Background: Ethiopia has many equines, which are important for the livelihood of many smallholder farmers in the country. However, there has been no study on the management of draft horses under farmers condition in this area of the country; hence, this study was conducted with the objective to determine the status of horse management and feeding practices in the area. The study areas were selected purposively based on the availability of horses. The study was conducted by administering a semi-structured questionnaire to horse owners and with complimentary information from key informants and secondary data sources. Results:The majority of household heads were in the age range of 41-50 years in Banja Shekudad district while 51-60 years in Ankesha Guagusa district. Regarding education status, 38 and 34% of household heads in Banja Shekudad district and Ankesha Guagusa district, respectively, were illiterate. The finding of this study elucidates that horses were used in both districts for many kinds of activities including land cultivation. The purpose of horse keeping in Banja Shekudad districts is ploughing only (32%) followed by packing of goods (21%) while packing of goods (31%) followed by riding only (22%) in Ankesha Guagusa district. Overall respondents (100%) noted that horses breed early in rainy season in both districts, which might be associated with availability of feed resources during the rainy season. The majority of horse owners have no training in relation to horses husbandry, while few (24.12% in Banja Shekudad and 33.78% in Ankesha Guagusa districts) have got some horse-specific training mainly related to feeding and health care of horses. Horses were kept mainly for ploughing in both districts. Horses were provided supplementary feeds by 49 and 74.5% in Banja Shekudad and Ankesha Guagusa districts, respectively. Watering of horses was commonly practiced twice a day during dry season while once during wet season. In both districts, the majority of horse owners had no formal training on horse husbandry. Lack of knowledge on horse management and feeding were the major problems observed. Conclusion:In the study area, draft horses are very important in the livelihood of smallholder farmers. However, the overall husbandry of draft horses and feeds and feeding in particular of horses was found to be poor. The reason for such poor husbandry was mainly due to shortage of resources and lack of awareness about management practices. Hence, it is concluded that adequate credit service, training and finding alternative feeds and feeding practices should be addressed to utilize full potential of working horses.
Asmare B, Yayeh Z. 2018. Determinants of rice by-products utilization as feed and their management in Ethiopia: the case of Fogera District. Asian J Agric 2: 1-7. The study was conducted with the objective to determine the status of farmers’ rice byproduct utilization as feed in Fogera district, northwestern Ethiopia. Eighty smallholder farmers were selected purposely based on livestock population and rice production access. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to select farmers systematically. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS descriptive statistical analysis. The result indicated that the majority of respondents in the study area were with the range from 31 to 50 years (55%). Education status of respondents showed that the majority of household heads were able to read and write (27.5%) followed by elementary school (26.25%) and high school (17.5%) completed. The main dry season feed in the majority of households (46.25%) was found to be grazing and crop residues. The majority (64.62%) of farmers used rice by-products as livestock feed, followed by both feed and house construction. Types of by-products used for animal feed by respondent’s elucidated majority (61.5%) used rice straw, considerable proportion (26.15%) rice bran and (12.30%) used both straw and bran for animal feed based on availability. The sources of rice by-products indicated for many of respondents (66.7%) was farm produced, 18.5% use purchased and 18.4% get rice by-products both from farm produced and purchasing for their animal feed. Type of animals fed rice byproducts including cattle in the case of majority of respondents (49.23%), cattle and equine, followed (24.62%), and all animals (13.85%), respectively. In livestock owners, rice by-products are fed to livestock as sole feed and mixed with other feeds, however, the majority (69.2%) of households provides sole followed by both sole and mixed with other feeds (16.9%). Many of the respondents (55%) apply drying followed by addition of salt water (22.5%) as method of improving the rice by-products. The main constraints observed in rice by-products utilization as feed were seasonal deficiency of by-products (25.5%) followed by lack of awareness (16.25%).Though these problems prevailed in the study area, rice by-products are being used as a major crop residue feed with little or no improvement applied. Generally, it can be included that rice by-products were found very important feed resources in the rice dominated farming system of Fogera district. To exploit these products properly, farmers need to be assisted through proper agricultural extension service and supply in the form of credit service. Moreover, further on detailed on-farm experimentation should be done to demonstrate better utilization of the products as livestock feed.
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