TYPOLOGIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SHEEP FARMING SYSTEMS IN THE COMMUNE OF SFISSIFA, WILAYA OF NÂAMA (WESTERN ALGERIA)

This paper develops the structural Ricardian method, a new approach to modeling agricultural performance using cross-sectional evidence, and uses the method to study animal husbandry in Africa. The model is intended to estimate the structure beneath Ricardian results in order to understand how farmers change their behavior in response to climate. A survey of over 5,000 livestock farmers in 10 countries reveals that the selection of species, the net income per animal, and the number of animals are all highly dependent on climate. As climate warms, net income across all animals will fall, especially across beef cattle. The fall in net income causes African farmers to reduce the number of animals on their farms. The fall in relative revenues also causes them to shift away from beef cattle and toward sheep and goats. All farmers will lose income but the most vulnerable farms are large African farms that currently specialize in beef cattle. Small livestock and large livestock farms respond to climates differently. Small farms are diversified, relying on dairy cattle, goats, sheep, and chickens. Large farms specialize in dairy and beef cattle. Estimating a separate multinomial logit selection model for small and large farms reveals that the two types of farm choose species differently and specifically have different climate response functions. The regressions of the number of animals also reveal that large farms are more responsive to climate. The results indicate that warming will be harmful to commercial livestock owners, especially cattle owners. Owners of commercial livestock farms have few alternatives either in crops or other animal species. In contrast, small livestock farms are better able to adapt to warming or precipitation increases by switching to heat tolerant animals or crops. Livestock operations will be a safety valve for small farmers if warming or drought causes their crops to fail.

The article provides information on the ongoing research on the development of feed preparation and distribution equipment for livestock farms. As a result of scientific analysis, 85% of the livestock and poultry available in livestock farming belong to livestock farms with a small number of livestock, private and family farms. One of the urgent tasks is to create feed preparation and distribution facilities in these small livestock farms. Based on the above, scientific work was carried out to develop a feed distribution device for small livestock farms intended for feeding 20-30 head of cattle. The primary indicators of the feed distribution device’s technical qualities were established, and its technological scheme was developed, based on the results of the research that was done and the needs of the farms. The impact of feed spreader discharge window width and height on feed distribution quality was studied in preliminary research.

Crop and livestock is an integral part of production system of the Sub Mountainous Zone of Punjab state. The region is primarily rainfedwith undulating topography and is characterized by large number of production and socio-economic problems. The present study was conducted to characterize the present crop-livestock production system in the sub-mountainous zone. In order to accomplish the stipulated objectives of the study, primary data were collected from 240 respondents proportionately distributed over three land holding categories namely small ( 10 acres), from 6 blocks of Hoshiarpur and Roopnagar district representing the zone. The cultivable land constituted about 70 per cent of the total land holdings on small (4.28 acres) and medium farms (9.93 acres) with respective cropping intensity of 174 and 158 per cent. On large farms, the cultivable land constituted 90 per cent of the total (21.58 acres) with cropping intensity of only 122 per cent. The adult cattle unit per farm were minimum on small farms (4.11), and maximum on large farms (6.13). All the cross bred cattle were of improved breed, but in case of buffaloes it constituted 27 per cent only. The purpose of rearing livestock is to earn additional income and impart economic stability to the farming system against risk arising out of crop failures due to natural calamities or damage by stray or wild animals. In the crop-livestock integrated system the share of income from livestock farming was the lowest on large farms (4.2 per cent) and the highest on small farms (35.2 per cent). In the net family income, there was inverse relationship between the income earned from crop livestock integrated system and off farm earnings. The respective share of income earned on small farms was41.2 and 57.9 per cent, whereas on large farms it was 82.1 and 17.4 per cent in the same order. The analysis has conclusively brought about the importance of off- farm sources of employment in the livelihood security of this oft-neglected region of Punjab, the forerunner in agricultural development of the nation.

