study was conducted to evaluate small ruminant production systems and productivity in the northern area of Lebanon. Fifty-one small ruminant holders were monitored over two years focusing on the technical and economic situation of the herd. Another 19 farmers were covered by a technical and economic questionnaire of analysis in...

An initial study covered the feed resources and nutritional ecology of Tswana goats kept under extensive communal management conditions in Gaborone Agricultural Region. Such goats feed on a variety of browses and herbaceous forages throughout the year. Only 30% of the respondent farmers provided their goats with supplementary feeds implying...

Los autores estudian la evolución de la pequeña agricultura chilota en el transcurso de los cincuenta últimos años, en base al análisis de estudios anteriores y de una encuesta realizada en 2003 / 2004 por dos de ellos. La salmonicultura iniciada en los años 80 y la labor promocional del...

Le secteur agricole des pays du Maghreb est caractérisé par des petites et moyennes exploitations agricoles qui de part leur nombre (plus de 3 millions) et leur diversité (élevage, céréaliculture mais aussi légumes, fruits, oléiculture, phœnicoptéridé), constituent des acteurs importants dans le développement et le fonctionnement du secteur agricole. Cependant,...

Farming couple Anu and Esa Immonen run Esa's family estate in Nilsiä in the province of Savo, a good 400 km north of Helsinki. These are the northernmost farmed areas in the world. The crops that grow in these latitudes comprise a small selection of cereals, vegetables, berries and grass...

Farming in Ireland in recent decades has not escaped the trend towards intensification. But despite this, a large proportion of Irish farmland is still managed in a way that works with nature and the landscape. This type of farmland is referred to as High Nature Value (NHV) farmland. What the...

Kyrgyz Republic is a landlocked country situated in the north-east part of Central Asia. Its territory occupies about 20,000,000 hectares of land and stretches from west to east for about 970 kilometers and from north to south for about 400 kilometers. The total area is about 198,000 square kilometers. About...

This document contains the results of a study conducted to collect information to be used in devising a marketing strategy for Croatian organic and Protected designation of origin (PDO), Protected geographic indication (PGI) and Traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) products. In part one, the main performance indicators of Croatian agriculture are...

This issue of Caravan provides examples of ICARDA's work with its partners to help ensure sustainability of livelihoods for the poor in marginal areas.

Grasslands with legumes, as the basic source of nitrogen, should play an essential part in organic agriculture systems. The proportion of grasslands of the total area of all types of organic croplands in Poland in 2002 highlights its importance (>45% of the total 41 thousand ha) (Zastawny et al., 2003)....

European consumers have become increasingly more aware of food safety issues, as a consequence of a number of food ‘scandals’. Most of these ‘scandals’ have been related to livestock products. However, most consumers still believe that it is possible to produce ‘safe’ food at low prices, while a small group...

The nutritive value of forages for ruminants highly depends on the ratio between cell content and cell walls and on the ability of the rumen microorganisms to degrade the plant cell walls (Waldo, 1986). The primary function of the NDF fraction in ruminant diets is to provide energy for microbial...

One of the characteristics of organic farming is the conservation of domestic, endogenous livestock breeds and strains. For a successful development of the organic pig sector in Southern Europe, the animals must be well adapted domestic breeds, as they are exposed to extreme weather conditions in the free range systems...

Maintaining high welfare status and allowing birds access to natural behaviour and outdoors are particular challenges in organic egg production. Feather pecking, foot problems, external parasites and poor utilisation of outdoor areas have been recognised as problems in organic layer systems (Lampkin 1997, Berg 2001, Kjilstra et al. 2003). Inexperience...

The increasing world population, in the mid-20th century, increased the demand of plant and animal products, leading to intensive and monoculture agriculture systems in conventional agriculture. The abundant and low-cost production from per unit and/or animal head were seen as primary objectives in these systems, and ecologic balance and health...

Family farming has been in focus in Sweden as well as in all traditional European agricultural policy. However the concept appears in many different contexts, it can denote both a statistically defined size or institutional form of agricultural production, or an economically defined firm with certain advantages vis a vis...

Over the last decade, the consumption of poultry products in developing countries has grown by 5.8 percent per annum, faster than that of human population growth, and has created a great increase in demand. Family poultry has the potential to satisfy at least part of this demand through increased productivity...

This study examines the characteristics of the smallholder dairy farmers in three West African countries, namely The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. In these countries as in much of West Africa, milk is produced within mixed crop-livestock farming systems. Traditionally farmers own cattle for various purposes including milk, meat, draft...

En esta publicación, INIA Carillanca pone a disposición de los pequeños y medianos productores, técnicos y profesionales, información en producción de leche, praderas y gestión de empresas lecheras, como una forma de contribuir a mejorar capacidades que permitan hacer más eficientes los sistemas productivos lecheros.

Cette étude a pour objectifs d’identifier les principaux types d’élevage caprin existant dans la région de Chefchaouen dans le Rif marocain, décrire leurs modes de fonctionnement, identifier et analyser les principales contraintes auxquelles ils sont soumis et établir un agenda de recherche et de développement prioritaire pour l’amélioration de la...