ANALYSIS OF ENSET (Ensete ventricosum) BASED CATTLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM; AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF COMMON FEED RESOURCES IN GURAGE ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA PhD Dissertation By Dirsha Demam Wonchesa Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture Department of Animal Production Studies PhD Program in Animal Production March, 2019 Bishoftu, Ethiopia ANALYSIS OF ENSET (Ensete ventricosum) BASED CATTLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM; AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF COMMON FEED RESOURCES IN GURAGE ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA A PhD Dissertation submitted to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of Addis Ababa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Production By Dirsha Demam Wonchesa March, 2019 Bishoftu, Ethiopia i Addis Ababa University College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture Department of Animal production Studies As members of the Examining Board of the final PhD open defense, we certify that we have read and evaluated the Dissertation prepared by Dirsha Demam Wonchesa titled: Analysis of Enset (Ensete ventricosum) Based Cattle Production System; Availability and Quality of Common Feed Resources in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the partial requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Production. Berhan Tamir _______________ _______________ Chairman (PhD, Professor) Signature Date Mengistu Urge _______________ _______________ External Examiner (PhD, Asso. Prof.) Signature Date Harpal Singh _______________ _______________ Internal Examiner (PhD, Professor) Signature Date Final approval and acceptance of the dissertation is contingent upon the submission of its corrected copy to the CGC through the concerned departmental graduate committee. I hereby certify that I have read the revised version of this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Ashenafi Mengistu ________________ _______________ Major advisor (PhD, Asso. Prof.) Signature Date Gebeyehu Goshu _______________ _______________ Co- advisor (PhD, Asso. Prof.) Signature Date Berhan Tamir _______________ _______________ Department Chair (PhD, Professor) Signature Date ii Addis Ababa University College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture Department of Animal production Studies STATEMENT OF AUTHOR First, I declare that this dissertation is my bonafide work and that all sources of material used for this thesis have been duly acknowledged. This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a PhD degree at Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and is deposited at the University/College library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. I solemnly declare that this thesis is not submitted to any other institution anywhere for the award of any academic degree, diploma, or certificate. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however permission must be obtained from the author. ___________________________ ____________________ _____________________ Name Signature Date iii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH The author, Dirsha Demam Wonchesa, was born on December 02, 1967 in Agena Kebele of Ezia Woreda (District), Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. He attended his elementary education at Koter Gedra Elementary School and his junior secondary education in Gummer Junior Secondary School. His Secondary High School was attended at Emdibir Comprehensive Secondary School in Emdibir town. He joined the then Alemaya University of Agriculture in 1985 and graduated with Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science in 1989. Soon after graduation, he joined the then Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) and served as Head, Animal Production Section at Metu, Gambela, Asosa and Nekemte regional offices up to April 1994. Then after, he was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and served as Zonal Animal Production Expert and National Livestock Resource Development Project (NLRDP) Coordinator and Head of District Agriculture and Rural Development Office in Gurage Zone Administration until January 2003. From February 2003 on, he was transferred to the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development of SNNPR and served as a Manager of Gubre Poultry Farm. In October 2007, he joined the School of Graduate Studies of Haramaya University, Department of Animal Sciences majoring in Animal Production and graduated in July 2009 with Master of Science Degree in Animal Production. After graduation, he rejoined Gubre Poultry Farm as a Manager. On 1st of June 2012, he joined Wolkite University as a Researcher/Lecturer and he assumed the position of Dean of Student Services on July 25, 2012, wherein he served until November 2016. In December 2016, he joined Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture to pursue PhD study in the field of Animal Production. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author expresses his sincere and heartfelt appreciation to his advisors, Dr. Ashenafi Mengistu and Dr. Gebeyehu Goshu for their unreserved support, useful advice and guidance throughout the study period and also for sparing their valuable time in reading the draft thesis in the preparation of this manuscript. My heartfelt appreciation also goes to the staff members of the department of agriculture and livestock resource development of Gurage zone and respective woreda staff members of agriculture and livestock resource development offices for their support starting from selection of peasant associations to data collection; without their support and contribution this study wouldn’t have been possible. I would like to pass my sincere thanks to staff members of Wolkite Regional Soil Analysis Laboratory, Animal Nutrition Laboratory of Holetta Agricultural Research Center and Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences for their technical support in analyzing the chemical composition of samples of the study. Many thanks also go to the staff members of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture: Professor Berhan Tamir, Dr Ashenafi Mengistu, Dr Gebeyehu Goshu, Dr. G/Yohannes Birhane, Dr. Fikru Regasa, Mr. Haimanot Girma and others for their fruitful advice and moral incentives during my study. I also express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Tizazu Asare, Mr. Yikummengist Nega, Mr. Ameha Amerga, Mr. Kibatu Yirga, Mr. Fetta Negash, Mr. Belete W/Mariam and the staff members of Wolkite University for their moral, material and financial support to undertake this work. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my wife Tsehay Kebede for her ability of endurance in taking care of the family and her tolerance of many other problems. My deepest and heartfelt acknowledgment and gratitude is directed to my children: Beimnet Dirsha, Tsion Dirsha and Etsubsira Dirsha, and my cousin Bisrat Tekle for their assistance, understanding and encouragement. Above all, loving, kindness, and faithfulness of my Almighty God in bestowing health, strength, protection, patience and endurance throughout my life as well as in the time of my study are strongly appreciable. v DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis manuscript to my beloved wife w/o Tsehay Kebede and my mother w/o Bizunesh Murare for nursing me with love and for their sacrifice in the success of my life. vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: Characteristics of HHs in the study areas of Gurage zone. ....................................... 50 Table 2: Mean (±SE) family size of HHs in sex and age group in the study areas of Gurage zone. ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Table 3: Cattle breeds, bulls, oxen and breed types owned by HHs in Gurage zone (%). ....... 52 Table 4: Purpose of cattle rearing in the study areas of Gurage zone...................................... 53 Table 5: Purpose of cattle manure production in the study areas of Gurage zone (%)............. 53 Table 6: Livestock housing and barn cleaning in the study areas of Gurage zone (%) ............ 54 Table 7: Sources of water for livestock in the study areas of Gurage zone (%) ...................... 55 Table 8: Distance traveled to watering point and watering frequency of livestock in the drier season of the year in the study areas of Gurage zone (%)....................................................... 56 Table 9: Mean (±SE) landholdings and use pattern by agroecologies of Gurage zone. ........... 58 Table 10: Mean (±SE) landholding and land use pattern per wealth group in the study area of Gurage zone. ......................................................................................................................... 60 Table 11: Grain and crop residues yield (tHH-1) for common field crops grown in dega and weinadega agroecologies in the study areas of Gurage zone. ................................................. 61 Table 12: Grain and crop residue yield (t/yr) for common field crops grown by different wealth groups in the study areas of Gurage zone. .................................................................