1 International Livestock Research Institute, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Animal. 2013 Dec;7(12):2054-62. doi: 10.1017/S1751731113001602. Epub 2013 Oct 8.
Smallholder dairy production represents a promising income generating activity for poor farmers in the developing world. Because of the perishable nature of milk, marketing arrangements for collection, distribution and sale are important for enhanced livelihoods in the smallholder dairy sector. In this study we examined the relationship between market quality and basic feeding and breeding practices at farm level. We define market quality as the attractiveness and reliability of procurement channels and associated input supply arrangements. We took as our study countries, India with its well-developed smallholder dairy sector, and Ethiopia where the smallholder dairy industry has remained relatively undeveloped despite decades of development effort. We conducted village surveys among producer groups in 90 villages across three States in India and two Regions in Ethiopia. Producer groups were stratified according to three levels of market quality - high, medium and low. Data showed that diet composition was relatively similar in India and Ethiopia with crop residues forming the major share of the diet. Concentrate feeding tended to be more prominent in high market quality sites. Herd composition changed with market quality with more dairy (exotic) cross-bred animals in high market quality sites in both India and Ethiopia. Cross-bred animals were generally more prominent in India than Ethiopia. Herd performance within breed did not change a great deal along the market quality gradient. Parameters such as calving interval and milk yield were relatively insensitive to market quality. Insemination of cross-bred cows was predominantly by artificial insemination (AI) in India and accounted for around half of cross-bred cow inseminations in Ethiopia. Data on perceptions of change over the last decade indicated that per herd and per cow productivity are both increasing in high market quality sites with a more mixed picture in medium and low-quality sites. Similarly dairy-derived income is on the increase in high market quality sites. This is accompanied by a strong increase in stall feeding at the expense of grazing. The study indicates that the first constraint to intensification of dairy production in Ethiopia is the genetic quality of the herd. There is less scope for improved AI provision in India since the cross-bred herd is mainly serviced by AI already. However, as for Ethiopia, there is considerable scope for closing yield gaps in India through improved feed use and supply. Results strongly show that well-developed markets with good procurement arrangements are key for sustainable dairy intensification.
小规模奶牛养殖是发展中国家贫困农民增加收入的一项有前景的活动。由于牛奶易腐的特性，收集、配送和销售的营销安排对于小规模奶牛养殖部门的生计改善很重要。在这项研究中，我们研究了市场质量与农场层面基本饲养和繁殖实践之间的关系。我们将市场质量定义为采购渠道和相关投入供应安排的吸引力和可靠性。我们选择印度和埃塞俄比亚作为研究国家，印度拥有发达的小规模奶牛养殖部门，而埃塞俄比亚尽管几十年来一直在努力发展，但小规模奶牛养殖业仍然相对不发达。我们在印度三个邦和埃塞俄比亚两个地区的 90 个村庄的生产者群体中进行了村庄调查。生产者群体根据市场质量的三个水平进行分层——高、中、低。数据显示，印度和埃塞俄比亚的饮食结构相对相似，作物残余物构成了饮食的主要部分。在高市场质量地区，精饲料的喂养更为突出。随着市场质量的变化，畜群组成也发生了变化，高市场质量地区的奶牛（外来）杂交动物数量更多。在印度和埃塞俄比亚，杂交动物普遍比埃塞俄比亚更为突出。在市场质量梯度上，品种内的畜群性能变化不大。产犊间隔和产奶量等参数对市场质量相对不敏感。印度的杂交奶牛主要通过人工授精（AI）配种，而埃塞俄比亚的杂交奶牛配种约有一半是通过 AI 完成的。关于过去十年变化的看法数据表明，在高市场质量地区，每个畜群和每头牛的生产力都在增加，而中低质量地区的情况则更为复杂。同样，高市场质量地区的奶牛养殖收入也在增加。这伴随着舍饲喂养的大幅增加，而放牧则减少。研究表明，埃塞俄比亚奶牛养殖集约化的第一个制约因素是畜群的遗传质量。由于杂交牛群主要由 AI 服务，印度在改进 AI 供应方面的空间较小。然而，与埃塞俄比亚一样，通过改进饲料使用和供应，印度在缩小产量差距方面有很大的空间。结果强烈表明，拥有良好采购安排的发达市场是可持续奶牛养殖集约化的关键。
