Browsing by Author "Msalya, G"
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Item A local supplementary diet improves reproductive performance in does and growth in kids of small East African x Norwegian landrace goats(2017) Msalya, G; Chalamila, G.T.; Kifaro, G.In the tropical countries including Tanzania the major and economical feeds for ruminants are natural pastures. Yet, these feeds are oftentimes seasonal and are of poor quality such that they alone cannot meet optimum nutritional requirements for high producing ruminants such as dairy goats. Therefore, it has been adviced to supplement such animals with concentrate to increase production and gain profit. However, commercial concentrates are expensive and are not commonly used by farmers. For this reasons, animals are either not supplemented or are supplemented at very low levels with whatsoever available feeds. We believe that in Tanzania dairy goats are underfed and this situation has negative effects on the animals. We therefore conducted this study in 117 dairy goats (43 does and 74 kids) to confirm our hypothesis on one hand and show how supplementation is not always expensive. The feed was made from ingredients obtained in the local vicinities at a cheap price. These are available all over the country. Data were collected and analyzed using relevant tools and models including weighing, body condition score (BCS) scale and statistical software. Our high level diet was 600 grams (g) of a feed comprising of maize brans, sunflower seed cake and a few mixed minerals. It is common in many farms to provide only 200 g of maize brans. We report better performance for weights and BCS in dairy does fed a high level diet and better growing kids from these animals.Item Phenotypic variation among four populations of small East African goats of Tanzania(2016-09) Msalya, G; Chenyambuga, S.W; Nguluma, A.SA study was carried out to assess the variation in morphological characteristics of four strains (namely, Pare, Gogo, Sukuma and Sonjo) of Small East African (SEA) goat breed in four regions of Tanzania as a first step towards their characterization. A total of 349 mature animals (85 to 92 animals per strain) were randomly sampled from 120 households located in the four regions. For each external qualitative traits (coat color and pattern, hair type and size, presence of wattles and beards, horn size, shape and orientation, ear size and orientation and facial and back profiles) and quantitative traits (body weight, heart girth, height at wither, body length, chest depth, rump height, ear length and horn length) were recorded. Discriminant, cluster and principal component analyses were used to classify the four SEA strains based on morphometric traits. Results for body measurements show that Pare goats had the largest body weight (29.8 ± 0.50 kg), heart girth (72.3 ± 0.51 cm), height at wither (61.4 ± 0.43 cm), body length (53.9 ± 0.51) and rump height (63.4 ± 0.60 cm) , followed by Gogo goats whereas Sukuma and Sonjo goats were the smallest and lightest. Sexual dimorphism was evident for all the body measurements with males being bigger and heavier than females in all populations. Correlations among morphometric variables were significant for most of the pairs of variables tested, the strongest being between body weight and heart girth (r = 0.70), rump height and wither height (r = 0.60) and body weight and chest depth (r = 0.51). Pare (39.6%) and Gogo (40.2%) were predominantly white coloured while Sonjo were red coloured (85.4%) and Sukuma had black and white colour (66.7%). Almost all goats were horned and did not have wattles and the majority of them had medium sized and horizontally oriented ears. Chest depth and body weight were the most powerful discriminating traits in separating the four goat strains. The squared mahalanobis distance based on morphological traits was largest between Pare and Sukuma goats (5.45) and smallest between Pare and Gogo goats (0.94). Cluster analysis revealed two separate groups; a group for Pare goats and another group comprised Gogo, Sonjo and Sukuma goats. A test for assignment of individual animals to their respective strain showed that most Sonjo (75.3%), Sukuma (70.5%) and Pare (67.9%) goats were assigned to their source populations while most of the Gogo goats (51.1%) were mis-assigned to other populations. It is concluded that the four strains of SEA goat breed are heterogeneous populations with large variability in morphological features and they could best be differentiated by chest depth, body weight and coat colour.Item Polymorphisms of Myostatin gene and its association with growth in two strains of Small East African and Blended goats of Tanzania(2017) Nguluma, A S; Huang, Y; Zhao, Y; Chen, L; Msalya, G; Lyimo, C; Guangxin, E; Chenyambuga, S WDespite the high demand for goat meat, the quantity of meat that is produced from the indigenous goats is low and insufficient to meet the demand. This is due to their small body size and inherent low genetic potential for growth coupled with poor management especially feeding. Improvement of goat productivity through selection takes long time to achieve and may be difficult for some traits. Information on polymorphisms