International Journal of Animal Science, Husbandry and Livestock Production ISSN: 2141-5191, Vol. 6(9), pp. 354-360, October, 2020.  © Advanced Scholars Journals

Review paper

Characterization of Beef Cattle production Systems in tropics, the case of Ethiopia.

Getachew BF^{1, 2*} and Keredin M¹

^1*Department of Animal Production and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, Gambella University, PO Box 126, Gambella, Ethiopia,

^2*Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Department of Animal Production, P O Box 34, Bishoftu, Ethiopia.

*Corresponding Author: E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 24 September,  2020.

Abstract 

 The diversity of Ethiopia's topography, climate and cultural conditions make it difficult to generalize about livestock production systems in the country. Therefore, this review was conducted to show characterization of beef cattle production systems. Livestock have diverse functions in the livelihood of farmers in the mixed crop–livestock systems in the highlands and pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the lowlands of Ethiopia. They are a source of income, which can be used by rural populations to purchase basic household needs and agricultural inputs. In the rural areas of many developing countries, financial services such as credit, banking and insurance are virtually non-existent. Cattle fattening, is dependent up on the development of forage resources. Fattening techniques relies on a minimum time of three months up to a maximum of about 18 months to 2 years. The length of the period depends up on the characteristics of the animals used and the food resources available. So that based on feeding regimes and the nature of the main products used, fattening operation could be classified in to three systems.

Key words: beef, fattening, feed, livestock, production system.