Technological options and approaches to
improve supply of desirable animal genetic
material for dairy and beef development:
IPMS Experience
Azage Tegegne and Dirk Hoekstra
Presented at the 19th Ethiopian Society of Animal
Production Annual Conference
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-17 December 2011

Background
 Increasing urbanization
 Increasing income
 Increasing demand for meat, milk and milk products – prices of
meat , milk and milk products has sky rocketed globally
 Excellent pre-conditions
 GoE – favourable enabling environment, GTP, AGP, LGP
 Suitable agro-ecology
 Large livestock population
 Tradition of livestock keeping
 Culture of consumption of animal products
 Large labour force
 Huge market opportunity, etc

But, hindered by
 Weak AI delivery system and low pregnancy rates
 Inbreeding??
 High prices for improved dairy animals
 About 50% - male calves in dairy system
 Low level of promotion of indigenous breeds
 Weak targeted technological interventions

Simple requirement for cattle reproductive
performance
Cow Bull♂
Joining/Mating
Conception
Calving
Weaning

Reproductive cycle
Involution/breeding season
Parturition Critical 75-90 days
Conception
Gestation
280 days

Some technological options
 Conventional artificial insemination (AI)
 Hormonal oestrus synchronization plus AI
 Sexed semen
 Sex fixer
 Embryo transfer and sexed embryos
 In-vitro fertilization plus sexed semen

Stages of bovine oestrous cycle
Stage Period Activity
Pro-oestrus 17-21 days Follicular growth
CL regression
Oestrus 6-30 hrs Sexual receptivity
Growth and maturity of graffian
follicles
Met-oestrus 1-3 days CL commences development
Dioestrus 4-16 days Luteal development (Progesterone)

What is oestrus synchronization?
Occurrence/induction of estrus in all females in a
group at the same time; or simply…

Natural hormones for oestrus synchronization
Prostaglandins PRID Syncromate B
Ear Implant

General Response to Prostaglandin:
PGF2α
• Estrus (heat): 2-5 days after treatment
• Estrus interval - heifers ~50 hours; cows ~72 hours
• Estrus response - about 60-65% of treated herd
• Pregnancy rate to AI – about 50% of responding
cows/heifers

Why synchronize? - Ethiopian context
 To produce large number & uniform animals of desired germplasm (kick start)
 To match calving with feed availability and market demand for dairy and meat and produce uniform
animals (sheep)
 To control heat period and allow more accurate AI service
 To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of AI service
 To increase the number of marginalized/endangered breeds (eg. Fogera)
 To quickly multiply breeds with specific genetic merit (eg. Sheko) and to contribute to resilience of
pastoral livestock systems – re-stocking
 Possibility of avoiding milk production during fasting season
 Mitigation of environmental impact of livestock through more from less
 To help transform livestock extension system

Options to improve use of human resource for
AI services
 Use of Regional/Zonal mobile teams; AI large
numbers of animals in a two weeks period through:
 Community mobilization to bring animals with the
desired characteristics to a central point with good
animal handling facility
 Use of hormonal synchronization and subsequent
insemination within 2-5 days of treatment
 In a dairy system, use of sexed semen or sex fixer to
increase the number of female

Performance of existing AI system (National data;
Dessalegn et al., 2010)
 One AI technician inseminates about 300 animals
per year
 Pregnancy rate to first AI is about 27% = 81
calves/year
 50% female = 41 calves/year

Mobile teams - preliminary data from Tigray
and SNNPR
 Oestrus response to hormonal treatment = 90%
 Two AI technicians working in as a team can
inseminate about 200 synchronized cows in a 2
week period – 100 cows/AI technician
 Result of pregnancy testing - 60% (due to
increased precision and effectiveness of AI)

A Possible Scenario

Example Ethiopia–improve calving rate and reduce
calf mortality with targeted interventions
Improved scenario
Existing situation
 Total cattle population = 49 M
 Male = 44.5%; Female = 55.5%
 Total cattle population = 49 M  Females = 27 M
 Male = 44.5%; Female = 55.5%  Females breed age 3-10 yrs = 35.9% = 10
M
 Females = 55.5% = 27 M
 Females breed age 3-10 yrs = 35.9%
= 10 M
 Calving rate = 75% = 7.4 M (+30%)
 Mortality = 10% = 736,398 (-10%)
 Calving rate 45% = 4.4 M  Surviving = 6.6 M
 Male calves 50% = 3.3 M
 Mortality 20% = 883,678
 Surviving = 3.5 M  Difference = 1.6 M more male
 Male calves 50% = 1.8 M calves
 1.6 M x 10,000 Birr = 1.6 Billion
 Milking cows = 4.4 M
 Milk yield/year = 300 litres  Total Milk production = 7.4 M x
300 = 2.2 Billion litres/year
 Total milk production –  Difference = + 8.8 M litres/year
1.4 Billion litres/year  8.8 x 8 Birr = 70.4 Million

What can this synchronization and sexed semen
technology do? Eg. OARI, Oromia plan
Original plan – 5 years Modified possibility – 1
 60 woredas; 3 PAs/Woreda; year
100 cows /PA  Organize Zonal teams
 60 x 3 x 100 = 18,000  Use hormonal synchronization
 Use sexed semen or sex fixer to
cows/year increase probability of female calves
 5 years x 18,000 = 90,000 to 90%
cows in 5 years  18,000 cows/zone/year; 5 Zones
 18,000 cows = 200 cows per day for
 70% calving rate = 63,000 three months???
calves  5 x 18,000 = 90,000 cows/year
 31,500 female calves  70% calving rate = 63,000 calves
 15% calf mortality = 4,725  63,000 female calves
 15% calf mortality = 9,450
 Result = 26,775  Result = 53,550
heifers in 5 years! heifers in one year!!

