Randomised controlled trial on estrus and conception impacts of reproductive and nutrition interventions on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms.

This field trial tested the hypothesis that providing Kenyan smallholder dairy farmers with training and resources can enhance cows’ cyclicity and conception using conventional or sexed semen. One hundred farmers were randomly selected and randomly allocated to five equal-sized intervention groups: 1) reproduction only; 2) nutrition only; 3) reproduction and nutrition; 4) education only (quasi-control); or 5) nothing (control). Reproductive interventions included provision of prostaglandin F2? (PG) and/or gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) to induce estrus, and reproduction education. Nutrition interventions included provision of leguminous shrubs and nutrition education. At monthly visits over 17 months, farm and cattle data were collected, and open cattle underwent physical and reproductive exams to determine readiness for farmer decisions on sexed semen utilization. Cox proportional hazards modeling (CoxPH) was used to determine if intervention group was significantly associated with risk of conception. The final dataset included 191 cows and 26 heifers. Lowest and highest heat submission percentages were 8.5% and 35.5% in the control and reproduction groups, respectively. Conception percentages in cows and heifers were 44.0% and 54.5% for sexed semen and 72% and 79% for conventional semen, respectively. In the final multivariable CoxPH model, each unit increase in average body condition score was associated with 3.5 times higher risk of conception. Cattle that were inseminated following spontaneous heat had 1.8 times higher risk of conception over cows that were inseminated following a hormone-induced heat. In a significant interaction variable, when cows were supplemented with dairy meal in the last month of gestation, a higher risk of conception was achieved in cows on groups where leguminous shrubs were fed compared to groups where no leguminous shrubs were fed. This study concludes that focused effort on improving reproduction through education, hormone use and improved nutrition can improve heat submission and conception percentages on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms.

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Assessment of Performance and Some Welfare Indicators of Cows in Vietnamese Smallholder Dairy Farms

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11030674 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 674

Author(s):

Nguyen N. Bang ◽

Nguyen V. Chanh ◽

Nguyen X. Trach ◽

Duong N. Khang ◽

Ben J. Hayes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Milk Yield ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Point Scale ◽

The South ◽

Lactating Cows ◽

The North ◽

Smallholder Dairy ◽

Smallholder Dairy Farms

Smallholder dairy farms (SDFs) are distributed widely across lowland and highland regions in Vietnam, but data on the productivity and welfare status of these cows remains limited. This cross-sectional study was conducted to describe and compare the productivity and welfare status of SDF cows across contrasting regions. It was conducted in autumn 2017 on 32 SDFs randomly selected from four typical but contrasting dairy regions (eight SDFs per region); a south lowland, a south highland, a north lowland, and a north highland region. Each farm was visited over a 24-h period (an afternoon followed by a morning milking and adjacent husbandry activities) to collect data of individual lactating cows (n = 345) and dry cows (n = 123), which included: milk yield and concentrations, body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS, 5-point scale, 5 = very fat), inseminations per conception, and level of heat stress experienced (panting score, 4.5-point scale, 0 = no stress). The high level of heat stress (96% of lactating cows were moderate to highly heat-stressed in the afternoon), low energy corrected milk yield (15.7 kg/cow/d), low percentage of lactating cows (37.3% herd), low BW (498 and 521 kg in lactating and dry cows, respectively), and low BCS of lactating cows (2.8) were the most important productivity and welfare concerns determined and these were most serious in the south lowland. By contrast, cows in the north lowland, a relatively hot but new dairying region, performed similarly to those in the south highland; a region historically considered to be one of the most suitable for dairy cows in Vietnam due to its cool environment. This indicates the potential to mitigate heat stress through new husbandry strategies. Cows in the north highland had the highest BW (535 and 569 kg in lactating and dry cows, respectively) and the highest energy corrected milk yield (19.2 kg/cow/d). Cows in all regions were heat-stressed during the daytime, although less so in the highlands compared to the lowlands. Opportunities for research into improving the productivity and welfare of Vietnamese SDF cows are discussed.

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Impact of calf feeding practices on calf growth and health in smallholder dairy farms in Nyeri County, Kenya

East African Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation ◽

10.37425/eajsti.v1i3.150 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Silvia Situma ◽

George K. Gitau ◽

John VanLeeuwen ◽

Charles M. Mulei ◽

Dr. Peter Kimeli

Keyword(s):

Body Condition Score ◽

Positive Association ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Feeding Practices ◽

