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Parameters p-values Land ownership 0.001 Local livestock holding 0.001 Improved livestock holding 0.001 Land use for food crops and fodder production 0.001 Dry matter intake by sources 0.001 Metabolizable energy intake by sources 0.001 Protein intake by sources 0.001 CP:ME ratio 0.001 Milk yield per ME intake 0.001 CP: crude protein; ME: metabolizable energy. The p-values represent the statistical significance levels corresponding to of each reported parameter; p = 0.001 indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, suggesting that there is a significant association between agroecology and the reported parameters. In other words, the p-value suggests that the observed effects are associated with agroecological factors. Table 1.
Test of significant difference (Moses Test of Extreme Reaction) for the effect of agroecology type herd production characteristics of the respondent households.
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Land ownership parameters Southern Guinea savannah Derived savannah Mean Large land ownership (ha) 9.29 ± 0.43 15.00 ± 2.85 12.17 ± 1.82 Medium land ownership (ha) 6.10 ± 0.27 10.00 ± 1.48 8.05 ± 1.06 Small land ownership (ha) 3.75 ± 0.38 5.00 ± 0.00 4.37 ± 0.35 Large landowners (%) 15.00 ± 8.66 65 ± 8.65 40.00 ± 12.40 Medium landowners (%) 20.00 ± 5.70 17.50 ± 4.33 18.75 ± 3.24 Small landowners (%) 65.00 ± 14.46 17.50 ± 4.33 41.25 ± 12.52 ha: hectare. Table 2.
Land ownership and access characteristics of the respondents in the Southern Guinea savanna and derived savanna agroecology by land ownership size and ownership categories.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Local dairy cattle (TLUs/HH) 53.68 ± 2.85 51.82 ± 17.88 52.75 ± 8.07 Fattening and draught cattle (TLUs/ HH) 1.80 ± 0.55 12.30 ± 7.14 7.05 ± 3.92 Local dairy cows - lactating (TLUs/HH) 27.24 ± 1.55 26.97 ± 0.47 27.10 ± 0.79 Local dairy cows - non lactating (TLUs/HH) 11.00 ± 0.57 13.23 ± 0.30 12.11 ± 0.56 Local dairy heifers (6 months old - 1st calving) (TLUs/HH) 5.72 ± 0.09 27.51 ± 6.96 16.61 ± 5.71 Local dairy female calves (less than 6 months old) (TLUs/HH) 2.12 ± 0.26 11.62 ± 2.97 6.87 ± 2.50 Local dairy calf's male (less than 6 months old) (TLUs/HH) 0.33 ± 0.06 0.79 ± 0.13 0.56 ± 0.18 Local bulls less than 2 years (TLUs/HH) 1.75 ± 0.41 6.50 ± 3.78 4.12 ± 1.97 Local bulls older than 2 years (TLUs/HH) 0.61 ± 0.10 15.20 ± 8.72 7.90 ± 4.41 TLUs: tropical livestock units; HH: household. Table 3.
Per household Tropical Livestock Units (TLUs) of local livestock ownership of the respondents in the Southern and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savannah Derived savannah Mean Improved dairy cattle (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 22.73 ± 8.74 22.73 ± 8.74 Improved dairy cows - lactating (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 15.90 ± 9.17 15.90 ± 9.17 Improved dairy cows - non-lactating (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 3.08 ± 1.74 3.08 ± 1.74 Improved dairy heifers (6 months old - 1st calving) (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 3.60 ± 2.06 3.60 ± 2.06 Improved dairy female calves (less than 6 months old) (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 1.20 ± 0.69 1.20 ± 0.69 Improved dairy calf's male (less than 6 months old) (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 1.00 ± 0.55 1.00 ± 0.55 Improved bulls older than 2 years (TLUs/HH) 0.00 ± 0.00 3.00 ± 1.75 3.00 ± 1.75 TLUs: tropical livestock units; HH: household. Table 4.
Per household Tropical Livestock Units (TLUs) of improved livestock ownership of the respondents in the southern and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Total crop area per household (ha/HH) 4.04 ± 0.02 5.83 ± 1.48 4.93 ± 0.78 Total forage area per household (ha/HH) 0.50 ± 0.14 2.47 ± 1.49 1.49 ± 0.75 Crop residue yield (kg DM/ha) 986.89 ± 5.63 2,786.62 ± 232.63 1,886.76 ± 415.63 Forage yield (kg DM/ha) 40,960.00 ± 11,824.13 6,340.74 ± 3,660.83 23,650.37 ± 9,516.69 Forage crop area as percentage of cropped area (%) 12.41 ± 3.63 30.00 ± 17.31 21.20 ± 8.87 ha: hectare; HH: household; Kg: kilogramme; DM: dry matter. Table 5.
