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Some traditional livestock selection criteria as practiced by several indigenous communities of Southern Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2014

Sandip Banerjee ,
Mohammed Beyan  and
Hiwot Bekele
Sandip Banerjee*
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, HawassaEthiopia
Mohammed Beyan
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, HawassaEthiopia
Hiwot Bekele
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, HawassaEthiopia
*
Correspondence to: S. Banerjee, School of Animal and Range Sciences, Hawassa University, P.O. Box 05, Hawassa, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. email: sansoma2003@yahoo.co.in; sansoma2003@gmail.com
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Summary

Livestock husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy of the country in a tangible or intangible way. The livestock are selected for their functional efficiency and also for their adaptability to the particular agro climate. The study was conducted at two selected woredas (districts) of Southern Ethiopia and was based on individual interviews; focus group discussion and questioner survey. The results indicated that livestock are selected based on some traditional methods by the elders of the society. The respondents indicated that they maintained informal pedigree for cattle and horses based on their dam line, while phenotype of an animal viz. presence or absence of hair whorl, udder and teat length, length of the legs, body length played an important role in selecting the bovines. Tail type, presence of wattles, leg length and coat colour were considered while selecting the small ruminants. Chickens with single comb are preferred over the other types. Coat colour played an important role in selection for functional efficiency of cattle. The study indicated that most of these selection attributes had correlation with the production and reproduction efficiency of the livestock as was explained by several authors. It is suggested that further studies should be carried out to validate the selection methods and incorporate them in region-wise livestock selection strategies.

Résumé

L'élevage joue un rôle important dans l'économie rurale du pays de façon tangible ou intangible. Le bétail sont sélectionnés pour leur efficacité fonctionnelle et aussi pour leur capacité d'adaptation au climat agro particulier. L'étude a été menée dans deux woredas sélectionnés du sud de l'Ethiopie et a été basée sur des entretiens individuels, groupes de discussion sondage de discussion et poser des questions. Les résultats indiquent que le bétail sont sélectionnés sur la base des méthodes traditionnelles par les anciens de la société. Les répondants ont indiqué qu'ils maintenaient pedigree informel pour les bovins et les chevaux en fonction de leur lignée maternelle, alors que le phénotype d'un savoir sur les animaux. La présence ou l'absence de spirale de cheveux, la mamelle et les trayons longueur, la longueur des jambes, la longueur du corps ont joué un rôle important dans la sélection des bovins. Type de queue, la présence de barbillons, la longueur des jambes et la couleur du pelage ont été considérés lors de la sélection des petits ruminants. Poulets avec un peigne simples sont préférés aux autres types. Robe a joué un rôle important dans le choix de l'efficacité fonctionnelle du bétail. L'étude a indiqué que la plupart de ces attributs de sélection avait corrélation avec la production et l'efficacité de reproduction du bétail comme cela a été expliqué par plusieurs auteurs. il est suggéré que d'autres études doivent être menées afin de valider les méthodes de sélection et de les intégrer dans les stratégies de sélection du bétail sages de la région.

Resumen

La ganadería desempeña un papel importante en la economía rural del país ya sea de forma tangible o intangible. El ganado es seleccionado en base a su eficiencia funcional y también de acuerdo con su capacidad de adaptación a unas condiciones agroclimáticas particulares. Este estudio fue llevado a cabo en dos woredas del Sur de Etiopía y para su realización se emplearon entrevistas individuales, grupos focales de discusión y una encuesta. Los resultados indicaron que el ganado es seleccionado por los ancianos del lugar en base a métodos tradicionales. Las personas encuestadas señalaron que controlan, de manera informal, la genealogía del ganado bovino y de los caballos, siguiendo la línea materna. Rasgos fenotípicos del animal como, por ejemplo, la presencia o ausencia de remolinos de pelo, el tamaño de la ubre y la longitud de los pezones, la longitud de las patas y la longitud del cuerpo son criterios importantes para la selección del ganado bovino. El tipo de cola, la presencia de mamellas, la longitud de las patas y el color de la capa son aspectos que se tienen en cuenta para la selección de los pequeños rumiantes. En cuanto a las gallinas, se prefieren aquéllas con cresta sencilla. El color de la capa juega un papel destacado cuando la selección va encaminada a mejorar la eficiencia funcional del ganado bovino. El estudio mostró que la mayoría de estos atributos de selección estaban correlacionados con la eficiencia productiva y reproductiva del ganado, tal y como ya había sido observado por varios autores. Se sugiere que los próximos estudios deberían ir dirigidos a validar los métodos de selección para, a continuación, incorporarlos en las estrategias de selección de ganado de la región.

Keywords

livestock selectionSouthern Ethiopiatraditional methodssélection du bétailméthodes traditionnellesSud d'Éthiopieselección del ganadométodos tradicionalesSur de Etiopía
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales , Volume 54 , June 2014 , pp. 153 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2014 

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