Evaluation of the agronomic, utilization, nutritive and feeding value of desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum)

This study comprised of field survey, agronomic trial, laboratory and animal evaluation of desho grass. A total of 240 households (hh) were involved in the field survey conducted to assess the status of desho grass production and utilization in Burie Zuria and Doyogena districts, with the use of pre-tested and semi- structured questionnaire. The grass was planted at mid and highland altitudes using vegetative root splits in randomized complete block design to determine the effects of altitude and harvesting dates (90, 120 and 150 days after planting) on morphology, dry matter (DM) yield and chemical composition of desho grass. Feeding & digestibility trials were conducted using 25 Washera yearling rams with mean body weight of 19.4+1.89 kg in randomized complete block design to evaluate the feed potential of desho grass as a basal diet. The dietary treatments studied were; 100% Natural Pasture Hay (NPH) (T1), 75% NPH+25% Desho Grass Hay (DGH) (T2), 50% NPH + 50% DGH (T3), 25% NPH+75% DGH (T4), and 100% DGH (T5). All the treatment groups were supplemented with 300 g/h DM of concentrate & data on feed intake, daily body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency & fecal samples were collected during the 90 and 7 days of feeding and digestibility trial respectively. The field survey data were analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics and probit model using SAS 9.2. The agronomic characteristics and laboratory analytical data were subjected to two-way ANOVA and correlation analysis of SAS 9.2. Animal evaluation data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA of SAS. Tukey’s Honest Significant Test was used to separate means that showed significant difference. The results of the field survey revealed that the mean landholding, livestock holding and family size of the respondents was 0.95 hectare, 3.56 tropical livestock units and 6.5 persons/hh, respectively. The proportion of farmers who use desho grass as a feed were 60% and 35% use it for more than one purpose including feed. About 42, 3 and 53% of the respondents reported that they feed desho grass to lactating cattle, small ruminants and to all livestock species respectively. There was significant positive correlation (P<0.01) between experience of desho grass production practice and utilization for different purposes in the study areas. About 43% of desho grass producers have received training on desho grass production and utilization. The utilization of the grass for many purposes is not well practiced by many farmers, due to in adequate extension services and lack of training. The results of the agronomic trials indicated that leaf length per plant (LLPP) of the grass planted in mid altitude (28.98 cm) was greater than that (21.81 cm) planted in the high altitude. Highest harvesting date significantly increased (P<0.05) plant height (PH), number of tillers per plant (NTPP), number of leaves per plant (NLPP), leaf length per plant (LLPP) and re-growth dates (RGD). The DM yield of desho grass significantly increased, while crude protein (CP) content significantly decreased (P<0.05) as the harvesting date increased from 90 to 150 days. Agronomic results xviii revealed that desho grass performs well both in mid and high altitude areas and represent potential livestock feed resource at early stage (90 to 120 days after planting) of feeding. The daily DM intake and mean daily body gain of the experimental sheep showed significant improvement (P<0.05) with increased level of inclusion of desho grass into the basal ration. The digestibility coefficient of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were significantly different (P<0.05) among the treatments (in the order of T1<T2<T3<T4<T5). The result of the feeding trial indicated that desho grass hay could safely be included at 50-100% into small ruminant basal ration at the expense of natural pasture hay in Ethiopia. The grass performed well in both mid and highlands, multifunctional in use and appropriate for smallholder farming systems of the country

Farm Animal Welfare and Handling in the Tropics: The Ethiopia Case

The issue of farm animal welfare has become increasingly of essence in many countries these days. Farm animal welfare concerns are expressed about the conditions in which farm animals are kept and management practices, particularly in systems where animals are kept in confinement for most of their lives, feed methods, health care, and expression of normal behaviors. The use of an ethical basis for animal welfare standards requires some generally accepted principles on how animals should be treated and used by humans. Animals have enormous capacity to feel a huge range of emotions, to learn from their experiences, to adapt to challenges, and to suffer when their needs are either ignored or disrespected. It is now time, in the evolution of the relationship between humans and animals, to move forward with this knowledge and take real action to improve the lives of farm animals. The use of behavioral principles should improve efficiency of livestock handling and reduce stress on animals. Changing public opinion about the importance of good animal welfare and applying legislative actions will be important in animal production systems especially in developing countries where the poor animal welfare is immense and production management is below substandards