in candidate genes for growth including myostatin gene could be used with pedigree information in marker assisted selection to get high genetic response more quickly. This study assessed polymorphisms of the intron 2 and exon 3 of the myostatin gene in Pare, Sonjo, Blended and Boer goats. Only one singleton polymorphic site T298C was detected in the Boer goat population and all other goats were monomorphic. Two alleles, T and C were detected in Boer goats with frequencies of 0.98 and 0.02, respectively, and two genotypes TT and TC with frequency of 0.97 and 0.03, respectively. Allele T was fixed in the Blended, Pare and Sonjo populations. Blended goats were heavier at all stages of growth than Pare and Sonjo goats. However, due to lack of polymorphism in the three goat populations the association between the alleles of the myostatin gene and growth performance could not be confirmed. It can be concluded that there are variation in growth performance among the Blended, Pare and Sonjo goats but the variation could not be associated with the myostatin gene. Other genes for growth could be responsible for the observed variation.Item Possibilities of utilizing biotechnology to improve Animal and animal feeds productivity in Tanzania – Review of past efforts and available opportunities(MedCrave, 2017) Chenyambuga, SW; Lutatenekwa, D; Msalya, GTanzania ranks third in Africa in numbers of livestock and has a rich biodiversity of 25.8milion heads of cattle, about 25million heads of small ruminants (sheep and goats) and a large number of other livestock species. The majority of livestock species are indigenous animals with low productive potential. In addition, the farming systems are still to a large extent traditional utilizing local feeds which have very low quality. Due to these reasons the contribution of livestock sector to the gross domestic product has been very low estimated between 4.7 and 5%. There have been attempts to improve productivity from livestock and livestock feeds in the past through different research and development projects. However most of these projects were not sustainable and most of them did not bear good fruits while some were abandoned. Biotechnology offers options for improvement of the livestock sector by manipulating both livestock species and management systems such as the environment and feeds. However, there is a very low rate of investment in biotechnology especially in livestock and feeds production. In this paper we review, the efforts intended at improvement of livestock genetics and animal nutrition and we discuss the options and opportunities for improvement of the livestock sector using modern technologies. Examples of these efforts include the breeding of Mpwapwa cattle, Malya blended goats and improvements of various breeds of other livestock species and poultry. We showcase these possibilities using three studies conducted recently in Tanzania, including: (1) characterization of the indigenous stock of cattle to develop breeding plans, (2) identification of pathogens in raw milk in the informal markets of Tanzania, and (3) expression of the prion protein gene for resistance to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).Item Situation analysis and prospects for establishing a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania(Livestock Research for Rural Development, 2017) Nziku, Z C; Kifaro, G C; Eik, L O; Steine, T; Msalya, G; Ådnøy, TDairy goats in Tanzania accounts for two percent of the 17 million goats in total. Toggenburg, Saanen, Norwegian, Anglo Nubian and French alpine are dominant exotic dairy breeds distributed in all regions of Tanzania but abundance in Manyara, Morogoro, Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. Both public and private organizations have played in importing and distribution the exotic breeds in the country. For example, the collaboration between in Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) participated importing the Norwegian goat breed. The FARM Africa (Food and Agricultural Research Management) and HPI (Heifer Project International) responsible for Toggenburg and Saanen dairy breeds. The support with dairy goats has proven to be rather effective in improving food security and livelihood of people who owned them. Long term benefits of the goats can be realized if breeding principles are well considered e.g. reliable source of replacement breeding stock. As a step towards achieving that, a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats (SWOT) analysis of a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania today were analysed in this paper. The analysis revealed potential possibilities for establishing sustainable dairy goat breeding program in the country. However, poor and unreliable records were the main hindrances for sustainable genetic improvement of goats in the country. Alternatively, this paper propose a simplified breeding plan that benefits from progress made elsewhere through occasional semen import for AI in one breeding nucleus herd in the country, multiplied by another unit/centre for distribution to clients. Key roles and risks of private and public institutions participating in implementing the breeding plan are highlighted.