Degradation of crop and grazing lands is a pervasive problem that negatively impacts agricultural productivity and livelihoods of crop-livestock farmers in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Area enclosure together with a cut and carry livestock feeding system is often advocated as an approach for the regeneration of degraded grazing lands. This paper reports the results of a two-year farmer participatory study conducted to assess the effects of infiltration trenches (ITs) and Chloris gayana Kunth (Rhodes grass; cultivar Masaba; tetraploid; C4 grass species) reseeding on restoration of degraded grazing lands. A split plot design was used with IT as the main plot and C. gayana reseeding as a sub-plot on 28 private grazing plots under enclosure. The results showed that IT alone increased soil moisture content and prolonged the growing period. IT and C. gayana reseeding together significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased herbage dry matter yield and improved soil chemical properties. The highest mean herbage dry matter yield (21 Mg ha−1 per cut) was recorded for plots treated with IT and reseeded with C. gayana. The higher herbage dry matter yield was attributed to increased soil moisture and the resultant prolonged growing period induced by the trenches coupled with the ability of C. gayana to effectively utilize the retained water. The results suggest that an integrated land management approach involving enclosure, in-situ water conservation and C. gayana reseeding can rapidly increase biomass productivity on degraded grazing lands while also enhancing soil quality with concomitant livelihood benefits for farmers.
Article Information Panicum coloratum (PC) and Stylosanthes guianensis (SG) mixed pasture was established to assess the effect of seed proportion and planting pattern on Dry Matter Yield (DMY), compatibility and nutrient content of the mixed stand. Seeds of PC and SG were mixed as 50%PC+50% SG and 25% PC+75% SG and sown in same row, alternate row and broad casting pattern. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used to layout the experiment. The 50%PC+50%SG proportion resulted in significantly (p<0.01) higher DMY for PC (p<0.0001) while the 75% SG+25%PC mixture resulted in significantly higher DMY of SG (p<0.0001). For PC and SG, and total herbage yield, an alternate row planting pattern gave significantly highest (p<0.0001) yield, followed by broadcasting. Planting along the same row resulted in inferior values (p<0.0001) for all parameters, which perhaps is induced by the severity of competition between species. The RY (Relative Yield), LER (Land Equivalent Ratio), and CR (Competitive Ratio) values also imply similar trends for DMY of the component species. The legume DMY steadily increased from first to third year for the 75% SG+25% PC proportion. It can thus be concluded that the 50%PC+50SG proportion sown in alternate pattern was favorable for DMY in PC whereas the 25%PC+ 75%SG proportion combined with alternate row pattern was appropriate for the legume. Intercropping SG into PC sward at 25%PC+75%SG mixed proportions also improved the CP content, IVDMD and reduced NDF content.
Dairy cattle production is an integral part of smallholder farming systems in the central highlands of Ethiopia, but it is characterized by low milk productivity mainly due to nutritional constraints. This study assessed the comparative advantage of using improved forage-based feeding system over the traditional feeding practices on feed intake, milk yield and quality, and cost benefit analysis of crossbred dairy cows under smallholder farmers. The study was conducted at Welmera and Ejere districts on 12 farmers and two cows per farmer, and two dietary treatments were assigned to each cow randomly, and the study lasted 8 weeks. The treatments were: 1) intervention diet composed of oats-vetch mixture hay with concentrate supplementation at the rate of 0.5 kg/l of milk and 2) basal diet following farmers’ current feeding practices: crop residues and native hay, commonly soaked with local brewery residue (“Atela”) and water. The results showed that there was no difference in total dry matter intake between the two diets. However, the basal feed intake was higher in the traditional feeding practice by 11% whereas the concentrate intake was higher in the intervention diet by 25%. Crude protein intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the intervention group by 23%. As a result, milk yield was increased by 36% under oat-vetch mixed fodder-based feeding system as compared to the traditional feeding practice. Consequently, the amount of feed required per unit of milk was lower in the intervention group, indicating higher feed conversion efficiency as compared to the traditional feeding practice. On the other hand, there was no significant variation in milk composition between the two groups. Partial budget analysis indicated that the benefit from the intervention diet (95 birr/cow/day) was greater by 266% than that obtained from the traditional practice (45 birr/cow/day). Utilization of improved forage varieties was proven to play significant role in supplying good quality and abundant feed resource that increased milk yield and also fetch additional economic return for smallholder farmers compared to the existing traditional practice. In general, this study demonstrates that adoption of improved forage production and feeding practices along with sufficient training on balanced ration formulation has been observed to increase dairy productivity and food security through provision of sustainable livelihood opportunity for smallholder farmers.
Seed dormancy is among the major problems associated with pasture establishment from Rhodes grass. Two experiments were conducted with the aim to assess the effects of storage period (years), husking and seed treatment on germination rate of Rhodes grass seeds of two cultivars, Callide and Masaba, at Kulumsa and Debre Zeit Research Centers. The first experiment included two seed lots (harvested in years 2013 and 2014) and two husking treatments (husked and with husk) laid out in split plot design with four replications. The second experiment had three seed lots (harvested in 2012, 2013 and 2014), three chemical treatments (KNO3, Ethanol, and H2O) and untreated control for each lot in randomized complete block design with three replications. In the first experiment, germination rate ranged from 13.5% in freshly harvested seeds with husk to 85.5% in aged seeds without husk. Husking improved germination and this may be attributed to improved access of emb water, exclusion of empty husks and elimination of physical barriers to germination. In the second experiment, germination rate ranged from 3.3% in untreated fresh seeds to 21.1% in seeds harvested in 2012 and pre-treatment with KNO harvested seeds of Rhodes grass have very low germination rate in both experiments while husk removal and pre-soaking in KNO3 solution improved performance in new as well as older seed stocks. However, it is recommended that further stu with comprehensive information on the period required in months to achieve maximum possible germination rate; the interactive effects of husking, chemical treatment, and genotype; and the underlying mechanism of dormancy.
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