KIRUHURA, UGANDA: Uganda’s iconic Ankole Longhorn cattle are taking on a new productive dimension at Nshaara Conservation Ranch, where the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) is using systematic genetic selection, pedigree management, performance recording and improved nutrition to develop a high-milk-yielding pure Ankole dairy population.
The programme seeks to improve milk production without replacing the indigenous Ankole breed with exotic dairy genetics.
Approximately three years ago, NAGRC&DB launched a deliberate programme at Nshaara Conservation Ranch in Kiruhura District to identify superior pure Ankole cattle with greater milk-production potential.
The initiative involved screening animals within the ranch’s existing population and introducing selected superior Ankole genetics from other recognised sources, including the Kisozi Ankole Longhorn conservation and improvement herd.
The objective was not to crossbreed the Ankole with exotic dairy breeds, but rather to exploit the natural genetic variation that already exists within the breed and progressively concentrate desirable milk-production traits through selective breeding.
The programme began by establishing clear selection criteria for the nucleus population. Milk yield was prioritised as the principal productive trait, followed by lactation length, udder conformation and calving interval.
This enabled the ranch to identify cows that combined relatively high milk output with sustained lactation and reproductive efficiency.
Replacement heifers are subsequently evaluated using information on their dams’ milk production, growth and fertility, together with physical assessments of body structure, udder characteristics and temperament.
As superior female lines became identifiable, the programme increasingly focused on selecting breeding bulls from high-performing maternal families.
Because genetic improvement in milk production can be transmitted through sires to their daughters, candidate bulls are selected partly on the milk-production performance of their dams.
This is complemented by assessments of growth rate, body size and stature, age at maturity, reproductive soundness, testicular development, libido, temperament and other functional characteristics.
Bulls originating from highly productive cows are therefore prioritised to help advance milk-production traits in subsequent generations.
According to Dr. Innocent Tuwangye, Manager of Nshaara Conservation Ranch, the approach is centred on improving the Ankole from within its own genetic population.
“We are not trying to turn the Ankole into an exotic dairy cow. We are identifying superior dairy traits that already exist within the pure Ankole population and systematically selecting and multiplying those genetics. The objective is to develop an Ankole animal that produces more milk while retaining the adaptability, resilience and genetic identity for which the breed is known,” he said.
The production records are complemented by information on reproductive events and animal health. The data are maintained in physical farm records and NAGRC&DB’s Integrated Livestock Management Information System (ILMIS).
The system allows the breeding team to build individual performance histories and link production outcomes to particular animals and maternal lines.
Historical performance, including peak yields across successive lactations, is then used to guide subsequent breeding and selection decisions.
By 2023, the programme had generated sufficient production records to begin demonstrating measurable performance at herd level.
Average recorded milk productivity stood at 5.2 litres per active cow per day, with annual recorded production of approximately 56,040 litres. The active milking population increased from 24 cows in January to 35 cows by December.
Selection, performance recording and herd management continued into 2024. Average productivity increased to 7.0 litres per cow per day, while annual recorded milk production rose to approximately 106,358 litres.
The milking population also expanded from 36 cows at the beginning of the year to 47 cows by December.
By December 2025, average productivity had risen further to 8.6 litres per cow per day, while annual recorded production reached approximately 168,285 litres. The milking population expanded from 47 cows in January to 60 cows by December.
Taken together, the records indicate an approximately 65.4 percent increase in average productivity between 2023 and 2025, alongside a progressive expansion of the selected milking population.
At individual-animal level, the improvement has also been notable.
Under traditional production conditions, an Ankole cow produces an average of about two litres during morning milking. However, selected cows in the Nshaara programme are now regularly recording approximately five to 10 litres from a single morning milking session, with a few exceptional animals producing up to 12 litres between their second and seventh lactations.
One individual cow has recorded a peak morning yield of 14 litres, demonstrating the productive potential that exists within the Ankole population.
The emerging results have also demonstrated that genetic potential alone is insufficient to sustain higher milk production.
NAGRC&DB has therefore strengthened nutritional management by supplementing conventional grazing with hay and silage produced at Nshaara.
The highest individual yields have been observed under the improved feeding regime, highlighting the important relationship between genetic potential and adequate nutrition.
“Our records are increasingly showing us that breeding and feeding must move together,” said Dr. Peter Beine, Executive Director of NAGRC&DB.
“Selection identifies the animal with superior genetic potential, but nutrition determines how effectively that potential is expressed. We are therefore using the production data not only to select our breeding animals but also to refine feeding and management protocols for the emerging Ankole dairy population.”
The programme is now entering an important phase in which the emphasis is shifting from identifying a few exceptional animals to consolidating superior performance across families and successive generations.
While an individual cow attaining a peak morning yield of 14 litres demonstrates the productive potential present within the Ankole population, the longer-term breeding objective is to make superior performance increasingly repeatable, heritable and predictable.
Achieving this will require continued pedigree recording, identification of elite cows, selection of replacement heifers from proven maternal lines, use of bulls originating from superior dams and systematic evaluation of the resulting progeny.
“Our real measure of success will not simply be one exceptional cow,” Dr. Beine said. “The breeding objective is to establish a population in which superior milk production can be consistently reproduced from one generation to another. That is why pedigree integrity, individual animal identification, performance recording and selection of proven maternal and sire lines are central to what we are doing at Nshaara.”
What began at Nshaara as an effort to identify naturally superior milk-producing Ankole cows is steadily developing into a structured breeding programme aimed at establishing a genetically stable, productive and resilient pure Ankole dairy population.
The initiative places Uganda’s indigenous cattle genetics at the centre of efforts to improve the country’s livestock productivity while preserving the breed’s genetic identity, adaptability and resilience.
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