Review on breeding objective and practice of dairy cattle production in Ethiopia

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject African Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (Department of Animal Sciences), language: English, abstract: This review was aimed to indicate the dairy cattle production system including small holder, pastoral and agro pastoral, urban and per urban and intensive dairy cattle production system, breeding practice including mating system (natural mating and AI), breeding objective and reproductive and productive traits of dairy cattle in Ethiopia. Now in Ethiopia most farmers use natural, unplanned and uncontrolled mating system by using breeding from communal grazing and a few farmer use AI for improvement of breed and production by upgrading the genetic makeup of indigenous breed of cattle.

Therefore, in Ethiopia, there is a need to use breeding objectives in line effective breeding policies for both AI and natural service for sustainable and effective animal breeding practice. There should be appropriate animal breeders, policy designers and stalk holders have to give due attention to transform the existing traditional breeding practices targeting towards dairy productivity and production with careful consideration of genetic conservation of local cattle breeds.