Boubaker Dhehibi

Performance of indigenous and exotic×indigenous sheep breeds fed different diets in spring and the efficiency of feeding system in crop–livestock farming

(Received 31 December 2013; revised 9 April 2014; accepted 27 May 2014)SUMMARYGeneticvariationinfeedefficiencymayhaveasignificantimpactonsheepproductioninintegratedcroplivestockfarming systems in dry areas, where the shortage and poor quality of feed is widespread. Thus, the present studywas carried out to investigate the effects of sheep genotype and feed source on liveweight gain, feed conversionefficiency and dry matter (DM) intake in feedlot lambs finished on diets based on low-cost forages or a high-costconcentrated feed as a means of assessing the efficiency of this feeding system. Early weaned lambs of thepurebred fat-tailed Akkaraman breed were compared with synthetic Anatolian Merino (0·80 German MuttonMerino×0·20 Native Akkaraman) breed. The lambs were kept in individual pens for 8 weeks and fed four diets:daily harvested forages of triticale (T), Hungarian vetch (HV), a triticale-Hungarian vetch mixture (T+HV), and aconcentrate-based feed(CF). Lamb liveweightgain (LWG) wasmonitoredduring the early (18 April–16May)andlate (17 May–13 June) spring periods. Diet×period and diet×breed interactions were detected in LWG of thelambs. Lambs from both genotypes on the concentrate-based diet had higher liveweight gains, DM intakes andbetter feed conversion ratios compared with lambs finished on the forage-based diets. The LWG of lambs offeredtriticale forage decreased from 177g/head/day in the early spring to 95g/head/day in the late spring period, asplantmaturityincreased.Liveweightgainsdidnotchangefortheotherforagerationsduringthesameperiod. TheLWG of Akkaraman lambs were similar for both the early (189g/head/day) and the late (183g/head/day) springperiods, whereasAnatolian Merino lambs gained 41g/head/dayless LWand had 3·8 higher feed conversion ratefor the late spring period compared with the early spring period. The present study showed that fat-tailedAkkaraman lambs were better able to utilize forages with low nutritive value compared to Anatolian Merinolambs, and may be better suited to semi-arid areas, where crop and livestock are highly integrated in the farmingsystem.INTRODUCTIONAnimal products are in great demand in the West AsiaNorth Africa (WANA) region due to increases in percapita real income, urbanization and populationgrowth (Delgado et al. 1999; Aw-Hassan et al.2010). However, undue pressure on natural resourcesand deteriorating feed availability for livestock arechallenging the growing opportunities for livestockproduction (Ates & Louhaichi 2012). Pessimisticpredictions on the impact of population growth,climate change and unsustainable resource manage-ment indicate that the constraints on land and foodsupply will become increasingly evident in mixedcrop–livestock and grazing systems in the region(World Bank 2008). There is a general consensus thatcompetition for grains between humans and live-stock, diminishing feed supplies from overexploited

Economic and Technical Evaluation of Different Irrigation Systems for Date Palm Farming System in the GCC Countries: Case of Oman

In the frame of the ICARDA project “Development of sustainable date palm production systems in the GCC countries of the Arabian Peninsula”, researchers succeeded to introduce one promising technology (subsurface drip irrigation - SDI) in the date palm farming system in the Gulf region, defined as the poorest in the word in terms of water resources. In the light of these challenges, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of the irrigation water volumes on the date palm productivity and water use efficiency under several conventional and improved irrigations systems.Three intervention levels on SDI have been used: at the rate of 60% 40% and 20% of water requirement. Results of this experimental study showed that SDI under the three intervention/options uses water more efficient in comparison to BI. Indeed, a considerable quantity of water for about 3545.554, 5726.45, and 7565.473 m3/ha could be saved by using SDI at the rate of 20%, 40 and 60% of water requirements, respectively. Thus, the WUE indicator is for about 2.0, 2.7, and 4.7 kg/m3, respectively. These figures are much higher when are compared to BI system where WUE is around 1.3 kgm-3.The economic evaluation suggests that under BI system, the total return, total variable costs, water costs and net profit were 20211.36, 5857.81, 1224.29, and 13129.25

Efficiency Change, Technological Progress and Sources of Long Term Agricultural Productivity Growth in Selected MENA Countries

ha-1, respectively. From another hand, by using SDI at the rate of 60% of water requirements, we note a slight difference in net profit when using this irrigation system, which is about US

How Investment in RD&E Offset the Negative Impact of Climate Change on the Tunisian Agricultural Productivity Sector

12825.02/ha. Economic findings suggest that using SDI method versus BI method have additional cost but is economical at the long term as the SDI found to sustain the date palm farming system in this region where arid conditions acts as natural constraints for expansive agriculture.

