Interactions ticks, hosts and pastures: Case of the Girolando dairy cattle and the artificial pastures of Panicum maximum and Panicum maximum var. C1.

On the Kpinnou ranch in Benin, it was observed that the Girolando dairy cattle (imported from Brazil) that graze Panicum maximum var. C1 are more susceptible to infestation of ticks, where tendency to abandon the direct grazing of this highly productive forage. The study aims to seek the causes in order to consider the possible solutions to alleviate this scourge. The purpose was to highlight the interactions between ticks and their bovine hosts and two types of artificial grazing pastures. Nineteen young Girolando dairy cattle were used for this study during the big rainy season 2009 (March-June). All present ticks on the animals have been counted by bodily region. The bovine have been distributed then in two relatively homogeneous groups of ten and nine animals while taking into account the age, weight, sex, coat colour, and load in ticks. Group 1 of 10 animals grazed Panicum maximum. Group 2 of 9 animals grazed Panicum maximum var. C1. Grazing lasted two months. During this period, weekly monitoring of the evolution of the load in ticks is achieved. We have identified four genuses of ticks on the bovine Girolando (Amblyomma, Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus and Boophilus). The genus Boophilus is the most abundant. It was noted that the animals grazed Panicum maximum var. C1 are more infested with ticks in this case by the larvae and the nymphs than those that have grazed Panicum maximum. A variation of the rate of infestation of the animals was observed in relation to the different bodily regions. The colour of the coat also has an effect on the load in tick of the bovine. The bovine of dark coat are in general more infested than those of clear colour.

 Source de publication: Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 2011: 5 (3) xx-xx.

Contacts du ou des auteurs: ZOFFOUN G. A. (zofalex@yahoo.fr) , SALIFOU S., HOUINATO M. (mrhouinat@yahoo.fr), SINSIN A. B.