Technical and productive diagnosis of a commercial dairy unit at the Livestock Production Enterprise “Ruta Invasora”

Daysi Cruz Lemus
Universidad de Ciego de Ávila

ABSTRACT
A diagnosis was conducted in a dairy unit belonging to the Livestock Production Enterprise “Ruta Invasora” of Ciego de Ávila since November, 1998, until October, 1999, in order to determine the factors that had incidence on milk production. The unit is located in an area of 87,2 ha, with neither irrigation nor fertilization and insufficiencies were detected in the main production and management indicators, of the pasture as well as the animals. The pasture availability in the dry season (DS) was 0,83 t DM/ha and 1,47 t DM/ha in the rainy season (RS), with predominance of the non-cultivated species: Paspalum notatum, Dichantium caricosum and Botriochloa pertusa. Paspalum virgatum was the prevailing weed with 29 to 17 %, Cynodom nlemfuensis occupied only 26 and 29 % and the pasture height varied from 6,1 to 16,5 cm for the DS and the RS, respectively. The feeding balance showed a deficit in the DS mainly of PDIN and PDIE and in the DS, of PDIN, in correspondence with the milk production of 3,9 L/cow/day, with a production of 902 L in 265 days of lactation and a production per area of 1 248,8 L/ha/year. The main reproductive indicators were below the optimum values. A positive dependence was found between milk production and availability, botanical composition and pasture height, as well as a non-significant dependence among production, Paspalum notatum and other species of lower economic importance. The absence of investments in the Production System favored the economic performance of the Unit and allowed to obtain profits of 10 442,31 Cuban pesos, showing the general efficiency of the economic process but not its efficacy because the milk production did not have the expected levels.