The Italian Cilentana goat breed: productive performances and economic perspectives of goat farming in marginal areas

Identifying European marginal areas in the context of local sheep and goat breeds conservation: A geographic information system approach

This study examined early lambing-kidding, prolificacy and twinning in Nigerian breeds of sheep and goat using questionnaire administered by enumerators. Sheep and goat farmers in the study area were interviewed. At the time of the study, Nigeria had only 21 States plus the Federal Capital Territory, with each States having different number of local government areas. A total of four hundred forty nine (449) Local Government Areas were used in this survey. Five villages were randomly sampled from each Local Government Area and five questionnaires were administered to five randomly selected farmers in each village. Some breeds of sheep like Yankasa, Uda and Balami were frequent among the states in the north. Red Sokoto and sahel goat were frequent among the states in the north.The Red Sokoto goat (4.43%) kid earliest than WAD goat (4.29 %) and Sahel goat (2.01%). WAD sheep (7.18%) was found to be most prolific, followed by Balami (5.17%) and Yankasa (3.88%) while it was lower in Uda (3.45%).The Sahel goat (5.49%) was the most prolific, followed by WAD (4.64%) and Red Sokoto goat (3.86%). Among the breeds of sheep, WAD sheep had more occurrence of twinning (6.82%) than the other breeds of sheep – Uda (2.57%), Yankasa (2.55%) and was very low in Balami sheep (1.21%).With the breeds of goat, WAD goat (3.31%) had more occurrence of twinning followed by Red Sokoto (2.88%), while Sahel goat had the lowest occurrence of twinning (1.14%).From this study, a successful breeding programme and plan could be made where selection is carried out among these breeds to increase the frequency of these desired traits in Yankasa, WAD sheep and Red Sokoto, Sahel, WAD goat. There is a need for a repeat of this work in this year 2016, where results obtained can be compared with the results obtained in this study.Key words: Breeds, Kidding, lambing, prolificacy, twinning.

Sheep and goat farming represent a non-negligible share of the worldwide livestock productions. Ovine rearing, although knowing time periods of growth and descents, is today gaining more interest especially with regards of milk and dairy products. This is due to the rediscovery of the economic, social and environmental potential of this type of farming and its products. This work aims to analyze goat farming and its productions using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. LCA makes it possible to evaluate and understand the environmental impacts of livestock farming and dairy processing throughout all the phases of their production. The purpose is to highlight and localize the opportunities for reducing the environmental impacts; compare similar products to each other; evaluate and compare the effects related to different environmental and resource management policies. Two zootechnical companies, located in the province of Salerno (Italy), are investigated. The production process analyzed is precisely that of goat cheese, specifically the “Cacioricotta Cilentana”, a very well-known kind of Italian cheese. The characteristics of goat breeding and the production of Cacioricotta Cilentana are examined in this study. The similarities and differences between the two companies have been highlighted, linked to the breeding, cheese making and sale phases of the finished product. Applying the LCA approach, the environmental impacts of the production process were analyzed and quantified, according to the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method to derive impact indicators relating to the most significant impact categories (including climate change, human toxicity, acidification, depletion of fossil resources, depletion of water resources). The evaluation highlights the critical points of the process so as to be able to suggest improvement options.