Milk Intake ◽

Daily Weight Gain ◽

Weight Gains ◽

The Mean ◽

Smallholder Dairy ◽

Smallholder Dairy Farms

The objective of this study was to assess potential impact of selected enhanced feeding practices on growth of smallholder dairy calves. In the period between May and August 2012, 36 privately owned Kenyan smallholder dairy farms with new-born calves were purposively selected to participate in a randomized control trial. The calves were randomly allocated to one of nine feed intervention groups based on three groups of Calf Starter Intake (CSI; 20% protein) and three groups of Milk Intake (MI): control, half, and full. Full CSI intake involved lead feeding to achieve up to 1 kg/day feed intake at weaning, half CSI was to maximize intake at 0.5kg/day at weaning, while control CSI was the farmers’ normal practice (0-0.2 kg/day). Full MI was 4 Liters/day and half milk intake was 2 Liters/day, while control MI was the farmers’ normal practice (2-10 Liters/day). Each of the nine intervention groups had four calves per group (one calf died during the 1st week) resulting in 35 calves. Data on calf weight and height were collected weekly through farm visits for a period of eight weeks, and management data were collected through an in-person questionnaire. The results showed significant differences in the mean average daily weight gains across the different feed intervention groups at P (<0.001). All full CSI groups had weight gains over 0.5 kg/day. The full CSI + control MI had a positive association with the mean average daily weight gain at (0.61 kg/day), higher than the other two full CSI groups because of higher MI in this small group. In mixed multivariable linear regression analyses, weekly calf weights were higher with calf age and body condition score, a normal gastrointestinal tract, and amount of calf starter consumed per day, along with feeding sweet potato vines.

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Understanding variability in greenhouse gas emission estimates of smallholder dairy farms in Indonesia

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment ◽

10.1007/s11367-021-01923-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Titis Apdini ◽

Windi Al Zahra ◽

Simon J. Oosting ◽

Imke J. M. de Boer ◽

Marion de Vries ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Rainy Season ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Dry Season ◽

Enteric Fermentation ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Population Mean ◽

Smallholder Dairy ◽

Smallholder Dairy Farms

Abstract Purpose Life cycle assessment studies on smallholder farms in tropical regions generally use data that is collected at one moment in time, which could hamper assessment of the exact situation. We assessed seasonal differences in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) from Indonesian dairy farms by means of longitudinal observations and evaluated the implications of number of farm visits on the variance of the estimated GHGE per kg milk (GHGEI) for a single farm, and the population mean. Methods An LCA study was done on 32 smallholder dairy farms in the Lembang district area, West Java, Indonesia. Farm visits (FVs) were performed every 2 months throughout 1 year: FV1–FV3 (rainy season) and FV4–FV6 (dry season). GHGEs were assessed for all processes up to the farm-gate, including upstream processes (production and transportation of feed, fertiliser, fuel and electricity) and on-farm processes (keeping animals, manure management and forage cultivation). We compared means of GHGE per unit of fat-and-protein-corrected milk (FPCM) produced in the rainy and the dry season. We evaluated the implication of number of farm visits on the variance of the estimated GHGEI, and on the variance of GHGE from different processes. Results and discussion GHGEI was higher in the rainy (1.32 kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM) than in the dry (0.91 kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM) season (P < 0.05). The between farm variance was 0.025 kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM in both seasons. The within farm variance in the estimate for the single farm mean decreased from 0.69 (1 visit) to 0.027 (26 visits) kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM (rainy season), and from 0.32 to 0.012 kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM (dry season). The within farm variance in the estimate for the population mean was 0.02 (rainy) and 0.01 (dry) kg CO2-eq kg−1 FPCM (1 visit), and decreased with an increase in farm visits. Forage cultivation was the main source of between farm variance, enteric fermentation the main source of within farm variance. Conclusions The estimated GHGEI was significantly higher in the rainy than in the dry season. The main contribution to variability in GHGEI is due to variation between observations from visits to the same farm. This source of variability can be reduced by increasing the number of visits per farm. Estimates for variation within and between farms enable a more informed decision about the data collection procedure.

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Effects of low glycemic index diet on insulin resistance among obese adolescent with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled trial

Medical Journal of Indonesia ◽

10.13181/mji.v28i2.2496 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 123-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Agustini Utari ◽

Muhammad Saifulhaq Maududi ◽

Ninung Rose Diana Kusumawati ◽

Maria Mexitalia

Keyword(s):

Insulin Resistance ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Liver Disease ◽

Nutrition Education ◽

Fatty Liver Disease ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Control Group ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Low Glycemic Index

BACKGROUND Obesity is strongly correlated with insulin resistance (IR) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Some studies suggest that dietary intake with low glycemic index (GI) may prevent IR and reduce the incidences of NAFLD. This study was aimed to determine the effects of low GI diet on IR among obese adolescents with NAFLD. METHODS This study was a randomized controlled trial conducted in two JuniorHigh Schools in Semarang, Indonesia. The subjects were 12–14 years obese students with NAFLD, which divided into intervention and control groups according to schools using block random allocation. The intervention group received nutrition education and lunch diet (low energy, low GI, and low fat); meanwhile, the control group only received nutrition education for 12 weeks. The biochemical evaluation included fasting blood glucose (FBG) and insulin levels. IR was assessed using homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). RESULTS Thirty-two subjects were enrolled in this study, 16 of which were assigned to the intervention group and the other to the control group. After 12 weeks, the energy and carbohydrate intake reduced in the intervention group (p < 0.05), FBG remained unchanged, and HOMA-IR increased (4.9 [3.7]–7.2 [3.5]) compared to the control group (6.4 [4.9]–5.5 [2.8]) (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, within the control group, there were no significant differences in the energy and carbohydrate intake as well as biochemical variables. CONCLUSIONS Low GI modification diet alone may not reduce IR in the obeseadolescents with NAFLD.

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