A Growth Comparison of Ongole and European Cross Cattle kept by Smallholder Farmers in Indonesia
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Increasing beef production in Indonesia requires an increase in the productivity and profitability of smallholder cattle fattening enterprises. In East Java, smallholder farmers keep many different breeds of cattle for growing and fattening prior to slaughter, but there is no published information available about how the different breeds of cattle perform under village conditions.The aim of this research was to compare the growth performance of three common breeds of beef cattle during the dry and wet seasons at the smallholder farmer level. The three breeds of cattle monitored were: PeranakanOngole (Bos indicus)(PO; 26 in dry season and 22 in wet season), Ongole-Simmentalcross(Bos indicus/Bos taurus)(SimX; 35 in dry season and 28 in wet season), and Ongole-Limousincross (Bos indicus/Bos taurus)(LimX; 30 in dry season and 22 in wet season). Cattle were aged 1 to 2.5 years, and were kept by smallholder farmers in Pasuruan and Malang districts, East Java, Indonesia. Weight, girth and body condition score (BCS, 1-5 scale) of cattle were measured over 10 weeks in the dry season (July to September 2010) and 12 weeks in the wet season (December 2010 to March 2011). In each season, weight was measured three times and girth and BCS were measured five times.The composition and quantity of feedsoffered to cattle were also recorded. Changes in weight, girth and BCS were analysed by General Linear Models using SPSS programversion14.In both seasons, average daily weight gain of SimX (0.4 kg/d)and LimX (0.4 kg/d)was higher than that of PO (0.1kg/d). There was no difference in average daily weight gain between SimX and LimX cattle in either season. BCS of cattle increased during the wet season by 5% from an average 3.2 out of 5. In the dry season BCS decreased from 3.9 by 9%.Nutritive value of feed is likely to be higher in the wet seasoncompared to the dry season.Growth of all cattle breeds was lower than expected in both seasons. This was probably due to the high proportion of poor quality feeds such as rice straw in the diets (as fed basis, 48% at dry season and 78% in wet season). These results highlight the large discrepancy between what is expected from research on research stations and what is achieved on farm, and indicates the huge potential for improvement in production with better diet formulation.
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Research Subject Categories::L Animal production/Produksi Hewan::L01 Animal husbandry/Peternakan