Abstract

The study was conducted in Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples and Tigray regions of the country to provide information on the performance of Artificial Insemination (AI) service delivery system, its seasonality and effectiveness. Semi-structured questionnaire was prepared to interview AI technicians (on their performance and related issues) and farmers (about the outcome of AI services). Data on field performance were received directly from AI technicians using a pre-restructured reporting format. A follow-up calving survey for AI services were provided to farmers was conducted in March 2019 to know the outcome of insemination services provided to farmers. Peak season falls from August to December when AI technicians on average perform 6.7 inseminations per day. January, February, June, and July were categorized as regular season with daily average insemination of 3.8. March, April, and May are off-season with an average of only 2.2 inseminations per day. The seasonal variation is mainly associated with availability of feed. Field level actual performance data showed significant difference (P<0.05) in the number of inseminations provided per AI technician per month among regions and between male and female AI technicians with an overall average insemination of 39.3. The highest AI services reported in the month of October. The Service per Conception (SPC) reported by AI technicians was not significantly different among regions (P>0.05) with mean SPC of 2.13. About 2.6 SPC obtained from a follow-up survey conducted with farmers who received AI service in a specified period. About 62% conception rate and 82% calving rates are obtained in this study.

Key words:  Cattle, farmers, performance, technicians, semen.