EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF MUTURU CATTLE UNDER THE TRADITIONAL VILLAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF MUTURU CATTLE UNDER THE TRADITIONAL VILLAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract:

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the trypanotolerant Muturu Cattle kept under traditional village management system in the trypanosomiasis endemic southern guinea savanna of Benue State. In the first study, surveys were conducted during the rainy season months of May – July 1990 to obtain base line data on systems of management, reproductive performance, disease, marketing and constraints affecting productivity in 362 herds made up of 2,490 head of cattle. Under the traditional village management conditions, more than half of the farmers (57%) kept only a small herd size of 1 – 5 animals mainly for commercial purpose i.e. to generate income. The most popular system of management was semi-intensive (55%). During both dry and rainy season, Muturu cattle obtained their feed from grazing (71.4 and 85.3% respectively) and supplementary feed was hardly fed (3.6% in the rainy season and 8% in the dry season) because many farmers (43.9%) never even heard of it. Age at first service was less than 2 years (46.4%) while age at first calving was 2 – 3 years (49.2%) in these traditionally managed cattle. Abortion rate (14.6%), calf mortality (10.8%) and incidence of disease, diarrhoea (27.1%) were low. Most farmers (76.4%) did not vaccinate their animals. Those farmers who treated their animals (44.2%) and those who did not treat (45.0%) were about the same. Those who treated, used traditional methods i.e. herbs (81.2%). Most farmers sold their animals life (73.5%) for reasons of family support (34.0%). Lack of feed and water were the biggest management problems facing most farmers (40.8%) while lack of veterinary services, lack of capital and lack of grazing land were the other problems faced by Muturu cattle farmers. Most farmers (56.8%) said that granting of loans to them would improve the numbers and management of their Muturu herd. Investigations conducted on Raav Livestock Investigation and Breeding Centre (L.I.B.C.), the only institutional farm in Benue State where Muturu cattle are kept, revealed that age at first service was 18 – 30 months while age at first calving ranged from 27 – 39 months. Calving rate was 57%, calf mortality 5%, weaning rate 80 – 90% and culling rate of 1% mainly from cryptorchid bulls. The average birth weight of calves was 14kg., average weaning weight at 6 – 8 months was 48kg while average weight of cows at mating was 143kg. It appears from these results that Muturu cattle in Raav LIBC did not perform better than those under traditional village management condition. This may have been due to lack of adequate supplementary feeding as funds for procuring them were always insufficient. It was concluded that Muturu cattle were hardy animals and that under the traditional village management conditions, it appeared disease was not a constraint militating against production. Probably all that needs to be done now was to explore and take advantage of these unique characteristics and effect increased productivity through improved management. In the second study, surveys were conducted during the dry season months of November, 1990 – February, 1991 to assess the integration of Muturu into mixed farming system of the people and address constraints of husbandry/management under the traditional village production system. Results from 394 respondents involving 2,336 Muturu cattle revealed that an overwhelming majority of Muturu farmers (90.9%) kept other livestock (such as goats, pigs, sheep and poultry) apart from Muturu cattle but 86.0% considered rearing of Muturu cattle more important than keeping other livestock for reasons of profitability (79.3%). All Muturu cattle farmers (100%) cultivated crops mainly yams (84.6%) and that crop farming was more important (82.1%) than raising Muturu or other livestock. Majority of Muturu farmers (66.1%) fed crop residues to their Muturu cattle mainly yam and cassava peels (38.5 and 19.8% respectively) while feeding of cereal crop residues such as guinea corn (sorghum) stover, maize stover and rice straw was low. Nearly all Muturu cattle farmers owned land (97.7%) through inheritance (95.4%) and more of this land was set aside for cropping (81.2%) rather than raising Muturu cattle (16.0%). During the dry season, grazing natural grass (92.9%) rather than improved pasture (6.9%) was the rule. While an overwhelming majority of Muturu cattle farmers (82.6%) allowed their cattle to roam freely during the dry season, only 13.5% confined their cattle mainly through tethering (79.4%) during the rainy season (49.5%). Majority of Muturu farmers (80.2%) reported problems of crop damage by free-roaming cattle while those who did not experience this problem were very few (5.1%). While a majority of Muturu cattle farmers (74.5%) did not apply cattle manure on crop farms, 2 5.3% did. An overwhelming majority of Muturu farmers (87.6%) did not use Muturu cattle for traction while 3.0% said they did. It appears from these findings that the rearing of Muturu cattle is not properly integrated in the mixed farming system in Benue State. However, the popular practice of grazing natural pasture and feeding crop residues during the dry season calls for an urgent need to determine and assess the nutritional value of these feed resources in meeting the demands for improved productivity of Muturu cattle under the traditional village management system. In a third study, a one – year two season study of the prevalence of trypanosomiasis and its effect on rectal temperature and some blood parameters in 247 Muturu cattle was carried out between September 1991 and July 1992. The studies were conducted during the rainy season months