Abstract:
The objectives of the current study were the characterization of some
Sudanese dairy cattle types mainly Kenana and Butana (on farm and
molecular characterization) and their dairy production systems, adopted
management practices, breeding objectives and constraints of dairy
development in Sudan. A structured questionnaire was administered to
101 Kenana and Butana owners randomly selected from the homelands
of both breeds. Personal interviews and repeated field visits were
conducted. The average herd size of Kenana and Butana cattle was 10
and 6 animals, respectively.Kenana and Butana farmers adopteddifferent
management systems. The traditional nomadic system was more
prevalent in Kenana area (98%), while all Butana owners used a
transhumant system (100%). Kenana and Butana cattle are kept in a
mixed crop- livestock production system and livestock species kept by
farmers comprise cattle, sheep and goats. Cattle are the dominant
species, mainly used for draught power followed by milk production.
The purpose of keeping cattle in the study area was to generate income
from the sale of milk which was the main source of income for herders
in the Kenana area (100%) and up to 50% of Butana owners. However,
surplus milk is sold at farm gate to middlemen at low prices, and
animals are sold live in the village or nearest markets. The general
appearance and body conformation were the criteria for selection of
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breeding bulls used by both Kenana and Butana owners (72% and
80.4%, respectively). Disease prevalence was important in both
production systems and almost all farmers in both areas reported
incidences of diseases. Trypanosomosis were the main problems
reported by Kenana herders (61.8%) while Butanan owners complained
mainly of ticks. Veterinary services in the country at large have declined
in recent years and in some areas have witnessed a degree of collapse.
The two breeds were also characterised by genotyping the
diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 (DGAT1) gene.In both breeds, the
DGAT1 Lysine variant (232K) that is associated with high fat and
protein content as well as high fat yield in other breeds was the most
frequent allele.The frequencies of the 232K allele were 96.3% and
84.6% in Kenana and Butana breeds, respectively. At the DGAT1
promoter VNTR locus, four alleles containing four to seven repeats of
the 18 bp motif were found in both breeds. The most frequent allele was
the VNTR allele 3 containing five repeats with a frequency of 60.4 %
and 57.5 % in Kenana and Butana breeds, respectively. In conclusion,
the two examined Sudanese dairy cattle breeds do not differ in allele
frequencies at the DGAT1 locus.
