 72 and 72 h, respectively. Silages from H1, H2 and H3 were offered for 5, 5 and 3 wk, respectively, with cows supplemented with 8.0 kg concentrate/d throughout the experiment. Digestibility of DM and the effectively degradable protein content were lower, while protein degradability was higher, for RCGS than for GS. Silage DM intakes (DMIs) were higher for RCGS than for GS at H1 and H2, with no differences at H3. Milk yield was higher with RCGS than with GS at H3, with no differences at H1 and H2. Milk fat and milk protein contents were lower with RCGS than with GS at H3 but did not differ at H1 and H2. Faecal N/N intake was higher in the RCGS group than in the GS group at H1, with no differences at H2 and H3. Gross energy digestibility was lower for RCGS than for GS at H2. Although cow performance was higher with RCGS treatment, the responses were variable between harvests, largely reflecting the changing proportion of RC in the swards as the season progresse

Public - private partnership collaboration in environmental climate compatible agricultural growth: preliminary observation

Following the success of PANTIL sub-project integrated dairy production systems in Njombe District villages an idea of piloting the Promising Agricultural Production Methods evolved among the University of Life Sciences (UMB) and SUA experts by the end of the programme in 2010. The idea was shared with the Private Companies namely YARA (International Fertilizer Company) and SYANGETA (an international Company dealing with agricultural inputs). In October 2010 a Public –Private Partnership (PPP) team composed of SUA, UMB, YARA and SANGETA researchers conducted a reconnaissance survey in Manyara, Morogoro and Iringa regions with an aim of establishing demonstration farms for piloting promising agricultural methods that are environmentally friendly and climate compatible. In order to establish a baseline data of soil physical and chemical properties of the farms and recommend the use of fertilizers accordingly before crop planting, soil samples were collected from 8 farms in Nov 2010; 1 in Manyara region (Malbadaw wheat farm), 4 in Morogoro region (Gairo and Mgeta maize farms and Dihombo and Lungo rice farms), and 3 from Iringa region (Ibumila, Lunyannywi, Kichiwa maize farms). At each farm, historical background was recorded before soil sampling. Then a free survey was done to know the boundary and size of the farm. Important feature of the farm such as landform, soil colour, soil texture were observed so as to draw sampling units. At each sampling unit 10 to 15 points were selected in zigzag fashion and at each point a pit of 60 x 60 cm was made and two soil samples were collected one each in two sampling depth 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm. Soils were air dried, sieved through 2mm sieve, packed and sent to the soil laboratory for analysis. The farms in Iringa region were planted with maize in mid Dec. 2010 while those in Morogoro were planted with rice in Feb 2011. A baseline survey involving 5 villages (i.e. 3 in Njombe district- Iringa and 2 in Mvomero district- Morogoro) where the demonstration farms were established was conducted in March 2011. Twenty farming households (HH) were involved (i.e. 4 HH per village; 2 in and 2 out of demonstration farms). The aim of the HH baseline survey was to collect information on HH characteristics, current land-use and agricultural practices, use of inputs such as seeds, pest and weed control, and the timing and nature of agricultural activities related to maize and rice cultivation. The crops were harvested in June and July 2011 in Morogoro and Iringa, respectively. Historically, it was noted that, except for the large wheat farm in Manyara region, most HH did not apply enough fertilizer to their farms. Use of nitrogen fertilizer ranged from 1.5 to 1.8 bags of urea per ha. Fertilizers use regardless of type ranged from 67 to 87 %. Use of pesticides was greatly pronounced in Njombe (90 % of the HH) as compared to Mvomero (50%of the HH). In both districts, 64 % of the HH just recycle the seeds they produce from their own farms. Except for the Malbadaw and Gairo farms which had high ph value (> 7) all other farms had pH values ranging from very low (< 4.3) to low (4.4 – 5.0). Soil Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphur, Copper and Zinc values were very low in Iringa farms and low to medium for the Morogoro and Manyara region farms. Intervention with correct fertilizer application, weed management and pest management increased the yield of rice in Dihombo from 1438 kg/ha to 5400 kg/ha and maize yield in Kichiwa-Njombe increased from 2625 kg/ha to 4375 kg/ha. The increase in crop yield improved HH farming profitability substantially. Preliminarily it can be concluded that Public –Private Partnership collaboration can improve substantially the environmentally climate compatible agricultural growth. However, enough time is required in testing the model meanwhile its real economic and social impacts being assessed.PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION - CLIMATE CHANGECCIA

