Carroll T. Khombe (2002)
IDEAA Regional Programme, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Zimbabwe, Box MP 167, Harare, Zimbabwe
The Mashona cattle breed is widely distributed in East and Central Zimbabwe and is the most numerous breed of cattle. Their territory extends westwards to 290 30' E (area covering Gokwe, Lupane and Tjolotjo) and eastwards as far as the border of Mozambique and over into Tete (Mason and Maule 1960). They occur in various areas of Matebeleland, particularly the Matopo Hills. They are similar to other neck-humped cattle like the Tonga and Barotse, and the chest-humped types like the Angoni and the Nyasa Zebu that are found through out southern Africa (Mason and Maule 1960). They typically Sanga that originated from the crossbreeding of zebu and taurine cattle (Meyer, 1984;Frisch, et al. 1997).
They are small cattle, with cows weighing 275 to 350 kg. Black is the commonest colour followed by red. Other colours are brown with a yellow muzzle, brownish black with a lighter back stripe, dun, yellow cream, black and white, and red and white. The tail is long and touches the ground.
The commercial and research station herds n = 3860 animals form the majority of recorded Mashona cattle and a reliable estimate of the numbers in the smallholder farming sector have not been determined, due to the prevalence of uncontrolled breeding in this sector. The population of Mashona cattle in the smallholder farming sector has been estimated at 22,000 adult animals by the Mashona Cattle Society (Indibreed 1994) and at half a million by Moyo et al. (1994). A majority of Mashona cattle are horned , although natural polled genotype are also common. Most of commercial herds and Research station herds are dehorned.
In the beef industry the value of the Mashona breed as a suitable maternal line for crossbreeding programmes in commercial beef production and as an adapted fertile breed suitable for use in smallholder farms is well established (Tawonezvi 1984, 1993; Moyo 1990; Moyo 1996). Under smallholder management systems the Mashona is the breed of choice because of its ability to remain productive (draft power, manure, milk and meat) under adverse environmental and low management regimes. However, there is a shortage of performance recorded purebred Mashona cattle with known pedigrees and with performance records) and their crossbreeds in the market. Smallholder farmers, who hold a majority of unrecorded Mashona cattle are not always earger to sell excess livestock, since they perform numerous functions (like economic security, draft, manure and ceremonial roles) other than the production of beef. This shortage has led national herd rebuilding programmes of the likes of Heifer International, Cow-Calf Loan Schemes, Cow Finance Loan Schemes and Government Herd Rebuilding Programmes to buy large parcels of unadapted exotic-crossbred cull stock from commercial farms to use for restocking smallholder farms. The impacts of these brought-in exotic animals, on the indigenous gene pool of cattle in smallholder farms is unknown, but needs urgent quantification.
The carcass grading system in current use in Zimbabwe is biased against the small-framed Mashona cattle and other small-framed indigenous breeds. This is because the grading system uses the fleshing index (ratio of carcass weight to length) increases with size of animal and tends to discriminate against small-framed breeds (Tawonezvi and Khombe, 1995). Mashona cattle in Zimbabwe are, therefore, threatened by the insatiable quest to improve on their conformation and size by crossbreeding with the larger exotic breeds (Khombe et al. 1994). The Mashona Cattle Society and research stations have initiated selection programmes to increase size of the Mashona in an attempt to avoid the substitution of the breed by faster growing crossbred cattle.
The Mashona comprises the majority of genotypes in the estimated 3.5 million indigenous herds in the smallholder farming sector (Holness 1992). Almost all cattle in this sector are not performance recorded because of the numerous functions that they perform (draft, manure, social security, rituals, milk and meat). This breed has not been selected for growth and fertility, which are the selection criteria of breeding programmes being pursued by commercial beef producers. The socio-economic functions that indigenous livestock perform provide a big incentive for the rearing of these animals. Exotic breeds and their obvious crosses are not preferred as substitutes. Although this national pool of indigenous cattle (of the smallholder cattle) has been diluted by introduction of exotic genotypes, there remain many areas where relatively pure stocks of Mashona cattle can still be found. It is urgent that conservation strategies are put in place to protect this genetic pool from further contamination by indiscriminate crossbreeding.
