Effect of supplementing a high-protein ram press sunflower cake concentrate on smallholder milk production in Zimbabwe |
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| Authors: | N T Ngongoni C Mapiye M Mwale B Mupeta |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Animal Science, University of Zimbabwe, Mt Pleasant Harare, Zimbabwe;(2) University of Forthare, Department of Livestock & Pasture Science, P. Bag X1314, Alice, 5700, South Africa;(3) Plan International, Harare, Zimbabwe |
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| Abstract: | Ram press sunflower cake protein concentrate was formulated locally and its effect on the performance of dairy cows was compared
with that of a commercial dairy concentrate. The effects of concentrate on roughage dry matter intake, milk yield and milk
composition, live weight and calving intervals were similar for all concentrates, which indicated that the home grown dairy
concentrates were as effective as the dairy commercial concentrate. The lack of significant differences in the concentrations
of rumen NH3-N, pH, VFAs and total AA in all the cows between concentrate types supported this. The results indicated that in the low-resource
and low-input production systems, crossbreds were as productive as Jersey and Red Dane cows. The exotic cows were more susceptible
to tick-borne diseases and mastitis, and showed higher incidences of calving problems and retained placenta compared with
crossbred cows. The economics of feeding ram press sunflower concentrate were compared with those of a commercial dairy concentrate
on the performance of crossbred, Red Dane and Jersey cows. The gross margin was higher when feeding sunflower cake than when
feeding commercial dairy concentrate (p < 0.05). |
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| Keywords: | Cow performance Crossbred Sunflower concentrate Supplement Rumen parameters Zimbabwe |
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