Livestock production in central Mali: economic characters and productivity indices for Sudanese Fulani cattle in the agro-pastoral system
1989
Wilson, R.T. (International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia))
Data relating to traditionally managed Sudanese Fulani cattle for 1978-1984 were analyzed for the Niono area, Central Mali. Characters included age at calving, calving interval, postpartum weight of the cows, 365-day calf weight and mortality. From the economic characters of parturition interval, postpartum weight, mortality of young to 365 days and weight of young at 365 days, 3 productivity indices were constructed. Calving interval (725 days) was not significantly affected by any variable. Cow postpartum weight (214 kg) was significantly affected by the management unit, season, year of calving and cow parity. The herd and the year in which a calf was born exerted a significant influence on yearling weight (365 day calf weight). Mortality to 365 days (17.4 %) was significantly affected by system and the year. The index, weight of young produced per cow per year (36.0 kg) was affected significantly by parity but the values of the other indices were not significantly affected by any of the variables. Significant correlations between calving interval, 365 day weight and mortality indicated some progress might be achieved in improving output from traditional systems. Lack of significant effects of the different variables on the indices themselves precluded easy construction of appropriate improvement paths applicable to the traditional system
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