Abstract:
The study was conducted in Lume and Adami Tulu Jido Kombolcha (ATJK) districts of the East Shoa Zone, with the objectives to assess the existing status of feed resource in relation to climate change, and examine chemical composition and IVDMD of the major feed resources. One hundred twenty respondents (60 from each districts) were purposively used for the interviews. For sample collection, the grazing land was stratified based on the grazing land present in the study area as protected communal (PC), protected private (PP) and unprotected communal (UnPC). For chemical composition analysis, 36 samples from natural pasture (NP) and 48 samples from crop residues (CRs) were evaluated. The average mean landholding hh-1 was 2.27 and 1.93 ha in ATJK and Lume, respectively. About 50% of the respondents in ATJK and Lume districts revealed that the total number of livestock composition hh-1 was decreasing. Feed shortage, expansion of cropland, water shortage, drought, and animal diseases were the major problem for livestock production in the study area. Out of 23 and 16 herbaceous species identified in ATJK and Lume district, Cynodon dactilon in ATJK, Andropogon abysincus and Cynodon dayctilon in Lume district, respectively were the dominant grass species. The average mean DMY (ton ha-1) of grass and legumes obtained from PPGL (2.43) and PCGL (2.36) was significantly (P<0.01) higher than that from UnPCGL(1.18) in ATJK district. The DMY of grass obtained from PPGL (2.62) and PCGL (2.9) was significantly (P<0.001) higher than that from UnPCGL (1.5) in Lume district.The size of NP as well as its quality was declining from time to time mainly due to expansion of farmland and replacement of palatable species by less palatable species. The mean value of CP contents of CRs in Lume district ranged 3.99±0.13 for wheat straw (WS) to 5.9±0.40 for haricot bean straw (HCB). The CP contents of CRs in ATJK district varied from 3.5±0.17 for maize stover (MS) to 6.5±0.93 for HCB straw. The NDF contents of CRs were between 68.89±0.89 for HCB to 74.6±1.15 for maize stover (MS) in Lume, and HCB (63.5±1.83) and MS (79.74±1.24) in ATJK district. The ADF contents of CRs varied from teff straw (TS) (41.8±1.63) to HCB (56.04±1.04) in Lume district. The ADF of CRs ranges from WS (49.12±2.82) to HC (52.63±1.16) in ATJK district. Generally, the nutritive values of the evaluated feed resources were lower than the minimum livestock requirement and should supplement with protein and energy source. It suggested that to study the effects of climate on soil and animal feed nutrients to know the effects of climate change on animal production and productivity.
