Hagmann J, Prasad V L
Agritex/GTZ Conservation Tillage Project, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 1995 Nov;27(4):231-9. doi: 10.1007/BF02250700.
Animal traction constitutes the most important source of power for agricultural work in smallholder farming in Zimbabwe. Two studies, a survey and a short term on-farm trial were conducted to evaluate the use of donkeys as draught animals. The survey covered 59 households in 2 smallholder farming areas. For the on-farm trial, 12 donkeys and 12 cattle were spanned separately in teams of 4 animals to plough 40 m x 70 m plots of medium textured soil. The survey findings highlighted the drought tolerance of donkeys compared to cattle. Mortality rates of donkeys were lower. Results of the draught performance trial indicated that donkeys ploughed less area per day (P < 0.05) and their walking speed was slower (P < 0.05) than cattle. There was no significant difference (P < 0.05) in draught force between the 2 species. The work rate per hour for ploughing with donkeys was 65% of that of cattle. It was concluded that donkeys play a critical role in providing draught power for smallholder farmers but that their potential is not fully utilised.
在津巴布韦的小农农业中，畜力牵引是农业劳作最重要的动力来源。开展了两项研究，一项调查和一项短期田间试验，以评估使用驴作为役畜的情况。该调查涵盖了两个小农种植区的59户家庭。在田间试验中，12头驴和12头牛分别以4头一组进行编组，用于耕犁40米×70米的中等质地土壤地块。调查结果突出了驴相较于牛的耐旱性。驴的死亡率更低。牵引性能试验结果表明，驴每天耕犁的面积比牛少（P<0.05），且行走速度比牛慢（P<0.05）。两个物种之间的牵引力没有显著差异（P<0.05）。用驴耕犁的每小时工作量是牛的65%。得出的结论是，驴在为小农提供牵引动力方面发挥着关键作用，但它们的潜力尚未得到充分利用。