The Potential of Nutrigenomics from Viewpoint of Animal Nutrition: A Mini Review

Nutrigenomics is relatively new area of science which requires more appraisal and further research. Therefore, it must be well understood before it is applied in the field of agriculture particularly in animal science. From earlier few studies, it has been learnt that nutrigenomics and allied sciences have significant importance to serve as modern tool fornutritional research in comprehending the problems related to animal production and health. But the level of awareness is not that much raised for maximum exploitation of the science. For this reason, efforts have to be exerted to uncover the state of current knowledge, skill and practices how nutrigenomics helps in boosting animal productivity and health condition. One of the approaches to expand this knowledge is using various dissemination mechanisms such as bringing together the information from different sources, analyzing and interpreting. In scientific or research language, this is referred as review. To this end, literature and articles related to animal nutrition and health which were produced over several years are browsed and reviewed. Based on the review, it is possible to recognize that the future of animal nutrition requires intensified feeding and precise nutrient specification of animals. Hence, understanding the importance of nutrigenomics, exploring how it works, and identifying what benefit it has is the scope of the review. This piece of paper is therefore written to describe what nutrigenomics mean, its importance, how it can be applied and what contribution it has to the field of animal sciences

Assessment of Pig Production and Constraints in Mecha District, Amhara Region, Northwestern Ethiopia

Ethiopia) were identified and from each Kebele 15 households were selected making the number of respondents 90. A pretested semistructured questionnaire was employed for collecting data through interview and face to face discussion with the pig owners including key informant group discussion and secondary sources. Multivisits to study sites were also made to observe the feeding, housing, and other pig management practices. The results indicated that the purpose of pig production is mainly targeted for additional income and profit for the household in which pigs are sold for external markets as pork is not consumed by local community. Results indicate that pig keepers were farmers or nonfarmers with small land holding and people engaged in other types of work. The major feed source for pig was grazing, followed by crop residue feeding and supplementing with household and agricultural by-products. Pigs are kept in house at least for the night, though the pig house was not separated by age or physiological stage. The most important constraints of pig production in the study area were feed shortage, poor access to veterinary services, and poor market linkage

Growth, yield and yield component attributes of narrow-leafed lupin (<i>Lupinus angustifolius</i> L.) varieties in the highlands of Ethiopia

An experiment was conducted to characterize the growth and yield performance of narrow-leafed sweet blue lupin varieties (Lupinus angustifolius L.) in northwestern Ethiopia. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications and included 7 varieties (Bora, Probor, Sanabor, Vitabor, Haags blaue, Borlu and Boregine). Data on days to flowering and to maturity, flower color, plant height, numbers of leaflets, branches and pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod, forage dry matter (DM) yield, grain yield and 1,000-seed weight were recorded. The results showed that plant height, number of branches per plant, forage DM yield, number of seeds per pod, grain yield and 1,000-seed weight varied significantly (P<0.01) among varieties. The highest forage DM yield at 50% flowering (2.67 t/ha), numbers of pods per plant (16.9) and of seeds per pod (4.15), grain yield (1,900 kg/ha) and 1,000-seed weight (121 g) were obtained from the Boregine variety. The tallest plants and greatest number of branches per plant were recorded from varieties Sanabor and Bora, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the major factor affecting forage DM yield was plant height, while plant height, days to maturity and number of seeds per pod had the greatest influence on grain yield. The best performing variety was Boregine followed by Sanabor and Bora. These varieties seem promising for the development of sustainable forage production strategies with limited external inputs. However, future research should be conducted on the improvement of their agronomy and the possibility of their utilization as protein supplements using narrow-leafed sweet blue lupin forage or grain, as well as testing of promising varieties in diverse locations

Determinants of the Utilization of Desho Grass (\u3cem\u3ePennisetum pedicellatum\u3c/em\u3e) for Multiple-purposes in Ethiopia

In the densely populated, humid highland and midland regions of Ethiopia, the green canopy of desho grass (DG), local varieties of Pennisetum sp., spread across the escarpments. Planting of DG is an example of a locally tried and tested land management technique documented by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as a successful technology to mitigate land degradation. This technology is in response to cropland encroachment onto communal grazing areas and overstocking of livestock that has led to overgrazing, causing further land degradation and serious pasture shortages. DG is used for multiple purposes in Ethiopia. It is mainly grown on small home plots and used for soil conservation practices, as livestock fodder and sold for income generation. Despite desho having alternative uses, there are no reported studies that have tried to understand the implications of these multiple uses in the predominant mixed crop livestock systems. The objective of this study was to characterize DG utilization by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and explain the determinants of alternative and competing uses of the grass (as a feed, soil conservation or sold as fodder for income generation)

