Gezu Tadesse, Haftu Kebede and Sefa Salo
The study was conducted in Lemo and Soro Woredas with the objectives of assessing major available feed resources and constraints of cattle fattening. The study was instigated using semi-structure interviewing. In Lemo Woreda 57.2% of the respondents and in three agro-ecologies (Dega, Weina-Dega and Kolla) of Soro Woreda indicated that 51.1%, 54.2% and 66%, respectively of the respondents rely on natural pasture was the major feed for their cattle. In Lemo and Soro Woredas the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ranked major constraints identified were feed shortage (88.5% and 79.5%), disease (54.6% and 51.5%), fattening cattle price (60.1% and 33.7%), cost of medication and inadequate health service (45.2% and 40.5%) and water shortage (60.2% and 51.9%), respectively. The critical feed shortage season in Lemo and Soro Woredas was from March-May. In Lemo and Soro Woredas feed shortage was resolved mainly by storing the feed during available in the area (72.7% and 91.7%) and using browse trees (50.9% and 49.0%) leading from 1st and 2nd, respectively. In the study areas feed conservation is not common particularly crop residues treatment with urea and silage making. It can be concluded that cattle fattening could be one potential strategy to improve the income of the farming community that utilizes seasonally available feed resources by improving utilization efficiency through training and extension advice with the help of agricultural development organizations.
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