Participatory identification of breeding objective traits of Woyto-Guji goat in Loma district, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Woyto-Guji goat breeds suitable for diverse purposes in the different production environments or ecological zones in the district. Farmers in different production systems have different trait preferences and the strategies followed by them are also as diverse as the agro-environments within which they operate. Socio-economic (cash, asset, security) and production or yield attribute (meat) were ranked first and second preferred traits by farmers with index of 0.47, 0.44 in lowland; 0.45, 0.42 in midland and 0.47, 0.40 in highland areas. that body conformation, adaptation, twining ability, coat color, ranked as first to fourth traits with index value of 0.22, 0.18, 0.16, and 0.15, respectively, by farmers for selection of females. In order to design a viable breeding plan, farmers’ preferences for the different traits need to be investigated. Participatory definition of trait preferences was undertaken to pave the way for deriving economic weights of traits to develop selection indices. Key words: Goat breeding, purpose, traits preference.