Cattle breeding management practices in the Gwayi smallholder farming area of South-Western Zimbabwe

摘要

TheobjectiveofthissurveywastoassesscattlebreedingmanagementpracticesintheGwayismallholderfarmingareaofZimbabwe.Datawascollectedfrom95householdsusingstructuredquestionnairesbetweenOctober2000andApril2001.nbsp;Themeanherdsizesof10,16and33wereobtainedinthecommunal,smallandmediumscalefarms,respectively.Allhouseholdsreportedthattheircattlegrazedoncommunalrangelandsthroughouttheyearwithnoorlittlesupplementationusingstoverandureablocks.Mosthouseholds(65%)incommunalandsmall-scaleareashadnofences.Tick-bornediseaseswerethemostprevalent.Over85%ofthecommunalhouseholdsownedindigenousbreedswhichtheymainlyusedfordraughtpowerpurposes.About95%ofthehouseholdsinthecommunalandsmall-scaleareaspracticeduncontrolledbreeding.nbsp;Itwasconcludedthatpoorbreedingmanagement,lackoffencesandtick-bornediseaseswerethemajorconstraintsofcattleproductioninGwayismallholderarea.