|
Matching Livestock Systems with Available Resources |
MEKARN Regional Conference 2007 |
The objectives of this study were to study the browse preference of different species by goats and to map the browse species in the different ecological zones in the rangelands in the Ninh Thuan area. A herd of goats belonging to the farmers was followed on pasture during three consecutive days each months by two observers from January to August 2007, and their activities were recorded regulary every 15 minutes as well as the browse species selected and the height reached while browsing. The samples of ten browse species giving the highest eating frequency were collected for analyzing dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) contents.
During the time on pasture, goats spent 79.88% browsing, 1.80% grazing, 1.19% drinking, 12.40% walking and 4.73% for other activities. Browsing the leaves was the most important part of the activities. During the whole observation period, goats browsed 50 species with most preferences for Derris elliptica; Steptocaulon juventas and Ziziphus oenoplia, 12.8%; 11.1% and 10.16% of browsing time respectively. Average browsing height of goats was 0.83 m and goats could reach a maximum height of 2.3 m.
DM contents of ten browse species giving the highest eating frequency by goats ranged from 68 g/kg fresh in Opuntica monacantha to 443 g/kg fresh in Ficus pumila. The highest CP content was obtained in Corissa cochinchinesis (271 g/kg DM) and the lowest in Opuntica monacantha (131 g/kg DM).