Per household total crop area, crop residue yield and percentage of fodder crop area in the southern and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Purchase feed (%) 5.33 ± 0.82 16.50 ± 9.58 10.97 ± 4.91 Grazing (%) 75.00 ± 0.00 49.00 ± 28.26 62.00 ± 13.90 Collected fodder (%) 2.66 ± 0.67 0.00 ± 0.00 2.66 ± 0.67 Crop residue (%) 7.66 ± 0.67 6.00 ± 2.30 6.83 ± 1.14 Cultivated fodder (%) 9.00 ± 0.00 28.50 ± 16.48 18.75 ± 8.51 Table 6.
Per household sources of dry matter intake of cattle from different sources of the feed supply in the Southern Guinea savanna and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Purchase feed (%) 8.00 ± 1.10 11.50 ± 6.08 9.75 ± 2.85 Grazing (%) 74.33 ± 0.67 48.50 ± 28.09 61.47 ± 13.77 Collected fodder (%) 2.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 2.00 ± 0.00 Crop residue (%) 9.00 ± 1.00 4.00 ± 1.10 6.50 ± 1.32 Cultivated fodder (%) 6.67 ± 2.09 36.00 ± 20.71 21.33 ± 11.47 Table 7.
Per household sources of metabolizable energy intake of cattle from different sources of the feed supply in the Southern Guinea savanna and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Purchase feed (%) 9.67 ± 1.47 12.50 ± 6.63 11.03 ± 3.18 Grazing (%) 73.33 ± 1.67 48.50 ± 28.19 60.97 ± 13.75 Collected fodder (%) 2.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 2.00 ± 0.00 Crop residue (%) 7.33 ± 1.33 5.50 ± 2.03 6.47 ± 1.10 Cultivated fodder (%) 7.66 ± 2.33 33.50 ± 19.33 20.53 ± 10.40 Table 8.
Per household sources of crude protein intake of cattle from different sources of the feed supply in the Southern Guinea savanna and derived savanna agroecology.
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Parameters Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean Dry matter quantity (kg/HH) 64,511.25 ± 5,664.02 504,597.04 ± 227,307.56 284,554.15 ± 141,505.96 ME quantity (MJ/HH) 583,470.06 ± 51,226.91 4,836,953.98 ± 1,882,599.73 2,710,212.02 ± 1,270,420.18 CP quantity (kg/HH) 5,191.85 ± 455.84 40,726.10 ± 17,989.44 22,958.98 ± 11,309.27 CP:ME ratio (g CP/MJ) 8.9 ± 0.00 7.79 ± 0.87 8.34 ± 0.48 Milk yield per ME (Ltr/MJ) 0.01 ± 0.00 0.03 ± 0.00 0.017 ± 0.07 Kg: kilogramme; HH: household; ME: metabolizable energy; CP: crude protein; MJ: milojoules; Ltr: Litre. Table 9.
Analysis of nutrients intakes of the cattle kept by each household with respect to milk production per cattle in each household.
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Southern Guinea savanna Derived savanna Mean p-values Live weight of the bulls (kg) 205.24 ± 16.30 309.62 ± 27.88 257.43 ± 22.09 0.010 BCS of the bulls 5.79 ± 0.90 6.90 ± 0.59 6.35 ± 0.75 0.010 Testis circumference of the bulls 28.42 ± 0.58 35.20 ± 2.17 31.81 ± 1.38 0.040 Age of the bulls (years) 3.00 ± 0.25 2.70 ± 0.24 2.87 ± 0.25 0.430 Live weight of the cows (kg) 157.33 ± 6.15 313.84 ± 22.73 235.58 ± 14.44 0.006 BCS of the cows 3.50 ± 0.22 6.71 ± 0.33 5.10 ± 0.28 0.001 Age of the cows (years) 3.90 ± 0.37 6.14 ± 0.38 5.02 ± 0.37 0.008 Age of the cows at puberty (years) 2.00 ± 0.00 2.40 ± 0.15 2.20 ± 0.05 0.018 Age of the cows at first calving (years) 2.75 ± 0.00 3.15 ± 0.15 2.95 ± 0.08 0.016 BCS: body condition scores; kg: kilogram. Table 10.
The descriptive statistics of the animal body measurements and expression of the phenotypic traits of the cows and bulls under low external input operations in the selected agroecology.
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