Abstract
In Sudan, many Butana cattle farmers practice indiscriminate crossbreeding to improve the milk yield performance of cows, as organized breeding programs are lacking. Objectives of this study were to identify the current production conditions of Butana cattle and to determine farmers’ production objectives and trait preferences using a field survey. The overall aim was to explore the possibility of establishing a community-based breeding program for the genetic improvement of the breed. A semi-structured questionnaire and field visits were used to collect data from 202 Butana cattle owners. Data were analyzed using chi-squared test, multiple response analysis, and binary logistic regression. Our results showed that Butana cattle farmers mainly raised their animals for milk production. On a five-point scale (5 = most important), milk yield (4.6 ± 0.05), growth performance (4.0 ± 0.07), and lactation length (3.9 ± 0.08) were highly preferred for future development of the breed. One-third of the farmers kept crossbred cattle with on average 4 crossbred animals per herd. About two-thirds of respondents were willing to adopt crossbreeding using exotic breeds to increase milk performance and about the same proportion were willing to exchange breeding bulls and establish farmers’ associations. None of the respondents kept written performance records. However, educated farmers were more likely to adopt record keeping. Farmers’ willingness to engage in associations could be useful for the establishment of a community-based breeding program. Based on the current farmers’ production objectives, the future breeding program should emphasize increasing milk production of the Butana cattle by using improved Butana bulls in village herds.
Highlights
Indigenous livestock contribute to milk and meat supply, and represent an essential source of employment, income creation, and export earnings of many communities in rural areas in African countries (FAO 2015; Behnke and Osman 2016)
The development and successful implementation of a breeding program for local breeds require the definition of a comprehensive breeding objective, a holistic description of the production system, and the involvement of producers at every stage in the planning and implementation process (Kosgey et al 2006; Duguma et al 2010)
Our results showed that milk production is the main production objective for keeping Butana cattle
Summary
Indigenous livestock contribute to milk and meat supply, and represent an essential source of employment, income creation, and export earnings of many communities in rural areas in African countries (FAO 2015; Behnke and Osman 2016). In Sudan, the number of indigenous cattle is estimated at 31 million heads (FAO 2019) They are kept under different production systems, e.g., mobile, sedentary, pastoral, and agropastoral production. Among indigenous Sudanese cattle, the Butana breed is considered to be one of the most promising breeds suited for milk production in semi-arid regions (Musa et al 2005; Badri et al 2011). It plays an essential role in milk supply in addition to fulfilling other functions such as the provision of draught power, insurance, and socio-cultural needs of rural communities. Crossbreeding with exotic breeds is practiced indiscriminately by smallholder producers without any formal breeding policy or breeding programs to conserve the breed (Musa et al 2008)
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