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Developing smallholder dairy buffalo farm productivity through improvement of nutrition, body condition, and milk production in South Luzon, Philippines
Dissertation Abstract:
The critical factors influencing milk productivity in smallholder dairy buffalo farmers were identified. Among the socio-economic, farm, and technology characteristics investigated, household size and data recording had a positive effect, the number of lactating carabaos, a negative effect, and off-farm sources of income may have a negative effect. To address most of these critical factors and prospects, the regular conduct of farmers' training on dairy buffalo production and dairy enterprise development, in-depth studies on technology transfer and adoption, and development of a dairy manual or handbook to serve as a guide for farmers are highly recommended.
Body condition scores (BCS), breed, stages of lactation, temperature, and relative humidity significantly affected milk production. BCS negatively affected milk yield by 0.86 kg/day per unit change in BCS. BCS of purebred Murrah buffaloes tends to decrease by 0.14 units with a corresponding daily milk yield increase of 0.42 kg/day, while crossbred buffaloes tend to increase BCS by 0.14 with a decrease of 0.42 kg in daily milk yield. Dairy buffaloes in the early and mid-phase of lactation are more likely to have greater milk yield but lower BCS, while cows in the late stage of lactation tend to produce less milk but have higher BCS. Purebreds produced more milk than crossbreds. The highest milk yield was observed both in March for purebreds and crossbreds, while the lowest was in August and October for purebreds and crossbreds, respectively. Future plans are analysis of BCS during specific periods such as breeding, calving, 60- and 90-days post-calving, and drying-off and correlation of BCS to milk yield and milk composition.
There were significant findings in both Mombasa and Sweet Sorghum as the effect of fertilization and cropping. Parameters such as dry matter yield, nutrient composition, and rumen degradability differ with the type of forage, treatments, and interaction between the type of forage and fertilizer treatment used. The application of fertilizers significantly increased the dry matter yield of both forage types of grass. Mombasa and Sweet Sorghum showed the highest yield with urea fertilization, followed by the combined urea and buffalo manure. Forage grass nutrient composition (crude protein) was significantly affected by fertilizer applications, while crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were unaffected and possibly could be a function of plant maturity. In rumen digestibility, the means of DM% digestibility, CP% digestibility, and NDF% digestibility did not differ between Mombasa and Sweet Sorghum. Both forage crops exhibited an insignificant difference in terms of their effective digestibility. Mombasa is highly recommended as a forage crop because it is economical to establish and very stable with minimal management. Sweet sorghum can be used as a substitute forage crop. Recommendations for further studies include evaluation of other high value forage grasses and fertilizer sources and rates to find more efficient forage crops for animal production.
Comparing the effects of Mombasa and Sweet Sorghum to buffalo milk yield and components, milking interval had a significant impact on milk fat, protein, SNF, TS, and freezing point but lactose remained unaffected. Milk fat was higher in the afternoon collection. Mombasa-fed buffaloes had higher milk fat in the morning. Milk protein and SNF was higher in morning milk. TS from morning milk were less than afternoon milk collection. The freezing point of dairy buffalo milk collected in the morning was lower compared to afternoon milk. Therefore, it is highly recommended for dairy buffalo farmers to perform twice daily milk collection to maximize the premium quality of buffalo milk by increasing volume and milk compositions. Future prospects include investigating forages and legumes by conducting feeding trials for extended period of time in order to observe evident effects on milk production and composition.