Abstract
Climate change affects food security and livelihood in Malawi, and the Food and Agricultural Organization emphasises the intensification of milk and meat production to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Measures to increase the robustness of smallholder dairy production to better cope with the new challenges are urgently needed. A field experiment was therefore conducted to investigate the effect of supplementing lactating Zebu cows on performance of the cows and their offspring in Malawi.
A total of 98 cows were included and allocated to experimental and control groups matched by parity, age of calves and geographical location of farm. The intervention was additional feeding during the dry season with 2 kg extra maize bran per cow per day and leguminous leaves (Gliricidia sepium). The experimental group in year one of the study (n = 28) received in total 114 kg additional leaves, and the experimental group (n = 21) received 240 kg extra leaves during the second year of study. The cows were followed for 15 consecutive months (experimental period). The outcome was reproductive performance, length of the lactation period and weight gain in calves.
The Kaplan-Meier survival estimator was used to compare calving interval and lactation period between experiment and control groups. Additional feeding did not stimulate reproduction efficiency in this trial. However, it promoted the length of the lactation period. Multivariable linear models predicted increased growth in calves of cows fed the higher quantity of leguminous leaves. Body girth was numerically lower in male compared to female calves. This study reveals a potential for intensified and more sustainable meat and milk production through changes in feeding regimes.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Malawian smallholder farmers, who actively participated in this study. We are grateful to Dr. Liveness Jessica Banda and Dr. Fanny Chigwa, Animal Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), for their help in laboratory analyses. This study was supported by the project: “Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change in Malawi (CABMACC)”, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding
This study was funded by Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change in Malawi (grant number CABMACC).
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Bhatti, M.A. et al. (2020). Effect of Dry Season Supplement Feeding of Malawi Zebu Cows on Reproductive Performance, Lactation and Weight Gain in Calves. In: Singh, B., Safalaoh, A., Amuri, N., Eik, L., Sitaula, B., Lal, R. (eds) Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource Sustainability in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_14
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