Artificial Insemination Service Delivery System in the Ethiopian Dairy Industry: Evaluation of Semen Supply Chain and Quality
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Date
2020-06
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Abstract
A study conducted in Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples
(SNNP) and Tigray regional states of the country to contribute to increased dairy cattle
productivity through providing information on the prevailing AI service delivery and input
supply system; and major challenges & opportunities in the AI service delivery system. The
research was mainly undertaken using a questionnaire survey, key informants’ interview
and focus group discussions. Data on-field performance of AI technicians in the study
regions received directly from AI technicians using a structured reporting format from
October 2016 through December 2018 to evaluate the actual performance of AI
technicians. A follow-up calving survey for AI services provided to farmers was conducted
in March 2019 to better understand the performance of AI technicians in terms of
conception and calving rates. Secondary data on livestock and livestock characteristics
from agricultural sample survey reports of the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) were taken
from 2004/05 to 2017/18 to analyze the trend of cattle population in the country. A total of
588 sample straws of semen were collected from production, storage, distribution, and
end-users (AI technicians) in the four study regions and National Animal Genetic
Improvement Institute (NAGII) and analyzed for their motility and morphology using
Computer Assisted Semen Analyzer (CASA). With the current growth rate of indigenous
(3.7%) and cross breed (15.8%) cattle population of the country will reach to 121.2 million
and 5.4 million, respectively in 2029/30. The CSA data demonstrated that the proportion
of crossbred and exotic cattle population from the total population in Ethiopia is less than
2 percent with an average percentage of 1.07% for the last thirteen years. There was
an increase of only 1 billion liters without change in lactation length (6 months) but with
an increase of only 0.138 liters/day/cow over the last thirteen years since 2004/05. The
engagement of women in the AI delivery system increased in 2017/18 from 1.8% to 7.2%.
About 42% of the total AI technicians considered in this study trained for 45 days while
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the other 22%, 32%, and 7% trained for a period of three, six and nine months,
respectively. AI technicians in the four study regions served as AI technician for an average
of 8.17 years. About 88% and 75% of AI technicians in the four regions reported ready
access to LN2 and semen, respectively. About 96% and 89% of AI technicians in the studied
regions were providing AI service at their respective woreda/kebele and farm gate,
respectively. However, about 56% and 31% of farmers in the four regional states
participated in this study reported that they got insemination services only at
woreda/kebele crushes and at their farm gate. Significant difference (p<0.05) observed
among regions in the number of kebeles assigned per AI technician with an average of 8
kebeles, 199 potential farmers who need the service per kebele but 92 farmers (46%) who
were getting the service. The thawing temperature reported by AI technicians was
significantly different (p<0.05) among regions with average thawing temperature of
35.7OC. Months from August to December were categorized as peak season when AI
technicians on average provided 6.7 inseminations per day. January, February, June, and
July were categorized as regular season for AI service when AI technicians provided daily
average insemination of 3.8. March, April, and May are off-season for AI service when on
average only 2.2 inseminations per day were provided. Field level actual performance data
also showed significant difference (p<0.05) in the number of inseminations provided per
AI technician per month among regions and between male and female AI technicians with
an overall average insemination of 39.3. The SPC reported by AI technicians was not
significantly different among regions (p>0.05) with mean SPC of 2.13. About 2.6 SPC
obtained from a follow-up survey conducted with farmers who received AI service in a
specified period. The result of post-thaw total motility, progressive motility, normal and
defective morphology of semen samples taken from studied regions showed significant
difference (p<0.05). The overall average total and progressive motility percentage of
semen samples taken from the four studied regions were 38% and 28%. Similarly, the
normal morphology of semen samples taken from these regions was 77%.
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Keywords
Artificial insemination, Cattle, Farmers, Regions, Semen, Technicians