Milk in Pakistan is infused with the self-understanding of a nation. British colonial administrators laid the modern-day foundations of the country’s structure through land grants to small farmers. In an agricultural country where nearly forty percent of the population remains food insecure, rearing animals is a way of life in the rural areas where milk remains an important source of animal protein. Selling the daily surplus that families don’t consume is a significant source of earnings for cash poor families – and here an unprecedented change is taking place within dairy management and milk procurement systems. The scale of this change is significant as is its ability to connect even the smallest of dairy farmers to the milk buying habits, shaped by sophisticated marketing campaigns, of middle-class buyers in the country’s burgeoning cities. The significant changes underway are the result of the actions of large multinational and national companies - including the entry of the commercial arm of the military in the commercialization of the milk value chain - paying cash to small farmers. These operations, which may at first seem symbiotic, in connecting rural sellers to urban buyers, are in fact placing significant pressures on farmers to increase the size of their holdings as well as to improve their breeding stock by moving towards improved (meaning imported) higher yielding cattle varieties. While national and provincial governments with the support of international development partners promote the dairy sector as contributing to rural, economic and national development, I argue that a strategy driven by efficiency will ultimately lead to the demise of those very same small livestock and agricultural farmers it aims to uplift. This is because the logic of commercializing the milk value chain through the operations of large Milk Procurement and Marketing Companies (MPMC’s) and the pressures to increase milk yields and herd sizes requires consolidation and financing – options that are mostly available to richer and larger farmers. Is modernized milk collection already moving beyond its reliance on collecting milk from dispersed small farms? The unfolding pressures carry with them the effects of increasing demand for all inputs, including consolidated land, water and feed operations which in turn have significant implications for small farmers, animals and the environment. With small farmers reliant on the income from the sale of milk that ties them to a system that may come to no longer need them, can we foretell the demise of small farms? I suggest that these insights are particularly relevant for the study of rural, economic, social, national and international development.

International Scientific Meeting Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Terms of The Republic of Serbia Strategic Goals Realization within The Danube Region (preservation of rural values), which be held in period 6-8th December 2012 on mountain Tara (Republic Serbia), through major number of presented papers provides an overview of results of scientific research on the integrated and interdisciplinary project 'Sustainable agriculture and rural development in terms of the Republic of Serbia strategic goals realization within the Danube region'.The proceedings of the International Scientific Meeting Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Terms of The Republic of Serbia Strategic Goals Realization within The Danube Region (preservation of rural values), gathered major number of scientific and experts researchers from about the countries. Besides the authors from Republic Serbia in papers are represented and authors from Romania, Bulgaria, Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Netherland and Macedonia, Poland.In frame of the Proceedings, is positively evaluated by the reviewer and presented on the Scientific Meeting 91 paper and it is published in the Proceeding. Publisher is Institute of Agricultural Economics, Belgrade, together with 38 eminent scientific and educational Institution from Serbia and foreing. In the Plenary section was presents three (3) papers which stand out with their contributions to our Scientific Meeting. Rest of the paper are systematized in three (3) sections.Represent and published papers are systematized in three (3) thematic section: I SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AS A MODERN DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH IN PRESERVATION OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL VALUES (in this section represented 41 papers); II STRATEGIC PLANNING AND INSTITUTIONAL-POLITICAL DIMENSION OF AGRARIAN AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (in this section represented 13 papers); III AGRIBUSINESS OF RURAL AREAS, DIVERSIFICATION AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF RURAL ECONOMY (in this section represented 34 papers).

This study examined the access and use of veterinary services by small scale livestock farmers in the western agricultural zone of Nasarawa state. Two Local government areas (Karu and Keffi LGAs) were purposively selected from the zone for the study based on their popularity in small scale livestock production. Ten villages were randomly selected from each of the two selected LGAs to give a total of 20 villages. Six (6) livestock farmers were randomly selected from each of the 20 selected villages giving a total of 120 respondents. Data were collected through a structured interview schedule. Data were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and a multiple regression model using SPSS software. The results show that the majority (75.2%) of the respondents were male. Their mean age was 35years which implies that the livestock farmers were mostly young people. Their average year of farming experience was 10 years. Half (50%) of them had tertiary education, indicating the enhanced capacity to access and use veterinary services. The major veterinary services adopted by the respondents were treatment of sick animals (93.3%), vaccination (87.2%), castration (65.0%) and Sanitary/Fumigation practices (41%) among others. The regression analysis showed that four variables had a significant effect (1%) on the level of use of veterinary services by the respondents. These were gender (p ≤ 0.417), level of education (p ≤ 0.603), number of extension visits (p ≤ 0.607) and membership of social organisations (p ≤ 0.670). Lack of money to acquire vaccines and drugs (X = 2.3), high cost of veterinary services (X =2.3) and far distance to veterinary centres (X =2.0) were the major constraints to use of veterinary services. It was recommended that extension agents should encourage the farmers to join cooperative groups to enhance easy access to credit to procure veterinary inputs.