This paper reports findings regarding patterns of reproductive management in 325 sheep flocks and 119 goat herds throughout Greece. The objectives were to describe the patterns of reproductive management in sheep and goat farms, to highlight factors that were associated with these management patterns and the clinical application of the various reproductive management approaches in the farms and to establish potential associations with production outcomes. The median months of the start of the mating period for adult sheep and goats were May and June, respectively and for ewe lambs and replacement goats these were August and September, respectively. The median duration of the mating period was 2 months for adults and 1 month for replacements. The median ratio of female to male animals was 22:1 and 25:1 in sheep and goat farms, respectively. Control of reproduction was applied in 33.2% and 16.8% of sheep and goat farms, respectively, mostly by intravaginal progestagen sponges and less often by melatonin implants; multivariable analysis indicated five (availability of milking parlour, number of ewes in a farm, number of daily milkings, daily period spent by farmers at the farm, farming tradition in the family) and two (number of daily milkings, availability of milking parlour) predictors in sheep and goat farms, respectively. Pregnancy diagnosis ultrasonographically was performed in 36.6% and 16.8% of sheep and goat farms, respectively; multivariable analysis indicated as significant three (management system applied in farms, age of farmer, farming tradition in the family) and two (management system applied in farms, availability of milking parlour) predictors in sheep and goat farms, respectively. The control of reproduction and pregnancy diagnosis were associated with a higher number of vaccinations during pregnancy: 2.6 and 2.7, respectively, versus 2.2 and 2.1 in farms where they were not performed. The average per farm number of lambs/kids born per female animal was 1.33 ± 0.01 and 1.30 ± 0.02 for sheep and goat farms, respectively; five (control of reproduction, location of the farm, presence of working staff, collaboration with veterinary practice, breed of ewes) and two (control of reproduction, breed of female goats) predictors were identified in sheep and goat farms, respectively, for high numbers of lambs/kids. Lambs/kids were taken away from their dams at the age of 50 and 65 days, respectively. The average culling age (females, males) was 5.9 and 4.4 years and 6.9 and 4.9 years for sheep and goats, respectively. Farmers sourced animals to be used as replacements for those removed from the farm, mostly from the animals in their own farms, considering criteria related to milk production. Finally, the application of the control of reproduction was associated with increased milk production and the number of newborns, whilst an inverse correlation between the culling age of animals and milk production was seen.

Goat farming plays a key role in agricultural activity and in maintaining forest lands in Southwestern Europe. Remarkably, the Iberian Peninsula represents nearly 25% of the European goat census. Goat husbandry is often associated with low input production systems and uses selective breeding programs, which are less advanced than those employed in other livestock. Native goat breeds are very well adapted to produce in marginal areas under extensive conditions. Loss of their genetic diversity could have important economic, ecological and scientific implications as well as social consequences. Several methodologies have been developed to preserve the genetic diversity of single populations, but additional problems arise when a group of breeds, i.e., subpopulations, is considered in conservation programs. The conservation priority of a breed depends on its contribution to the overall genetic diversity of the species, in terms of the intrinsic genetic variation that it harbors and also of its relationship with other breeds. However, the estimation of the contributions of each of these two components to overall genetic diversity cannot be easily assessed. Besides, conservation goals in the short-term (avoidance of inbreeding) and long-term (adaptation to future environmental changes) should be considered when taking conservative decisions. A comprehensive analysis of Iberian goat breeds has been carried out to evaluate conservation priorities based on methodologies that account for within- or between-breed genetic diversity, or combinations of both. Based on genetic distinctiveness, breeds such as Palmera, Formentera, and Blanca Celtiberica were prioritized, whereas the maximum priority was assigned to Florida, Pirenaica, Retinta, and Moncaina breeds when focusing on within-breed diversity. Overall, combined approaches showed very little variation among breeds reflecting a history of extensive gene flow, partly due to transhumance and recent divergence. The main conclusion of our study is that these statistical analyses are useful, but conservation decisions must take into account other factors in addition to strict genetic diversity classification.

Goats are multifunctional species and play an important role in the livelihoods and food security of farmers particularly in rural areas. Goats are well‐adapted animals to the various ecological zones in the tropics and dry zones of developing countries such as Jordan. In the country, goat farming is a major component of the agricultural system. This chapter provides an overview of the present status and prospects of Jordan’s goat production sector, changes in goat populations, and includes an evaluation of constraints and their impacts on goat production in the region. It discusses the general trends occurring in goat raising, diversity, and characterization of the prevailing production systems. The chapter also focuses on the major breeds of goats and the differences and unique characteristics of each goat breed. Additionally, this chapter covers a considerable contribution of goats in terms of meat, milk, and culture to the socioeconomics of householders and its role in poverty and hunger alleviation in Jordan. Moreover, this chapter also discusses basic goats’ productive and reproductive performance. Management calendar for goat production in Jordan is reviewed. Finally, the chapter covers goat health, diseases, and approaches or management practices for prevention and control of goat diseases.

