TITLE:
Reproductive Trends in Cebu Cattle Grazing Rice Crop Residues in Colombian Tropical Dry Forest
AUTHORS:
Elisa Sierra-Montoya, Rolando Barahona-Rosales, Z. Tatiana Ruíz-Cortés
KEYWORDS:
Rice Crop Residue; Reproduction; Cebú Herd
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.3 No.4B,
November
7,
2013
ABSTRACT:
The objective of this study was to describe
the trend of reproductive performance of primiparous and multiparous cows that
grazed rice crop residues located in a Dry Tropical Forest of Colombia, taking
into account the rainfall pattern of the place. In this study, 89 primiparous
and 309 multiparous Cebu cattle records were analyzed. Mean, mean standard
deviation for age at first calving and open days of primipar-ous Cebu cattle were 41.05± 1.85 months and 269.7±36.25 days respectively. Confidence intervals
(95%) for both reproductive parameters were 36.8-45.3 months and 202.7-336.6 days respectively.
For multiparous Cebu cattle, the mean and mean standard deviation for open days
and calving interval were 245.6±36.8 days and 17.5±0.9 months respectively. Confidence intervals
207.1-366.9 days and 13.9-20.7 months respectively. The mean rainfall since 1999 until 2012 was1202 mmper year. The reproduc-tive trend of the primiparous cattle showed
an increasing behavior of age at first calving since 1999 until 2012, that can
possibly be explained due to the decreasing behavior of the rainfall throughout
the years, that can affect the nutritional value and offer of the grass that
can grow in the borders of the crop, such as Guinea and Star grass, and
eventually affect the body condition and weight necessary to be ready for the
first estrous. An inverse behavior of open days occurred, showing a decreased
trend along the last years of research. This fact could have happened due to
the intensive use of the enriched rice straw with urea and molasses lately. Regarding
to the reproductive trend of the multiparous cattle, there is no an evident pat-tern of it. Factors such as rainfall,
temperature, nutrition and management should have affected it. Further research
on this topic is needed.