title: Cattle management practices and milk production on mixed smallholder organic pineapple farms in Central Uganda.
abstract: A longitudinal study to assess animal management practices and milk production was conducted for a period of 12 months on 30 smallholder farms keeping dairy cattle and certified organic pineapple production in Luwero and Kayunga districts, based on questionnaire and on-farm collected data. Farm sizes were 9.3 ± 6.7 acres in tethering system and 4.3 ± 2.6 acres in zero-grazing. Fifty-four percent of the zero-grazing herds had animal housing facilities. All farmers in tethering system kept cows on earthen floors and calves without bedding. Hygiene level in existing farms was low. Majority of calves were fed once a day by restricted suckling (77 %). Seventy-four percent of tethered cows were only fed on natural grass, while cows under zero-grazing system had a more diversified diet but with 82 % feeding mainly Napier grass. Most farms (87 %) used bulls for breeding. Milk production was higher (P < 0.05) in zero-grazing (6.5 L/cow/day) than tethering system, and higher (P < 0.05) for Holstein-Friesian crossbred cows (5.2 L/cow/day) than local breed cows (2.6 L/cow/day). Less than 1 L of milk per farm per day on average was sold. Disease treatments were exclusively for helminths, East Coast fever, and trypanasomiasis. Spraying of ticks and deworming were important control measures of vector-borne diseases. There is potential to develop alternative feed resources for dairy cattle and biorational pesticides for control and treatment of vector-borne diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock and Industrial Resources, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. drnalubwama@gmail.com.|Department of Agricultural Production, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. drnalubwama@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nalubwama
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Production, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830, Tjele, Denmark.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaarst
authors.affiliation: OrgANIMprove, Karveel 13-03, 8231 AT, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smolders
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Production, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiggundu
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000502:physiology*; D003612:Dairying; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008892:Milk / Q000191:economics / Q000502:physiology*; D058871:Organic Agriculture; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014454:Uganda
keywords: Cattle management; Milk production; Organic