The establishment of this breeding scheme was motivated by the following factors:
The Mashona Group Breeding Scheme is a joint venture between nine permanent members of the Mashona Cattle Society and a private investor (registered as Apex Holdings Pvt. Ltd.). Its main business is to produce bulls for use by the co-operating breeders and to make a profit by selling excess bulls and cows to both commercial and smallholder farmers. Recently, the co-operative has engaged in the export of live animals, embryos and semen.
The nine co-operating breeders secured a property, later called Nyombi Farm, in Chartsworthy/Mvuma under Agro-ecological Regional IV, which is characterised by 'miombo woodland' or wooded grassland Savanna, infertile granitic sands and a low annual precipitation of 600 mm. The co-operators contributed a total of 300 cows with high performance indices (as determined by the Beef Performance Testing Scheme1 [BPTS]). They also loaned the scheme their best bulls for one mating season. To-date the breeding scheme manages a 400 cow + heifer herd that is mated to 12 to15 bulls in single sire randomised herds. The herd is targeted to stabilise at 400 cows and 25 bulls nucleus herd.
The animals are managed using the same management system that is practised by the participating commercial farmers. Animals graze free range during the wet season (November to May), at this time they are offered phosphorus supplements. During the dry season (June to October) they are offered protein and energy supplements. All the animals are are run in paddocks where they are provided with an ad libitum supply of clean drinking water and they are neither penned nor herded. The level of supplementary feeding depends on the types of animals. Pregnant cows and cows that are nursing calves are given high priority while dry cows and old animals are given low priority. All animals are dipped to reduce the number of ticks (one week during the wet-season and once a fortnight during the dry season). They are vaccinated against quarter evil (or Black Quarter), contagious abortion and anthrax annually. They are also dosed against both round and flatworms, including liver fluke, at the beginning and end of the wet season.
The Group Breeding Scheme utilises a three-tier selection index (Indibreed 1996). Bulls are selected on an index that utilises 30% of their 205-day BPTS index; 30% of Summer Gain Index; and 40% of winter feed gain (feedlot testing) and on-range performance tests. The top 5% of the bulls is retained for use within the nucleus and member herds. Surplus bulls are sold to other breeders and butchers. Heifers are selected on an index that utilises 40% of their 205-day BPTS Index; 30% of Summer Gain Index; and 30% of Maternal Productivity Index (ratio of calf weaning weight to cow post-weaning weight). The top 20% of the heifers is retained, but the rest are sold to commercial and smallholder farmers.
It is important that an advanced recording and genetic evaluation scheme is established for the Mashona breed in general and the Group Breeding Scheme in particular. The methods of selection need to be revised in light of the new animal-model based evaluation methods that are now the methods of choice. The infrastructure of sire evaluation that is currently in existence in Zimbabwe can easily be modified to use Mixed Model Equations and provide Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) breeding values.
A strategy needs to be developed to facilitate the transfer of improved genes back to the smallholder farming sector. The availability of faster growing Mashona cattle will reduce the uncontrolled crossbreeding of indigenous cattle with exotic cattle in the smallholder farming sector.
While the three known breeds of indigenous cattle in Zimbabwe (namely the Mashona, Tuli and Nkone) have received regional and international acclaim, there is a paucity of information about these indigenous breeds and that limits their full exploitation in commercial agricultural systems. The gaps in knowledge include the following:
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The BPTS utilises a contemporary comparison type method to determine the breeding values of cattle within a herd, after adjusting for the fixed effects of sex and age of cow (Machaya and Tawonezvi 1992). The 205-day index is used as a measure of calf growth up to weaning and is used for dam selection, while 550-day weight is the selection criterion for replacement stock.