The issues of measurement of technical efficiency in the production of matoke in Uganda are investigated. A Cobb-Douglas functional form is used to represent the underlying production technology and corrected least squares procedure to estimate the model and the farm-specific measures of technical efficiency. The data consists of a crossection of 288 matoke-producing family farms during the crop year 1990-1991. The productive performance of farms are compared according to the size of land. The impact of various production characteristics on the production structure of the farms is also tested. The empirical results from a comparison of different farm sizes show very small variations in mean efficiency between the different size classes. Some variations in the distribution of farms within each size-class are observed. The mean technical efficiency is found to be 65%.

Description of the physical characteristics of livestock breeds is very important for developing a breeding strategy in a particular production system. Doyogena sheep are among the potential breeds of Ethiopia reared in the mixed perennial crop and livestock production system of Southern Ethiopia. This research was conducted to characterise the morphological features of Doyogena sheep in an attempt to develop a breeding strategy that suits the production system of the area. A total of 512 sheep were characterized for different morphological features. Most (74.6%) of the sheep in the flock were females and 34.4% were old sheep of four and above dentition classes. Light red and red coat colours were abundant (71.5%) and 74% of the colour pattern was plain. Doyogena sheep are long fat-tailed (100%) and short haired (93.4%). The overall least square mean body weight was 31.64±0.43 kg and was affected by sex and age of sheep. The mean heart girth (74.08±0.39 cm), body length (58.84±0.30 cm), and height at rump (69.71±0.29 cm) were also affected by sex and dentition. Positive and significant correlations were obtained between body weight and other linear body measurements. The highest correlation coefficient was between body weight and heart girth. The positive and significant correlation of weight with linear body measurements indicate that linear body measurements can be used as a marker to estimate weight for different purposes. Different models can be used for different purposes. For simplicity, models with one variable can be used for marketing and by farmers. For breeding and selection purposes, since there is a need to be more precise, use of models involving more number of variables is important.

An exploratory survey was undertaken in Doyogena district of Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples region of Ethiopia to understand the sheep production system, the breeding practices, selection criteria and sheep production constraints in order to develop a sheep breeding strategy. Data were collected from 107 households using semi-structured questionnaire and group discussion. Descriptive statistics and index were used to present the data. The agricultural production system of the area was Ensete ventricosum -crop-livestock production system. Crop production was found to contribute to most of the households' food and income followed by sheep and cattle production. The main sheep production objective was the sale of young and fattened sheep. The mean sheep holding was 4.02±2.58 to which most (43.5%) were breeding females. Only 47.2% of the respondents own breeding ram and 42.5% of them use controlled mating. Body size (index = 0.232) and appearance (index = 0.305) were the first selection criteria used for ewe and ram selection, respectively. Castration of rams and culling of unwanted sheep through sale, slaughter, and exchange was a common practice. Old age and poor physical condition were the first culling criteria for female and male sheep, respectively. Castration age ranges from 12 to 72 months when the ram have been used for breeding. Castrated animals were the first priority followed by young males to be sold in the flock when the family needs money. Feed shortage (index = 0.34), lack of input like credit service (index = 0.18), and diseases and parasites (index = 0.124) were the top three major sheep production bottlenecks in the district accounting for about 64.4% of the total weight. Finally, to fully utilize the potential of the breed and the area, production constraints need to be addressed along with genetic improvement and appropriate institutional setup.

No abstract