Simple SummaryGiven that goats are considered more climate resilient than other ruminant species, research efforts are therefore needed to understand goat productivity during exposure to high ambient temperatures. Heat stress can affect the digestion and rumen fermentation pattern of goats, which contributes to the reduction in production performance in goats. Diet composition, breed and environmental stresses are common factors which negatively influence rumen function and enteric methane (CH4) emission. There are three mechanisms by which enteric CH4 can be reduced: targeting end product of digestion to propionate, providing alternate hydrogen sink and selectively inactivating rumen methanogens. The various strategies that can be implemented to mitigate enteric CH4 include nutritional interventions, management strategies and application of advanced biotechnological tools.The ability of an animal to cope and adapt itself to the changing climate virtually depends on the function of rumen and rumen inhabitants such as bacteria, protozoa, fungi, virus and archaea. Elevated ambient temperature during the summer months can have a significant influence on the basic physiology of the rumen, thereby affecting the nutritional status of the animals. Rumen volatile fatty acid (VFA) production decreases under conditions of extreme heat. Growing recent evidence suggests there are genetic variations among breeds of goats in the impact of heat stress on rumen fermentation pattern and VFA production. Most of the effects of heat stress on rumen fermentation and enteric methane (CH4) emission are attributed to differences in the rumen microbial population. Heat stress-induced rumen function impairment is mainly associated with an increase in Streptococcus genus bacteria and with a decrease in the bacteria of Fibrobactor genus. Apart from its major role in global warming and greenhouse effect, enteric CH4 is also considered as a dietary energy loss in goats. These effects warrant mitigating against CH4 production to ensure optimum economic return from goat farming as well as to reduce the impact on global warming as CH4 is one of the more potent greenhouse gases (GHG). The various strategies that can be implemented to mitigate enteric CH4 emission include nutritional interventions, different management strategies and applying advanced biotechnological tools to find solution to reduce CH4 production. Through these advanced technologies, it is possible to identify genetically superior animals with less CH4 production per unit feed intake. These efforts can help the farming community to sustain goat production in the changing climate scenario.

RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar o manejo sanitário e descrever as características da ovinocaprinocultura na microrregião homogênea (MRH) de Teresina, Piauí, Brasil. Foram investigadas 45 propriedades capriovinícolas, distribuídas em 14 municípios. O número médio de animais foi de 129 e 121 nos rebanhos caprinos e ovinos, respectivamente. Os animais utilizados na formação dos rebanhos base tiveram como origem os estados da Bahia, Pernambuco e Ceará. Animais SPRD (45,8%) e da raça Santa Inês (35,4%) são os mais encontrados entre os ovinos e na espécie caprina animais SPRD (55,3%) e animais da raça Anglo-Nubiana (28,6%). O estudo demostrou que 42,2% propriedades pesquisadas exploravam bovinos e caprinos e/ou ovinos. O sistema de criação extensivo foi adotado em 71,1% dos criatórios. As práticas sanitárias adotadas com maior frequência foram descarte de agulhas após o uso, isolamento de animais doentes e corte e desinfecção do umbigo. A desverminação foi a prática utilizada no controle de verminoses por 100,0% dos produtores. A vacinação foi adotada em 48,8% dos rebanhos. As alterações clínicas mais citadas foram linfadenite caseosa (64,4%), pododermatite (62,2%) e diarreia (60,0%). Portanto, a ovinocaprinocultura na MRH de Teresina é praticada, em sua grande maioria, de forma extensiva e que, apesar de contar com instalações razoáveis, ainda apresenta deficiências quanto à utilização de práticas de manejo sanitário, o que acaba impossibilitando a prevenção e o controle de doenças, principalmente as de origem infecciosas e parasitárias.

This study was carried out to reveal the present status of goat farms in Nigde, to detect basic priority problems and to offer some solutions to these problems. For this purpose, a survey was conducted to the goat breeders face to face in randomly selected total 38 goat farms.The survey questions; goat farms and growing core business activities of enterprises that reveals the overall structure, and also the level of satisfaction with the priority issues of breeders are designed to measure. Analyze the results was shown that a large portion of goat breeders (85.0%) were primary school graduates, 5.3%secondery school and also 5.3% high school graduates, goat farms have whole hair goat breed. Goat enterprises have rate of 44.7%, more than 500 goat, 92.1% of goat enterprises go out to highlands, also provided 73.7% of the shepherd's family. In addition, operating revenues were determined come from 50% of goat's milk. Goat breeders were evaluated only 39.5% the form of cheese production, as 60.5% of the cheese, butter, yogurt, and the sale of raw milk of the total milk yield. All business was assessed that owners a profitable goat farming as an occupation and the first five main problems were member alliance, ownership sufficient technical knowledge, serving the technical staff, buck mating and breeding presses, goat shelter, respectively. In addition, it was seen that according to Likert scale, at least the first five issues were satisfied that such as feed, labor, and electricity inputs, product marketing price, sold animals the price, market opportunities related to the sale of manufactured products and finacial supply, respectively. As a result, it could be said that the most important problem for goat enterprises in Nigde province is high production costs and low product prices.

