Application of Radioimmunoassay in Improving the Reproductive Management of Smallholder Dairy Cattle

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken a keen interest in supporting efforts to improve livestock production in Africa through national and regional technical cooperation projects. In the recent past, two successive regional projects were implemented under the framework of the African Regional Cooperative Agreement (AFRA) program. The first was entitled Development and Field Evaluation of Animal Feed Supplementation Packages and had two main components: the development and dissemination of cost-effective and sustainable feed supplementation packages which are based on locally available feed resources; and establishment of the "self-coating" Radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique for measuring progesterone in the milk and blood of ruminants.The second was entitled Increasing and Improving Milk and Meat Production and had the objectives of: assessing and improving AI programs for small-scale dairy farmers; establishing sustainable early non-pregnancy diagnosis (N-PD) and related services based on RIA; and harmonizing managerial and field practices within the region. Many issues have been identified through these projects as being responsible for low productivity of cattle in Africa. This publication contains the results obtained by Member States in the project activities of Increasing and Improving Milk and Meat Production. It will serve as a source of information for professionals, technicians and extension workers engaged in the provision of AI services, as well as a source of reference for research workers and students in livestock and veterinary sciences.