ON-FARM EVALUATION THE EFFECTIVE MICROBES AND UREA TREATED RICE STRAW ON PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL DAIRY COWS AND FARMERS PERCEPTION IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of supplementary feeding of “Effective Microorganisms (EM)” and Urea treated rice straw on milk production performance of local cows using supplementary feeding of concentrate mixture as positive control treatment, under small holder’s condition in Fogera district. Assessment of the farmer’s perception was also included. A total of 40 farmers owning lactating local cow(s) at early lactating stage with 1-3 stage of parity were purposively selected based on information provided by Development Agents and District Livestock experts. The farmers were trained in the principles of straw treatment, dairy cattle management, data collection and related issues. The farmers (45 cows) were randomly (lottery method) assigned three different treatments (grazing plus urea treated rice straw, grazing plus EM treated rice straw and grazing plus concentrate mixture) in Randomized Complete Block Design. All the data collected were subjected to statistical analysis. The results obtained showed that there was increase in crude protein content and reduction in total fiber fraction of rice straw as a result of treatment with both urea and EM solution. There was improvement in milk production of all the treatment groups. Mean milk production /cow/day was higher for the groups assigned to grazing plus supplementary feeding of EM treated rice straw, followed by the groups placed on grazing with the addition of supplementary concentrate mixture. The results of partial budget analysis showed that the group placed on grazing plus supplementary EM treated rice straw produced at cheaper cost of production and brought significantly higher daily net return. On the contrary, the groups placed on grazing with the addition of supplementary concentrate mixture were characterized by high cost of production compared to the others. EM treated rice straw produced at cheaper cost of production and brought significantly higher daily net return. The results of analysis of farmers’ perception elucidated that all the participated farmers (100% of the respondents) reported to have impressed by the results of the technologies tested and would like to proceed with the promising one with their own resources aimed at improving the performance of lactating cows. According to the results of the current study, it can be concluded that feeding of supplementary rice straw treated with EM to dairy cows is economically viable under small holders conditions compared to the others.