Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022
Milk production performance of Ankole crossbreds and Holstein Friesian cattle in different production environments of Rwanda
Manzi, Maximillian; Ntawubizi, Martin; Hirwa, Claire D'andre; Strandberg, ErlingAbstract
The aim of the study was to assess the productive performance of dairy cattle in three different agro-ecological zones of Rwanda: Congo-Nile/Western (WAZ), Central plateau/Central (CAZ), and Eastern plateau/East Agro-ecological Zones (EAZ). A single-visit multi-subject survey was conducted to obtain information on the dairy cattle performance from 51 farms. The breed groups were classified as Ankole x Holstein Friesian (AF), other Ankole crossbreds (AX), and pure Holstein Friesian (F). The F had higher (p < 0.001) milk yield than AF in all zones except EAZ and AF had higher (p < 0.0001) milk yield than AX in all zones. Across all zones, F produced 9 L more than AX and 6 L more than AF per day. Cows from EAZ had the highest average milk yield; however, it was not significantly different from CAZ. The difference that was observed between AF in EAZ and AF in the other two zones indicates that agro-ecological zones should not only be the target in livestock development activities rather additional factors such as feed availability at farm level, social economic, and market infrastructure should be considered in Rwanda.Keywords
Breed groups; Milk yield; Agro-ecological zones; RwandaPublished in
Tropical Animal Health and Production2022, volume: 54, number: 6, article number: 358
Publisher: SPRINGER
Authors' information
Maximillian, Manzi
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Maximillian, Manzi
Rwanda Agriculture Board
Maximillian, Manzi
University of Rwanda
Ntawubizi, Martin
University of Rwanda
D’André Hirwa, Claire
Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03357-7
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/119687