The most dangerous pollution sources are intensive agricultural activity and livestock farming, whose production waste has a negative impact on soil and water quality. Livestock farming is separated into two systems: indoor (pigs and poultry) and pasture-based (livestock and sheep). Numerous studies aimed at elucidating how different systems affect the environment have been performed. In Lithuania, the biggest environmental problems are caused by 24 farms with more than 5000 pigs, 21 poultry farm with more than 1000 chickens, 2179 cow-cattle farms larger than 50 places, and about 200,000 sheep. We aimed to assess the quality of surface water in the Kaunas region next to the pig and livestock farms. In 2008-2017, seven livestock agricultural companies and seven larger farmers were regarded as potential sources of pollution in the Kaunas region. Half of these sources were pig farms, and the rest were livestock farms. Locations next to potential agricultural pollution sources were chosen to monitor the surface water. The results indicated that although the agricultural areas, number of livestock units, and nitrogen rate per 1ha were similar between the pig and livestock farms, the activity on the pig farms affected the surface water quality more than that on livestock farms. As the number of livestock units (LU) increased on the farms, the pH decreased and the suspended materials, nitrates, and phosphates increased in the surface water. With increasing nitrogen kg/ha, the pH values decreased, thereby yielding more acidic water. The intensity of agricultural activity did not affect the water quality near the livestock farms, except for livestock units (LU), which affected the pH.

For centuries, the Saharan oasis agro-systems of Adrar region have fed many generations, based on an original organization, based on the efficiency of drainage water on the diversification of crop systems in association with small livestock farming. The aim of the work is to describe the systemic typology of oasis livestock farming in the Adrar region (southwest Algeria). In order to assess the livestock typology, a series of surveys were conducted on 164 farms in the oases of the study region. The analysis reveals that the production system, traditionally aimed at subsistence agriculture. The dominant production system is an intensive system, characterized by intensive mixed food crops (Phoenicuculture, arboriculture, herbaceous crops: cereals, fodder, market gardening, industrial and condiment crops), in association with livestock farming mainly of small ruminants (goats and sheep). The livestock system is characterized by a family type, small in size in traditional management. It is generally managed in stalls and its feed comes mainly from fodder crops, domestic waste and by-products of palm groves. Family livestock farming can be an important source to ensure a certain production of animal origin (milk and meat) for family self-consumption. As a result, it can contribute to ensuring food security, family financial security and improving soil fertility in oasis farm plots.

Aim:The aim of the study was to assess the antibiotic use in dairy animals and to trace its usage pattern among the small, medium, and large dairy farmers in Eastern Haryana region of India.Materials and Methods:Karnal and Kurukshetra districts from Eastern region of Haryana state were purposively selected, and four villages from each district were selected randomly. From each village, 21 farmers were selected using stratified random sampling by categorizing into small, medium, and large farmers constituting a total of 168 farmers as respondents. An antibiotic usage index (AUI) was developed to assess usage of antibiotics by dairy farmers.Results:Frequency of veterinary consultancy was high among large dairy farmers, and they mostly preferred veterinarians over para-veterinarians for treatment of dairy animals. Small farmers demanded low-cost antibiotics from veterinarians whereas large farmers rarely went for it. Antibiotics were used maximum for therapeutic purposes by all categories of farmers. Completion of treatment schedules and follow-up were strictly practiced by the majority of large farmers. AUI revealed that large farmers were more consistent on decision-making about prudent use of antibiotics. Routine use of antibiotics after parturition to prevent disease and sale of milk without adhering to withdrawal period was responsible for aggravating the antibiotic resistance. The extent of antibiotic use by small farmers depended on the severity of disease. The large farmers opted for the prophylactic use of antibiotics at the herd level.Conclusion:Antibiotic usage practices were judicious among large dairy farmers, moderately prudent by medium dairy farmers and faulty by small farmers. The frequency of veterinary consultancy promoted better veterinary-client relationship among large farmers.