Contribution of agricultural intensification on household income and food security: the case of Njombe and Mvomero districts

Agricultural intensification is now a reality around the world. The phenomenon has been attributed to various drivers including an increased demand for feeding the growing human population, increased multiple competing land uses and therefore creating the pressure of need for enhanced production. Other factors entail the advancement of market and road infrastructures and thus creating enabling environment for agricultural transactions, and improved access to agricultural inputs and technologies. It is undoubtedly true that intensification brings diverse consequences in terms of income and food security among others. This study manifests the effects of agricultural intensification on income and food security amongst small scale farmers based on the data collected through household survey, and uses maize and paddy production in Njombe and Mvomero districts respectively as the case study. Our operational definition of intensification entails the frequent use of agro-chemical inputs such as mineral fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; and use of improved seeds for the aim of enhancing crop productivity. We also narrow the food-security-definition by focusing on sufficient production for household consumption and having surplus for sale.Available in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Reducing Climate Change Challenges through Forestry and Other Land Use PracticesClimate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (CCIAM) Programme funded through the Norwegian embassy in Tanzani

Variation of soil carbon with selected management practices in Miombo woodlands

202

UTILIZATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS BY WALUGURU PEOPLE IN EAST ULUGURU MOUNTAINS TANZANIA

Abstract A study was done to assess utilization of medicinal plants in Nyachilo village situated in eastern Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered and informal discussions conducted to traditional healers and midwives. The respondents were selected from Changa, Mselelo, Tanana, Mitamba, Kimeza, Mandani and Kibundi subvillages. Within the subvillages random sampling was used to determine the number of respondents to be interviewed. The study found that plant medicines utilized in the area can be categorized into groups for treating convulsion, pain killers, rituals and casting evil spirits, treating diseases, relieving respiratory complications, and treating skin eruptions. Many medicinal plants are collected from the forests (37.3%) and farms (37.3%). However, 16.4 % of the medicinal plants are not easily accessible. The community perceives modern medical system far advanced in comparison with traditional healing system. Both systems however, are useful in their sights. The study also revealed that in most medicinal plants, leaves are used as medicines (31.7%), followed by roots (29.6%), then barks (20.7%). The community proposed that in order to sustain conservation of medicinal plants, the traditional healers should be trained on appropriate harvesting and utilization techniques of the medicines. It is recommended that appropriate agronomic techniques that will ensure cultivation of medicinal plants should be taught to the community so as to guarantee sustainable utilization in future

Prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis and quality of milk on smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania

A cross sectional study was conducted during October and November 2006 on 69 smallholder dairy farms with lactating cows in Mvomero and Njombe districts Tanzania, to determine the prevalence of mastitis and to assess the milk quality on the study farms. Clinical mastitis was investigated using clinical changes of udder and milk at animal level. Cow-side California Mastitis Test (CMT) and microbiological cultures were used to assess subclinical mastitis at quarter level. Milk quality was determined on bulk milk samples at herd level using alcohol and acidity tests, butter fat content, total solids, ash content as well as Delvotest® for antimicrobial residues. Overall prevalence of clinical mastitis at herd level in both districts was 21.7 % (n = 69). Based on CMT, prevalence of subclinical mastitis at animal level was 51.6 % (n = 91). Prevalence of bacterial isolates at animal level was 35.2 % (n = 91) while for fungal it was 16.7 % (n = 90). Based on CMT results, prevalence of subclinical mastitis at quarter level was 30 % (n = 353), while for bacteria and fungi it was 16 % and 6 % respectively. Contamination of milk with antimicrobial residues was 4.5 % (n =67). The milk quality parameters for most of the milk samples were within acceptable levels. Findings in this study have demonstrated high prevalence of subclinical mastitis that may contribute to low productivity of dairy cattle in both districts. About 20 % of CMT subclinical cases had no involvement of microbial pathogens that suggested the need for minimal interventions with antimicrobial agents. These findings call for use of udder disinfectants and improved milking hygiene as intervention strategies to control mastitis on the smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania