Complementation Test of Draft Oxen in Dry Season with Harvest Residues in the Cotton Zone in Northwestern Benin

Abstract

The study was to conduct a dietary supplementation test on draft cattle in the dry season using the crop residue reserves that had been built up. The experimental design used was a split-plot with soil type as the large area factor and feed complementation as the small area factor. The soil type modalities were clay soils, gravelly soils, sandy soils and sandy-clay soils. The modalities of the feed complementation factor consisted of cattle from the control lot (R0) that received no complement and the second lot (Rc) that received the complement. The data collected were related to the weight of the animals, the duration of ploughing and the investment costs of the rationing trials. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) generalized linear mixed model was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the supplemented draught cattle lost less weight than the control lot. The supplemented steers finished ploughing 1/4 hectare on average 30 minutes compared to the non-supplemented steers. The profitability study of the complemented units resulted in a 25% gain in ploughing time under the conditions of cotton farms in northern Benin. The practice of building up crop residue reserves during the dry season offers several opportunities to address the current challenges of climate change.