A total of 17 acaricides were identified in 77 small holder livestock farms in suburban Accra during farm surveys to identify acaricides being used by livestock farmers. It comprised Pyrethroids, Amidines and Organophoshates. A survey of Veterinary shops in the project area showed the presence of 12 of the listed chemicals. All the acaricides showed no FDA stamp probably because of batch authorisation. LC values were also not explicitly shown on the acaricides. The Pyrethroid, Drastic Deadline, was patronised by the livestock farmers more than any other acaricide as 32.5% of the farms used it. This was followed by the Amidines, Amitraz20, used by 19.5% of farmers. This high level of variety is dangerous as it could lead to acaricide resistance, resulting especially from improperly managed tick control at the farms.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a poisonous and carcinogenic fungal by-product produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus species, causing acute and chronic toxicity in humans and animals. The global concern surrounding AFB1 arises from its adverse effects on public health, the economy, and social well-being. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of AFB1 in feeds and its awareness among small and medium scale livestock farmers. Livestock feed samples were randomly collected and analyzed in the laboratory for fungi known to produce aflatoxins using selective media. The positive samples were subjected to QSight LX50 UHPLC coupled with QSight 220 triple quadrupole Mass Spectrometer analysis to confirm presence of AFB1 and determine the quantity of the levels of AFB1. The questionnaire was employed to assess cognizance of aflatoxin among livestock farmers. On average every 27 out of 100 collected samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins. Poultry feeds had the highest contamination followed by feeds for other species. Further analysis revealed a significant association between storage and aflatoxins contaminations (X2= 10.65; p-value= 0.03). The contamination ranged from 6.5 to70.2ng g-1 of AFB. The study also revealed a varied levels of awareness on AFB1 between small and medium scale farmers with medium scale farmers having a relatively higher awareness on the effect of AFB1 than small scale farmers. The presence of AFB1 shows that it is necessary to implement mitigation measures that focus on reducing the incidence of aflatoxin contamination, and improvement of AFB1 awareness in small and medium scale livestock farmers.

Climate change is not a myth anymore and changing with every passing year regardless of the efforts to mitigate its root causes. Livestock being a key source of employment to a large poor world population also contributes to food security and poverty eradication. With the changing climate livestock farmers are also making their farms compatible to the new natural ecosystem. Therefore, this study investigated how small livestock farmers having large ruminants inventory perceive changes in climate, which strategies they adapt and the factors influencing the adaptation of climate changes strategies in livestock. Primary data was collected from 180 small livestock farmers of Central Punjab, and multiple (step-wise) regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting adaptation of climate change strategies. Livestock farmers are also well aware of the climate change as majority of thefarmers (63.4% and 71.4%) perceived an increase in temperature and precipitation, respectively. Livestock farmers made an attempt to adoptconventional climate change strategies such as mix farming, reduction in animals, provision of more drinking water, use of tree shades, livestock diversification, use of muddy roof, and floor in order to cope with climate changes. The adoptionof these measures was significantly influenced by animal inventory, climate knowledge, livestock working hours, livestock experience, distance of veterinary hospital, and livestock-related training/workshops. Government needs to increase technical and logistic capacity of veterinary doctors, and should create awareness among small livestock farmers through media.

Estimating the effects of land abandonment on mammal communities in the Karoo region of South Africa

Large farms, large benefits? Sustainability certification among family farms and agro-industrial producers in Peru

Farmers across the world have been using antibiotics in poultry production for both therapeutic and nontherapeutic purposes since the mid 1900s. The literature on antibiotic diffusion and intensification is largely focused on developed countries in North America and Western Europe. There is some literature on Asia where the emphasis has shifted from antibiotic diffusion to concerns about antimicrobial resistance due to excessive use of antibiotics. Although there is evidence of farming intensification across sub‐Saharan Africa, few studies have looked at antibiotic use among livestock farmers. We fill this gap by studying antibiotic use over farm size and regions in Nigerian poultry farming. We find that antibiotic use for nontherapeutic purposes is rapidly expanding among small farms (already over 60% for those with 50–100 birds) and widespread among medium and large chicken farmers (75%–95%) across both richer and poorer regions of Nigeria. While large farmers are more likely to adopt antibiotics, their indiscriminate use is more evident among small farmers. Further, our results reveal that information dissemination through social networks and extension services could play a crucial role in the efficient use of antibiotics. This suggests a need to promote awareness regarding excessive use of antibiotics, particularly in the absence of regulation in Nigeria and other developing countries. [EconLit Citations: Q12, Q18, O12, C34].