Review on Reproductive and Productive Performance of Dairy Cow in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has largest livestock population in Africa. Despite the largest cattle population, its productive and reproductive performance is very low productivity is relationship between inputs and outputs. The information about reproductive and productive performance in Ethiopia is limited for smallholder. Therefore; the objective of this review paper was to highlight the overall aspects of reproductive and productive performance parameters under Ethiopian condition. Reproductive performance is a trait of outstanding importance in dairy cow enterprises. The production of milk depends heavily on reproductive activity. Reproductive performance traits include number of service per-conception (NSC), calving interval (CI) and days open (DO). Productive performance traits include lactation length (LL), lactation yield (LY) and daily milk yield (DMY) are important criteria for profitable dairy farming. In Ethiopia, crossbred dairy cattle mainly are crosses of zebu with Holstein-Friesian and the mean reproductive performance like CI and productive performance like LL were near to the optimum. The mean values of reproductive and productive traits lower in case of indigenous breed than Friesian and their crosses. However, information is limited about the reproductive and productive performance of dairy cows in smallholder, urban and peri-urban dairy farms in the tropics, particularly in Ethiopia. With efficient management of cows, it is possible to improve performance traits. It is concluded that by improving genetic makeup of dairy cow it is possible to improve the reproductive and productive performance of dairy cattle in Ethiopia.