The objective of this study was to compare the quality of in vivo and in vitro produced embryos in Bonsmara, Nguni and Boran cattle. Hormonal supplements were used to produce in vivo embryos while ovum pickup and ovarian follicle aspiration were used to produce in vitro embryos. Embryos produced by both methods in all the three breeds were evaluated for morphological appearence based on the standards of the International Embryo Transfer Society. Data were analysed by ANOVA. No significant difference were observed among breeds in developmental competency of embryos produced in vivo. Development of blastocysts in vivo was significantly higher in Bonsmara and Nguni compared to Boran on day 8. No significant difference was observed between breeds at all development stages for the in vitro environment. There were no significant breed differences in the number of blastocysts and blastocyst quality by either the in vivo or in vitro method. Flushing and Ovum pickup produced a higher number of blastocysts compared to ovary aspiration. The number of Grade I embryos were significantly higher in flushing and OPU compared to ovary aspiration. In conclusion, the study showed that the in vivo method of embryo production is superior to the in vitro method in blastocyst development of Bonsmara, Boran and Nguni breeds.

The objective of this study was to assess the developmental competence and quality of embryos produced by Bonsmara, Nguni, and Boran cattle in a smallholder production environment using in vivo and in vitro techniques. This was a 3 x 2 factorial experiment in a completely ran-domized design, with breed (3 breeds) and embryo production tech-nique (2 methods) as factors. In vivo embryos were produced by ad-ministering hormones to experimental cows, while in vitro embryos were developed through ovum pickup and ovarian follicle aspiration. Embryo developmental competence was evaluated based on cell divi-sion stages, while embryo quality was assessed morphologically fol-lowing the standards of the International Embryo Transfer Society. The effects of breed and embryo production technique on developmental competence and quality were analysed using a linear fixed-effects model with the General Linear Models procedure in SAS software. Results showed that in vivo blastocyst development on day 8 was sig-nificantly (P< 0.05) higher in Bonsmara and Nguni cattle compared to Boran. However, no significant breed effects were observed on embryo developmental competence at any stage when using the in vitro tech-nique. Bonsmara cattle produced a significantly higher number of poor-quality (Grade III) embryos compared to Nguni and Boran. Addi-tionally, both flushing and ovum pickup methods yielded a significantly (P< 0.05) higher number of blastocysts and excellent-quality (Grade I) embryos compared to ovarian follicle aspiration. Overall, the study demonstrated that the in vivo method of embryo production is superior to the in vitro method in promoting blastocyst development in Bonsmara, Boran, and Nguni breeds.