A survey of mineral status of soils, feeds and cattle in the Selale Ethiopian highlands. I. Macro elements

Abstract

The macro mineral status of cattle in the Selale highlands of Ethiopia was evaluated during the rainy and dry seasons of 1989 and 1990 in terms of mineral concentrations in soils, feeds, blood plasma and faeces on 25 farms. Bone samples from animals of local breeds from a slaughter house were collected during the rainy and dry seasons of 1990. Soils were analysed for pH, organic matter, Ca, P, Mg, Na and K. The results indicated wide variation in the concentrations of minerals on different farms. Available feeds in the area consist of pasture, hay, the straw of barley, oats and teff, and the grains of barley and oats. Pasture grass and other feeds were found to be deficient in Na, P and Mg in relation to dietary requirements. Analyses of blood plasma from crossbred and local cattle showed that a number of samples contained P below the critical level of 1.45 mmol/litre. Effects of year and season were significant for Ca, P, Mg and K. The effect of age was significant for P (P < 0.001). Faecal analyses revealed that about 80% of animals were deficient in Na. Wide variations in the mineral content of soils and lack of significant correlations among soil, pasture and blood plasma indicated that soil and pasture analyses are not reliable in assessing macro mineral status of grazing cattle in this environment. Analyses of bone and blood for Ca and P, blood for Mg and faeces for Na appear to provide better indices.

A Study on the Transfer of Iron in Soil–Plant–Animal Continuum Under Semi-arid Environmental Conditions in Sargodha, Pakistan

“…Similar fluctuations in forage Fe levels have already been reported by Kuhn et al [26] and Angelow et al [27] while studying the mineral contents of various forage crops. Forage Fe values found in the present study were lower than those reported by Prabowo et al [23] in Indonesia, Espinoza et al [20] in central Florida, Khan et al [8,19] and Ahmad et al [28] in Pakistan, and Khalili et al [21] in Finland.…”

“…These soil Fe values were lower than those reported by Tejada et al [17,18] in Guatemala, Khan et al [19] in Pakistan, and Espinoza et al [20] in central Florida. However, these values were lower than those reported by Khalili et al [21] in Finland, Pastrana et al [22] in Columbia, and Prabowo et al [23] in Indonesia.…”

“…However, a non-significant effect of sampling intervals was observed on plasma Fe level (Table 1). All mean values of plasma Fe were, however, above the critical limit, 1-2 mg/L, as suggested by Miles et al [29], with only marginal to chronic [4,8,21]. There was a non-significant influence of sampling periods on milk Fe concentration as it is evident from the analysis of variance of data ( Table 1).…”

Yield and mineral content of ten enset (Ensete ventricosum) varieties

“…This is consistent with the report of Playne (1970) who observed differences in Na content between the Poineer and Callide cultivars of tropical forage, Chloris gayana. The Na content of the leaf lamina, leaf midrib, pseudostem and corm of different varieties was mostly lower than the value reported for pasture, hay and straws (Khalili et al 1993a;Kabaija and Little 1988). The Na contents in all varieties and fractions were below the recommended level for ruminants (Table 6).…”

Tissue Trace Mineral Concentrations of Abattoir Sheep and Goats at the End of the Dry and Wet Seasons of Central Trinidad

“…For example, higher incidences of liver Cu deficiencies (<75 mg/kg DM) are reported in the wet than in the dry season in beef cattle from Malawi (Mtimuni et al, 1990), St. Croix (Wildeus et al, 1992) and Ethiopia (Khalili et al, 1993). Additionally Zn, Fe and Mn levels are lower in the wet than in the dry season in beef cattle from Malawi (Mtimuni et al, 1990).…”