Effect of processed sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) grain supplementation on growth performance and socioeconomic feasibility of Doyogena sheep in Ethiopia

Background The experiment evaluated the effect of supplementing sheep fed natural pasture hay with processed sweet lupin grain on growth performance and its economic feasibility. The finding revealed that use of steamed lupin shown to improve the nutritive value of the grain and sheep performance. Methods The experiment was carried out using 24 yearling lambs with initial body weight of 27.53 ± 2.67 kg (mean ± SD) for 126 days (21 days quarantine, 15 days of adaptation and 90 days growth trial followed by 7 days digestibility trial). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design consisting of four treatments and six blocks. Treatments comprised the feeding of natural pasture hay ad libitum + concentrate mix 440 g (T1), natural pasture hay + 440 g/day roasted, coarsely ground sweet lupin grain (T2), natural pasture hay + 440 g/day sweet lupin grain soaked in water for 72 h (T3), natural pasture hay + 440 g/day steamed sweet lupin grain (T4). Results There was improvements in total dry matter intake and digestibility coefficients of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber in sheep supplemented with processed sweet lupin grains compared (T4) by 58.49%, 24.66%, 39.39%, 22.97% and 39.68%, respectively, over the control group. Specifically sheep supplemented with T4 had significantly higher (p < 0.001) average daily gain (by 51.04%), feed conversion efficiency (46.34%) and daily weight gain (144.78 g/day) compared to the control treatment, respectively. All processing methods resulted in favorable average daily gain and net return, thus can be employed in feeding systems depending on their availability and relative cost. Conclusions Supplementing sheep fed natural pasture hay with 440 g/day steamed sweet lupin grains improved growth performance and fattening economics of Doyogena sheep compared to T2 (roasted sweet lupin grain), T3 (soaked sweet lupin grain) or the control (T1)

Assessment of livestock production system and feed balance in watersheds of North Achefer district, Ethiopia

The study was conducted in North Achefer district of Amhara National Regional State in six selected watersheds with the objectives of characterizing the livestock production system and to assess the major feed resources and management. The watersheds were selected purposively based on agro-ecology (mid and low altitude). Moreover, focus group discussions and field observations were done to enrich survey data. The major feed resources biomass estimation in terms of dry matter (DM) was conducted using conversion factors. Diseases such as FMD, internal and external parasite, bloat and Newcastle (poultry diseases) are dominant in the area. Most of the respondents reported that the major water source for livestock during dry season was from well (49.6%) followed by spring water (37.5%) the remaining is from river water (12.9%). The major livestock feed resources available in the study areas were crop residues, natural pasture, hay and improved fodder harvested from backyard and soil and water conservation areas. In the study area, about 32.51% of feed dry matter deficit has been recorded. The major livestock production constraints of the study watersheds were shortage of grazing land, low productivity, disease, shortage of water, shortage of labor and predators in the order of importance. Watershed development is now being an important intervention for natural conservation in the study area and at the same time it is becoming very important to be a livestock feed source if cut and carry system is regularly applied

Farm Animal Welfare and Handling in the Tropics: The Ethiopia Case

The issue of farm animal welfare has become increasingly of essence in many countries these days. Farm animal welfare concerns are expressed about the conditions in which farm animals are kept and management practices, particularly in systems where animals are kept in confinement for most of their lives, feed methods, health care, and expression of normal behaviors. The use of an ethical basis for animal welfare standards requires some generally accepted principles on how animals should be treated and used by humans. Animals have enormous capacity to feel a huge range of emotions, to learn from their experiences, to adapt to challenges, and to suffer when their needs are either ignored or disrespected. It is now time, in the evolution of the relationship between humans and animals, to move forward with this knowledge and take real action to improve the lives of farm animals. The use of behavioral principles should improve efficiency of livestock handling and reduce stress on animals. Changing public opinion about the importance of good animal welfare and applying legislative actions will be important in animal production systems especially in developing countries where the poor animal welfare is immense and production management is below substandards