Abstract

  Goat feed inventory and feed balance studies were conducted in Hamer and Bena-Tsemay Woredas with the aim of assessing the current status of major goat feed resources, dry matter availability and goat feed balance. Five kebeles from Bena-Tsemay and three kebeles from Hamer were selected. In each Woreda, between eight and twelve herders were selected to participate in focus group discussions (FGD). Herders were interviewed about major feed resource for goats, their availability, seasonal dynamics and the plant parts utilised by goats. In addition to the FGDs, in each of the study kebeles, subsets of the experienced herders were asked to collect samples of forage species mentioned in the FGDs. These samples were catalogued in code corresponding to local names for each species and botanical names subsequently assigned, following identification by trained botanists. The findings from this study revealed that there were 22 and 20, 51 and 40 herbaceous and browse forage species identified as goat feeds from Hamer and Bena- Tsemay Woredas respectively. The herders also reported that goat feed was generally plentiful from April to August and became scarce during January and February. The estimated total annual maintenance dry matter requirement for goats across districts is likely to be in the order of 470,000 and 170,000 tons which exceeds the estimated dry matter of 370,000 and 40,000 tons produced for Hamer and Bena-Tsemay respectively and equates to estimated deficits of roughly 94,000 and 129,000 tons of dry matter. It was therefore, recommended that the primarily focus on improving the existing feed resources through area enclosure, improving poor quality feeds, forage banking during surplus production, introduction and demonstration of adaptable cultivated fodder species and enhancing the utilisation of native browse species as a local protein supplements.

Keywords: Goat Feed Resources; Feed Resource Availability; Feed Resource Dynamics; Feed Balance

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Citation

Citation: Denbela Hidosa., et al. “Goat Feed Inventory and Feed Balance in Hamer and Bena-Tsemay Woreda of South Omo Zone, South Western Ethiopia". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 2.6 (2020): 28-43.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Denbela Hidosa., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.