Project Name：King’s Dairy Farm—Royal Corporation Assistance Project (Swaziland)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Africa, Kingdom of Eswatini

Project Description：This project will provide technical assistance at the king’s dairy farm in cooperation with the King’s Office in Masundvwini. Operations will be transferred to the King’s Office when project objectives have been achieved over the scheduled period.
Overall, this project will:

1. Introduce a TMR (total mix ration) system so that dairy cattle are fed continuously; induce conception by artificial insemination when animals are coming on heat and introduce a healthy bull to increase pregnancy rates through natural mating processes.
2. Synchronize observation of artificial insemination so as to gradually substitute for natural processes while animals are in heat and improve animals’ Body Condition Score (BCS) by adopting effective management practices, thereby nurturing suitable conditions for breeding.
3. Cull unproductive cows and raise daily output of milk to 13-14 liters/head.
4. Make use of the Ministry of Agriculture’s machinery during the rainy season to plant crops such as green silage maize and pasturage.

Project No：TCD-2010-A02

Implementation Start Date：2011-01-01

Implementation End Date：2015-12-31

Project Objectives：The objectives of this project are:

1. Assist personnel at Masundvwini Dairy Farm to establish a suitable business model that replaces open grazing with a pen-based system of rearing.
2. Utilize existing sprinklers and irrigation equipment effectively and plant maize for production of 300 tons of silage; plant and cultivate high-nutrition pasture and regenerate other sites used for pasture; harvest sufficient supplies of 150 bales of hay to feed the herd all year round.
3. Introduce a TMR (total mix ration to complete-mix feed) system; raise output of milk to 26,000 liters by mixing high-nutrition feed on site.
4. Provide training to improve professionalism and management at the farm. Realizing these objectives will improve efficiency, promote economic development, yield diplomatic benefits and improve the livelihood of Swazi people, in addition to facilitating the Royal Corporation’s policies for leisure-based agriculture and pasture.

Executing Agency：

1. Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Swaziland
2. King’s Office.
3. Royal Corporation (Kingdom of Swaziland)

Current Progress：To the end of december 2015, the following activities have been completed:
In 2011:
1. Maintained a herd of 60-70 lactating cows, 40 dry cows, 15 heifers (younger than 12 months old) and 15 candidate heifers.
2. Enhanced the conception rate to 33-44 percent.
3. Raised average daily milk production from 8.7 liters per head to 12 liters per head, producing 318,420 liters of milk for an average monthly yield of 26,540 liters.
4. Increased the herd’s BCS to 2.
5. Produced 150 bales of hay during the year.
6. Produced 200 tons of maize silage during the year.
7. Renewed 3 hectares of pasture.
In 2012:
1. Maintained a herd of 80-90 lactating cows, 60-70 dry cows, 25 heifers (younger than 12 months old) and 25 candidate heifers.
2. Enhanced the conception rate through artificial insemination to 45 percent, raising the proportion of pregnant cows to 50 percent of the total herd.
3. Raised average daily milk production to 13-14 liters per head, producing 413,350 liters of milk for an average monthly yield of 34,450 liters.
4. Increased the herd’s BCS to an average of 2.5.
5. Conducted estrus synchronization and artificial insemination for 50 cows.
6. Produced 200 bales of hay during the year.
7. Produced 250 tons of maize silage during the year.
8. Renewed 5 hectares of pasture.
In 2013:
1. Maintained a herd of 110-130 lactating cows, 90-110 dry cows, 40 heifers (younger than 12 months old) and 30 candidate heifers.
2. Enhanced the conception rate through artificial insemination to 50 percent, raising the proportion of pregnant cows to 55 percent of the total herd.
3. Raised average daily milk production to 15 liters per head, producing 481,750 liters of milk for an average monthly yield of 40,150 liters.
4. Maintained the herd’s BCS at between 2.5 and 3.
5. Conducted estrus synchronization and artificial insemination in 75 cows.
6. Produced 250 bales of hay during the year.
7. Produced 300 tons of maize silage during the year.
8. Renewed 10 hectares of pasture.
In 2014
1. There are 53 wet cows, 22 dried cows and 54 heifers or calves raised in Masundvwini Dairy Farm.
2. The milk production average was 10.03 L/per head/day and a total of 282,574 liters of milk were produced.
3. Indicator of cow’s evaluation. (1) The Body Condition Score: 2.9 points for lactating cows, 3.4 points for heifers and 3.4 points for replacement heifers. (2) Fertility rate of lactating cows and dried cows (of which some are first breeding heifers) are 76.09% and 56.60% respectively and the average is 65.66% for the all.
4. Feed manufactured. (1) 306 tons of maize silage were harvested. (2) 314 bales of hay or haylage were produced and fed to the animals.
In 2015

1. There are 34 wet cows, 19 dried cows and 23 heifers or calves raised for the moment in Masundvwini Dairy Farm.
2. The average milk production is 16.1 L/head/day and a total of 137,732 liters of milk has been produced during this period.
3. Indicators of the cows. (1) Body Condition Score: 3.2 for lactating cows, 3.5 for heifers and 3.1 for replacement heifers. (2) Pregnancy rate of lactating cows and dried cows ( some of which are first breeding heifers) were 66.67% and 70.59% respectively and the average was 68.85% overall.
4. Forage production. (1)350 tons of silage was produced. (2) 436 bales of hay were produced and fed to the animals.

Projected Benefits：

1. Provide training to improve professionalism and management at the farm. Realizing these objectives will improve efficiency, promote economic development, yield diplomatic benefits and improve the livelihood of Swazi people, in addition to facilitating the Royal Corporation’s policies for leisure-based agriculture and pasture.
2. Increase the pregnancy rate to above 50 percent, raise daily output of milk to 13-14 liters/head and improve the herd’s BCS to 2-2.5.
3. Raise monthly output of milk to 34,450 liters and annual output of milk to 413,350 liters.
4. To harvest 350 tons of maize silage,renew 5 hectares of perennial forage on the dry land and 30 hectares of perineum forage in the irrigated area.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Eswatini (Former Swaziland)