Assumptions on annual output of a
mobile team
 Two person team
 work 40 weeks in 10 villages/year (2 weeks/village)
 synchronize & inseminate 200 cows/village = 2000 cows
 1000 cows/AI technician
 Pregnancy rate of 60% = 600 calves/AI technician
 Use of sex fixer/sexed semen = 90% female
 Number of female calves per AI technician = 540/year

Applying this to the proposed plan - Oromia
Existing plan
 Sixty (60) Woredas/year involving 60 technicians
 300 AI x 60 technician = 18,000 AI/year
 50% pregnancy rate = 9,000 (improved performance)
 50% female calves = 4,500 female calves/year
Alternative approach
 This would result in:
 60 technicians x 540 female calves = 32,400
calves/year (7.2 times higher)

Management factors affecting conception
 Animal handling facility
 A.I. technicians
 Body condition score, health and cyclicity of cows/heifers
 Semen quality and handling techniques
 Heat detection accuracy and time of insemination
 Heat stress

Just do the right thing and do it right –
No silver bullet!!

Attempts to solve the problem
IPMS Experience

Hands-on training - regional teams @ EMDTI

Aulprofem – Sex Fixer

Practical training – sex fixer application

Effect of BCS (1-5) on heifer fertility
BCS Pregnancy rate, %
Poor (1) 3
Backward store (2) 54
Forward store (3) 68
Fat (4) 84

Community Mobilization – Mekelle-Adigrat
Milkshed, Tigray and Dale, SNNPR

Good site, lots of space and
good animal handling facility!
Poor animal handling
facility

Good conditioned animals

Poor conditioned animals
Pre-mature heifer calves

An old man asked by his wife to take the cows…no clue about
the cow..when asked about the cow, he says ‘let me check with
my wife first…’
School children with
no clue about the cow!!

Women know better about their cows!!

Many on-lookers affect efficiency!!

Support from administration and PA officials…
KEY

Explain properly and set clear expectations

Agree on clear roles and responsibilities

Practice, practice, practice - Key

Team work and multi-tasking – Key and
critical

A little experience and record keeping!

Poor animal handling facility – causes
stress, is high risk, creates inefficiency!!

Be prepared for on the spot insemination and
treatment of some sick animals

Exhausted…….some break! Carry enough
water and some food...

Beef System – Metema, Amhara
 Good export market – live animals & meat
 High cattle population and large holdings
 Large underutilized feed resource
 Mainly highland zebu brought with settlers
 Mismatch between genotype and environment
 High environmental stress, particularly heat
 Lower fertility and calving rate
 High pre-weaning calf mortality
 Slower growth rate, low market weight
 Lower milk production

Highland Zebu, Transhumance & Heat
Stress

Young Boran bulls at Andassa Ranch,
Bahir Dar

Supplemented with synchronization and AI

Boran crossbred calves…

Activity and Plan
Region Dairy system Beef system
Tigray 728 cows in Mekele-Adigrat Alamata (85 done),
and Adwa-Axum-Shire milk Humera??
sheds done
SNNPR 750 cows done in Awassa- 1500 cows in South
Dilla milk shed – done Omo Zone
Amhara 27 done; 950 cows in Bahir 120 Borana done in
Dar milkshed; Chagni Ranch Metema; new plan
and Andassa Research Undecided
Centre
Oromia 150 done, 500 cows in East 1500 cows in Borana
and West Shoa Zone Zone
milksheds

Key lessons
 Capacity building – multidisciplinary regional teams
 Proper Planning – commodity development
 Ensure necessary equipment and supplies for the team
and safe and efficient field operation
 Leadership - team formation, clear roles and
responsibilities
 Awareness creation and community mobilization
 Facilities – animals handling, lab, equipment, etc
 Technical, organizational & institutional arrangements
 The technology is a means not an end by itself!!
Synchronization ≠ milk or meat!!!

THE FUTURE
(for discussion)

Introduction and testing other dairy breeds
for fluid milk and butter systems
Guernsey Jersey Ayrshire
Norwegian Red Brown Swiss

Beef system - Our own Boran….in
Kenya South Africa
USA
Australia

Potential milk sheds for fluid milk
Amhara Tigray
•Gondar •Adgirat-Mekelle
•Bahir Dar •Adwa-Axum-Shire
•Debre Markos Oromia
•Dessie •Addis Ababa
•Debre Berhan •Adama
•Jimma
•Ambo
•Arsi
•Wellega
•Zewai-Shashemene
SNNPR
•Awassa-Dilla Special
•Arbaminch •Harar
•Butajira-Soddo •Dire Dawa
•Jigjiga

Potential for beef production and development
using Boran cattle

Sperm sexing technology
 First commercial sexed semen 1999.
 Flow cytometers are used to sort
female sperm cells from the male
sperm cells.
 The female (X bearing chromosome)
contains 3.8% more DNA than the
male (Y bearing chromosome).
 It is this difference in DNA content
that is detected by the sensors when
the sperm cells pass by a laser beam,
one at a time in a fluid stream.

 On average sexed semen
straw contains over 90%
female sperm cells
 In dairy system, almost
doubles the number of
heifer calves produced
 Sex fixer with active
constituent blocks the H-Y
antibody receptor site on
ovum; effectively blocking
chance of Y chromosome
from binding with ovum

Mid to long-term – ET and in-vitro fertilization

Training EIAR researchers –
in-vitro fertilization technique

Thank You!