of September 1991, May and July 1992 and the dry season months of November 1991, January and March 1992 in five (5) randomly selected L.G.As of the former Benue State namely; Gboko, Gwer, Katsina-Ala, Kwande and Ushongo. ix Analysis of data showed that the prevalence of trypanosomiasis in Muturu cattle as determined by the parasitological method of thick smear examination, was low (8.9%). T. vivax was most prevalent followed by T. brucei while T. conqolense could not be detected by this method. More cattle had trypanosomiasis in the rainy season (5.7%) than in the dry season (3.8%). Gwer L.G.A. had the highest prevalence rate of 19.6% during the rainy season. Investigations using Antibody ELISA technique however showed a higher prevalence rate of infection (66.8%) than the conventional parasitological techniques (8.9%). The Antibody ELISA also discriminated between infected and non-infected cattle and differentiated between the different Trypanosome Species in cases of mixed infection. The results of the study suggested that the Antibody ELISA was a more useful technique for epidemiological assessment of bovine trypanosomiasis in Nigeria than the conventional parasitological techniques. The prevalence of other blood parasites was very low (1.2% for babesiosis). Analysis of blood parameters in 247 Muturu cattle grazing natural pasture and crop residues under the traditional village management system revealed that the animals maintained normal rectal temperatures, Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorus (P) during the period of the study. Total Protein (TP) in the blood of all these animals were, however, consistently low. Trypanosomiasis had no significant effect (P>.05) on rectal temperature and blood variables examined in this study. However, serum Mg levels in Muturu cattle from Gwer, Kwande and Ushongo LGAs were significantly (P<.01) higher than those from Gboko and Katsina-Ala LGAs. Serum Hb, PCV, TP, and Ca were significantly (P<.001) higher in the rainy season than in the dry season, while serum TP in female animals were significantly (P<.001) higher than those in male animals. Age did not have any significant effect on rectal temperature and the other blood variables studied. Correlation between the variables studied revealed that there were many more correlations in the females than in the males. In the male animals, only Hb was significantly (P <.05) correlated to TP (r = .295), whereas in the female animals, Hb (r = .224), and PCV (r = .413) were highly correlated to TP at (P < .01) and (P <.001) respectively. PCV was however negatively correlated (r = – .402) with rectal temperature, and highly significant (P < .001). Ca and P were also highly correlated to Mg (r = .295 and .315 respectively). These correlations were highly significant, (P < .001 and P < .01 respectively). The higher correlation in the females may have been due to higher numbers of females (185) than males (68) used in the study. These differences may also have been due to the complex physiological processes in the female arising from pregnancy, formation of skeleton of the foetus and lactation. In the fourth study, the nutritive value of natural pastures and crop residues which were the commonly used feed resources for feeding Muturu cattle, were determined and assessed for their sufficiency or insufficiency in protein and mineral in meeting requirements for the dry and wet seasons. During both seasons Andropogon spp appeared to be the most common native grass grazed by the animals. Other grasses included Imperata cylindrica, Hyparrhenia sp. Penicum sp and Pennisetum pedicellatum. Chemical composition values did not differ among the Local Government Areas (LGAs). Only the DM, Ash and Ca were significantly influenced by season. DM of grasses consumed during the dry season was significantly (P< 0.001) higher (96.3 ± 1.18%) than those consumed in the wet season (30.2 ± 1.40%). Ash content in the wet season (25.2 ± 2.36%) was higher (P< 0.01) than those in the dry season (7.9 ± 2.00%). The Ca content of grasses consumed in the dry season (0.69 ± 0.053%) was significantly (P< 0.01) higher than that found in the grasses consumed in the wet season (0.34 + 0.063%). The chemical composition of crop residues (yam peels, cassava peels, sorghum stover, maize stover and rice straw) revealed that the DM, CP and Ca contents of the residues were not statistically different (P> 0.05). On the other hand NDF, ADF and P differed significantly (P< 0.01) among the various residues. Similarly, Ash and Mg contents differed (P< 0.05) among the various crop residues. NDF of yam peels (81.6 + 3.98%) differed significantly (P< 0.001) from those of cassava (30.0 ± 3.98%). The P content of sorghum stover (0.25 ± 0.024%) was significantly (P< 0.05) higher than that of maize stover (0.05 ± 0.024%). Similarly, the P and Mg contents of sorghum stover was significantly (P< 0.01) higher than that for rice straw. Ash contents of rice straw was significantly (P< 0.001) higher than that of maize stover while Mg contents of maize stover was significantly (P< 0.05) higher than the corresponding value for rice straw. When the tuber peels were compared with the cereal stovers/straw, the NDF, ADF and Ash contents were all significantly (P< 0.05) higher for the stovers than the peels. On the whole, the native grasses and crop residues were highly fibrous, low in protein and deficient in P and Mg during the wet and dry seasons. It was concluded that protein, phosphorus and magnesium were limiting in the diets of these traditionally managed Muturu cattle in Benue State. It was suggested that supplementation with protein, phosphorus and magnesium be encouraged.

EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF MUTURU CATTLE UNDER THE TRADITIONAL VILLAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

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