Introduction: Sudan is known as home to a diverse range of goat breeds, among which the Nubian goat holds significant importance as a dairy producer. Recently, the country imported several exotic dairy goat breeds. The present study aimed to describe the production and reproduction performance of Nubian, Damascus, Mazain, and Alpine goats kept in Khartoum State, Sudan. In addition, to assess solids not fat (SNF), fat, protein, casein, whey proteins, and lactose in the milk of these breeds. Materials and methods: Information about the production performance of goat farms found in Khartoum State was obtained through personal interviews with owners and available records. A total of 145 milk samples were collected from the investigated goat breeds and analyzed for their content. The milk SNF, fat, protein, lactose, casein, and whey proteins were determined in the collected samples. Results: Significant differences among exotic breeds for birth weight of kids, body weight of dams, milk yield, and lactation length were indicated. The fat content was significantly different among goat breeds. The lower fat content of the milk was recorded in Alpine compared to other goats. The protein contents indicated 3.58 ± 0.08%, 3.52 ± 0.12%, 3.62 ± 0.09%, and 3.33 ± 0.07% in the Nubian, Damascus, Mazain, and Alpine goat breeds, respectively. The casein and whey protein content were high in the milk of the Mazain goat, whereby some higher values of casein and whey protein were obtained during the 5-6 months of lactation in the Mazain goat compared to other goats. The lactose content of milk indicated higher values during the first two months of lactation in all goats. The SNF content of milk showed higher values in Damascus and Mazain compared to Alpine goats, which showed significant differences during the progress of lactation in all goats. Conclusion: It is concluded that variations were found regarding the chemical composition of milk and performance in different breeds of goats in Khartoum State, Sudan.

This study aims to locate goat farms in the Limapuluh Kota District. Both primary and secondary data are used. The main information was obtained by answering a questionnaire to count the houses owned by goat farmers and the number of goats. Stratified selection of responders. After that, secondary information was gathered from the Limapuluh Kota Regency's Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Service, Central Agency on Statistic Limapuluh Kota Regency, Regional Planning Agency of Limapuluh Kota Regency, Geospatial Information Agency, and other relevant organizations. ArcGIS version 10.9 was used to conduct the analysis as a spatial analysis using a Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology. The findings show that Limapuluh Kota Regency has 79 districts and 13 sub-districts. There are 6,483 households dedicated to goat breeding and 29,867 goat animals in 77 of the 79 districts, which have goat farms. As a result, it can be concluded that there are goat farms in every subdistrict of Limapuluh Kota Regency. Furthermore, it is clear that the atmosphere in Limapuluh Kota Regency is conducive to goat farming, as evidenced by the fact that goat farms can be found virtually everywhere in the region. It may be said that there is a great deal of room for further development of goat farms.
 
 Keywords : Goat Breeders; Goat Population; Spatial Analysis

Since prehistoric times, sheep and goat farming has been an integral part of the farming system of the people of South east Nigeria. This study investigated the current state of sheep and goat farming amongst households in Imo State south eastern Nigeria. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) structured questionnaires were distributed to farmers randomly selected from three Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Imo state namely, Oru West, Ahiazu Mbaise and Ezinihitte Mbaise to determine the socio-economic characteristics, production systems, breeding and reproduction, constraints and strategies for economic improvement in a focus group interview. Only 89 farmers were available for interview. The results revealed significant decline in sheep and goat farming amongst the households across four generations within the households interviewed. Lack of interest due to poor policy framework, low productivity of existing breeds, difficulty in feed supply and high cost of breeding stock was identified as constraints of sheep and goat production in thiese areas. It was also observed that older people were more directly involved in sheep and goat farming than youths. 59.6% of the farmers were females, and 31-50% of the farmers were between the ages of 31 and 50 years. Farming was the most common occupation amongst the households while trading was the next. Results also showed that 76.4% of the communities had history of sheep and goat keeping whereas 73% of the total families interviewed had a history of sheep and goat keeping. It was also observed that 33.7% of households were involved in poultry enterprise and 25.3% involved in fish farming. Only 4.8% engaged in sheep and goat farming. Results obtained also revealed that 48.3% of the identified sheep and goat farmers kept breeds of sheep and goat from northern Nigeria while 40.4% maintained the west African dwarf breed. 34% of respondents believed that access to grants and credit facilities, 25 % believed provision of land in urban areas, while 21% believed improvement in small ruminant feed technology, would improve production. Lambing and kidding was mostly twice a year (48.3%). Breeding was mostly observed to be uncontrolled (51.7%). Also, the results showed that, 59.6% of the farmers were willing to pay for veterinary services. The most important diseases within these areas were worms, ecto-parasites and peste des petits ruminants (PPR). It can be inferred from the study that farmers within the region appear to pay greater emphasis on poultry production and fish farming to the detriment of smallholder sheep and goat farming which could be attributed to poor knowledge of sheep and goat farming technologies resulting to low productivity.

