Abstract:
A study on some management practices of dairy cattle by smallholder farmers was done in Turiani division, Morogoro (R) district. The study objective justified adoption of a cross-sectional research design. As the main instrument for data collection, a structured questionnaire was administered to total of 40 respondents who were beneficiaries of Heifer-In-Trust scheme under two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) namely The Foundation for Sustainable Rural Development (SURUDE) and Heifer Project International (HPI). It was observed that majority of the respondents (100 % for SURUDE and 95 % for HPI) had adopted zero grazing system, feeding their animals mainly on natural pasture. Generally, 60 % of the respondents were found to provide feed supplements such as hominy feed, sunflower seed cake (SSC) and minerals to their animals. However, the distribution was statistically (P<0.05) skewed towards SURUDE more than HPI for SSC (i.e. 75 Vs 40). Natural mating was the only breeding method practiced by both groups of farmers. Whereas 25 % of farmers under HPI reported to serve their cows more than twice per conception, the proportion for those under SURUDE was only 10 %. Long calving interval (CI) was also reported by both groups of farmers. A CI of 12 - 13 months was reported by only 15 % of farmers under HPI and none under SURUDE. Only 5 % of farmers under HPI reported a CI exceeding 24 months, which was reported by 20 % of farmers under SURUDE. The common disease control measures in the area were spraying with acaricide and deworming, but both were not regularly practised. Record keeping was another management practice, which differed between the two NGOs. It was concluded therefore that dairy management practices in Turiani were generally not well performed and they differed between beneficiaries of HPI and those of SURUDE.
