Feeds and Feeding Practices for Dairy Cattle Farming in Selected Areas of Myanmar

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the feeds and feeding practices of dairy cattle farming in Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing regions. The secondary data and questionnaires were assessed from 60 farmers of 60 households in the study area and made discussion with them. According to the findings of this study, zero grazing was the main production practices used by smallholder dairy farmers in the study area. Most of farmers used locally available feed resources such as cut and carry grass, forage crops, crop residue after harvesting and local feedstuffs. Common feedstuff used by dairy farmers in the studied areas are broken rice, rice bran, wheat bran, beer cake, bean cake, oil cakes, cotton seed cake, sorghum, yellow corn, soybean meal, mineral block, and sugar syrup. Feeding input among the farmers in the studied areas is similar. However, the availability and quality of these resources are varied, but farmers are properly selected and combined according to their nutritional characteristics, adequate and productive diets had been provided all year round for sustainable production and productivity. There are generally two feeding practices: compound cattle feeding and home-mixed feeding in the studied areas. Among the respondents, 84.77% preferred to use compounded cattle feeding and others 15.23% used home- mixed feeding. Most of the farmers in the study area used natural mating methods than artificial insemination method (AI). Over 90% of the respondents had knowledge on the signs for oestrus detection. The average 7.45liter and 6.48liter of milk per cow per day was recorded in wet and dry season from the study area. Seventy three percent of dairy farmers used concentrate to their animals based on milk production.