Dairy heifer rearing under increasing intensification of smallholder dairy systems in the Kenya highlands

摘要

TheobjectiveofthisstudywastoassessdairyheiferrearingpracticesinrelationtovaryinglevelsofintensificationinthecentralhighlandsofKenya.Datawereobtainedfromarandomsampleof987farmhouseholdsinacross-sectionalsurvey.nbsp;Grazingmanagement,reflectingvaryinglevelsofintensification,hadasignificantinfluenceonrearingpracticesforreplacementanimals.nbsp;Forcalves,bucketfeedingwasmorecommon(p0.05)andtickcontrollesscommon(p0.05)insemi-zeroandzerograzingthaninfreegrazingfarms.nbsp;Semi-zeroandzerograzingfarmshadlower(p#8804;0.017)medianproportionsofheiferstocows(PHC)(0.00to0.18)comparedtofreegrazingfarms(0.31).nbsp;Comparedtofreegrazing,semi-zeroandzerograzingfarmskeptPHCinthefarmlowerbyweaningreplacementfemalesonemonthearlier(p#8804;0.017)andsellingthemwhen(8mo)4monthsyounger.nbsp;LowerPHCwasassociatedwithhectaresofmaizeplantedperunitcattle(p0.0003),andcashspentonpurchaseoffodderperunitcattle(p0.0818),buthigherPHCwasassociatedwiththemoreavailablelandperunitcattle(p0.0248).nbsp;KeepingPHClowislikelyarationalchoicebysmallholderfarmerstoincreasefarmproductivitybecauseofscarcityoflandtoplantfodder,andscarcecapitaltobuysupplementaryfeeds.nbsp;Policyreformssupportivetoverticallyintegrateddairydevelopmentcanencouragefarmswithcomparativeadvantagetoproducereplacementheifersforfarmsunabletoproducetheirownreplacements.