Effect of farm location and management practices on growth

Abstract

This study was conducted in six districts of Tanga region, Tanzania, between March and October 1998. Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory Rural Appraisal methods were applied in problem identification and data collection on the management practices affecting the performance of crossbred dairy heifers. Basic information was retrieved from Tanga Dairy Development Programme’s database. Problems identified during PRA exercises were developed into a checklist used in in-depth questioning to validate PRA information among 120 smallholder farms. About 18% of the visited farms had a heifer judged as undernourished. The two districts, Tanga rural and Pangani had consistently poorer performance than others. In 32% of all the farms, the person incharge of the dairy enterprise was a woman. Dairying was found to be popular among middle aged (73%) and married farmers (91%). Sufficient forage and concentrate supplementation, proper use of farm records, de-worming, and good calf housing had a positive influence on the growth performance of the heifers. Sixty percent of the farmers with heifers performing poorly lived in districts where milk was sold at a price below Tsh 140 per litre, 51% had water problems, 85% had only 1 to 2 animals, about 96% had no improved pastures and did not feed sufficient concentrates to young stock, and 92% never de-wormed their calves. Diseases, lack of sufficient forage and supplementary feeds, water shortage and a herd size less than 3 animals, were the main factors leading to poor heifer growth. Age of farmer, formal education and gender had no influence on the performance of the heifers. Good basic farmers’ training in dairy husbandry, proper advisory services and strengthened dairy infrastructure were found to be important in raising crossbred heifers in smallholder farming systems