Skin defects affecting quality of leather in Tigray Regional State, Northern Ethiopia

Skins of goat are among export animal products of the country that contributes foreign currency earnings. The purpose of this study was to determine the major skin defects causing low quality of leather in the leather industries of Tigray region. Randomly about 60 skins of goat were collected and were analyzed in Sheba Leather Industry at the wet-blue stage of processing. Accordingly the major defects encountered were scratch (83.33), wound (50.00), flay cut (46.67), improper bleeding (43.33), demodectic mange (20.00), poor substance (18.33), pox lesions (16.67), age (6.67), hole (6.67), crack (5.00), brand mark (1.67) and putrefaction (1.67), percent respectively. The frequently detected defects were scratch followed by wound and least detected defects were putrefaction (1.67%) and brand mark (1.67%). According to the grading guideline, Out of the 60 skins 58 of them graded under 6-8 and were affected with more than two defects. Overall, out of 60 skins 26 (43.3%) of them has been rejected. In conclusion, around 12 major skin defects that have high impact on the quality of leather have been identified. To minimize the defects of the skin, animal health extension service should be promoted to increase the public awareness and collaborative work of the government and other stakeholders should be improved.