Poster prepared for the ILRI Annual Program Meeting (APM) 2010, held at ILRI campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 14-17, 2010.

1. Non-genetic factors influence reproductive performance of
Nguni cattle ecotypes in Southern Mozambique
Introduction Conclusion
Landim and Nguni belong to the Sanga cattle group raised The two Nguni ecotypes in this study adapted
for beef on natural grass, with some supplementation in well to the PFI environment and could be
Southern Africa. Improved Nguni & Landim catte were used for development and restocking
introduced in Posto Fomento Impaputo (PFI), Mozambique, programmes within Southern Africa.
in 1996 and their interactions within the environment
studied
Study Population and Environment
 Animals originated from high potential
areas of Chobela and South Africa
 PFI is a semi-arid region with sub-tropical
climate in Maputo province
 2046 individual animals raised in PFI from
1996-2009 were evaluated
Nguni cow 1995 from South Africa at the PF I Landim bull 2004 from PFI
Observed differences in Age at first calving (AFC) and
Calving Intervals (CI) for Nguni and Landim cows
Ecotypes AFC (days) CI (days)
Heifers born in the dry season
Nguni 1086.02 ± 29.75 434.75 ± 6.15 born tended to calve at an
Landim 1002.09 ± 24.43 446.34 ±8.88 earlier age than those born in
the wet season
Source of original animals
Heifers born at PFI had a
PFI 969.82 ±16.64 430.95 ± 9.08
lower AFC and CI than those
South Africa 1057.15 ± 36.84 450.63 ± 7.24 born in Chobela and South
Chobela 1105.19 ± 45.39 440.06 ± 6.49 Africa
Reproductive performance of the two ecotypes in different seasons over time
1450
650
Overall mean =1070.50 ± 164.45 Overall mean = 432.39 ± 85.41
1350
600
1250
550
1150
AFC
(days)
500
CI
(days)
1050
450
950
400
850
Dry
season
(May
-­‐
Sept)
350
LANDIM
Dry
Season
(May
-­‐
Sept)
Dry
season
(May
-­‐
Sept)
750
NGUNI
650
Wet
Season
(Oct
-­‐
Apr)
300
Rainy
(Oct-­‐Apr)
LANDIM
Rainy
(Oct-­‐Apr)
NGUNI
550
250
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Year
of
Birth
Year
of
Calving
Age at first calving in dry and wet seasons Calving intervals in dry and wet seasons for the Landim and Nguni
The good
news is …
And the not so good
news is…
April 2010
water availability is a constraint!
the Landim and the Nguni ecotypes reproduce
efficiently!
S. Maciel1, J. Amimo2, M. Martins3, A.M. Okeyo2, S. Moyo2, M.M. Scholtz1 and F. Neser1
1 Department of Animal Wildlife and Grassland Sciences - U. of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa), 2International
Livestock Research Institute, Biotechnology (Nairobi, Kenya), 3Reprodutores de Moçambique, Lda (Maputo, Mozambique)
Ackowledgements: AWARD, ILRI, PFI managers, REMOC Ltd