Under Italian law, the installation of agrivoltaic systems may be brought within the scope of agricultural enterprise only where there exists an effective, verifiable, and not merely declaratory link with the agricultural land (fondo rustico), within the meaning of Article 2135 of the Italian Civil Code. From this standpoint, the production of energy from renewable sources qualifies as a connected activity, and not as a substitute for the primary agricultural activity. Against the background of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU climate and energy objectives, this article takes Italy as a case study within the EU legal framework and examines how the civil-law notion of "connected activity" can be reconciled with CAP conditionality and eligibility rules. On the basis of this principle, Italian agrivoltaic contractual practice - in particular, deeds establishing surface rights, land tenure titles, and coordination agreements - must be structured so as to ensure continuity of cultivation effective access to the land, compliance with the rules of the Common gricultural Policy (CAP) and with the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and with national incentive schemes (Ministerial Decree of 22 December 2023; GSE Director's Decree No. 149 of 19 June 2025) and, at the same time, the bankabiity of the projects. The legal point of equilibrium in the Italian framework lies in translating the principles of sustainability and multifunctionality into binding contractual clauses capable of preserving the agricultural identity of the land and making energy production compatible with the economic and social function of the agricultural enterprise. The analysis also offers brief comparative insights into selected EU Member States, showing that similar tensions between dual land use (food/energy) and CAP requirements arise across Europe, and suggesting criteria for a possible future revision of Article 2135 of the Italian Civil Code in line with EU law.

The article presents an analysis of the machinery equipment of Russian sheep and goat breeding. The absence of Russian-made equipment for the main processes, such as keeping, drinking, distributing feed, and milking sheep and goats, has been revealed. The existing domestic projects for the mechanization of processes in sheep breeding exist in the form of prototypes, however, there are no projects in goat breeding. Therefore, proposals have been formulated to solve the problems of the provision of sheep and goat farms with Russian equipment. The essence of these proposals is the need for state support for the equipment development and production. The engineering and manufacture of process equipment for sheep and goat breeding should be based on the experience of effective use of foreign equipment in the conditions of domestic enterprises.

Introduction From its inception in the 1960s through to the early 1990s, the European Union's common agricultural policy (CAP) was little changed. The archetypal CAP tried to raise farm incomes through market price support mechanisms – involving variable import levies, intervention buying, export subsidies, etc. – as described in Harris, Swinbank and Wilkinson (1983). Structural policy was barely developed: in 1988 it amounted to only 5.1 per cent of budgeted spend on market price support, for example (Commission, 1989: T/83). For most Member States the purpose of ‘structural policy’ was to aid the modernisation of European agriculture, or to provide additional support in marginal areas. Paying farmers to produce (or manage) countryside was a relatively novel idea when in 1985 – largely on UK urging – Member States were authorised to grant EU subsidies to farmers in environmentally sensitive areas ‘in order to contribute towards the introduction or continued use of agricultural practices compatible with the requirements of conserving the natural habitat and ensuring an adequate income for farmers’ (Potter, 1998: 84, directly quoting the EU regulation). Two decades later, the CAP is rather different. In the context of this chapter, exploring the EU's use of the WTO's green box, there have been two changes. First, there has been a significant decoupling of the support designed to sustain farm incomes and, second, there has been an attempt to switch support from agriculture to the wider rural economy and to protection and enhancement of the environment (from the so-called Pillar 1 to Pillar 2, to use the EU's jargon).