Agricultural Growth Accounting and Total Factor Productivity in Jordan: Trends, Determinants, and Future Challenges

We investigate the factors that affect total factor productivity growth in MENA countries. To this end, we start first by examining levels and trends in agricultural outputs and productivity growth using Torqnovist Indexes and then computing Malmquist Indexes for three MENA countries representing three different agro-ecological areas; irrigated (Egypt), rainfed (Tunisia) and rangeland (Jordan) over the period 1961-2012. We make use of data drawn from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dataset. The advantage of this decomposition is that allows decomposing TFP into its two components, namely technical efficiency (TEF) and technological change (TECH). The analysis was complemented by econometric regression of the obtained TECH, considered as the most important long-run driver of TFP growth, scores on a set of potential explicative variables. Turning to the determinants of the components of TECH, the paper findings showed that TFP can be increased due to the increasing in human capital, share of the main crop harvested in each country, and resource reallocation-agricultural employment share. The main implication policy of this research is that growth and determinants of TFP are essential for assessing the country past and potential economic performance, and the gains in TFP drive gains in income and growth.

Economic Impact of Climate Change on Tunisian Agriculture: The Case of Wheat

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of research, development extension (RD&E) and climate change (measured in terms of change in rainfall) on the productivity growth of agriculture in Tunisia during the period 1970–2011, using output-based Tornqvist index combined with econometric regression. Results show that RD&E and climate change are significantly affecting the long-run productivity growth of the Tunisian agriculture. Climate change lessens the productivity of agriculture in the long run whilst RD&E boosts its productivity. Empirical findings suggest that an increase in agricultural RD&E investment is critical to improving long-run productivity growth in the face of adverse climate change.

DETERMINANTS OF SMALL SCALE DAIRY SHEEP PRODUCERS’ DECISIONS TO USE MIDDLEMEN FOR ACCESSING MARKETS AND GETTING LOANS IN DRY MARGINAL AREAS IN SYRIA

This article develops new estimates of historical agricultural productivity growth in Jordan. It investigates how public policies such as agricultural research, investment in irrigation capital, and water pricing have contributed to agricultural productivity growth. The Food and Agriculture Organization FAO annual time series from 1961 to 2011 of all crops and livestock productions are the primary source for agricultural outputs and inputs used to construct the Tornqvist Index for the case of Jordan. The log-linear form of regression equation was used to examine the relationship between Total Factor Productivity TFP growth and different factors affecting TFP growth. The results showed that human capital has positive and direct significant impact on TFP implying that people with longer life expectancy has a significant impact on TFP growth. This article concludes that despite some recent improvement, agricultural productivity growth in Jordan continues to lag behind just about every other region of the world.

Measuring Irrigation Water Efficiency with a Stochastic Production Frontier: An Application for Citrus Producing Farms in Tunisia

This paper measures the potential economic impact of climate change on durum wheat in Tunisia using the Ricardian approach. A model using panel data was estimated for the period 1990–2010 over the main cultivation regions. Gross margin of the durum wheat under rainfed conditions was used as the dependent variable while the explanatory variables were mainly related to climate such as precipitation and temperature, technological progress, and type of soil. Empirical findings show that precipitations during different stages of the growing season affect positively net-income. In addition, the interactions variables between temperature and precipitation in different growth stages are negative. The assessment impact of technology shows a positive coefficient of trend parameter but not statistically significant. Finally, the soil quality index parameter is positively correlated with the net revenue per hectare. This finding indicates that good quality of soil may improve the net income of farmers by increasing wheat yields. Climate change impact was simulated using scenarios from the HadCM3 global circulation. Empirical results indicate that economic impacts are not uniformly distributed across the different regions of Tunisia. These impacts are likely to be more accentuated in the arid regions. A rise in temperature and a reduction in rainfall would cause reductions in gross margin by 4 % in sub-humid areas and 24 % in arid zones. The results further suggest the necessity for wider diffusion of drought-tolerant varieties among farmers and the identification of new agricultural practices as advisable adaptation strategies in order to alleviate the effects of climate change on farmer’s income.

Mapping soil salinity changes using remote sensing in Central Iraq

SUMMARY The paper describes value chain actors and institutional arrangements along value chains, and identifies major determinants of farmers’ decision making to work with middlemen/traders ‘jabbans’ (or cheese makers), and based on those identify short implications for research, development and policy processes. We hypothesize that small-scale sheep producers are more dependent on middlemen for market and loans than larger holders, leading to welfare losses. Our empirical findings based on a Heckman model applied for 120 farming households conducted in Khanasser region (Syria) show that despite unequal benefits, local arrangements are more blessing than curse for the poor. Small-scale sheep producers and middlemen developed intricate institutional arrangements that are mutually beneficial. Producers act collectively to pool sufficient quantity of milk to be attractive to traders (jabban) while gaining access to market and cash loans mainly for feed. This provides the middlemen needed supplies with reduced transaction costs. This suggests that development organizations should support local capacity of producing organizations to work together, small-scale producers to organize, develop small scale dairy processing workshops for pooling and possibly processing milk, support training for direct market access and facilitate access to loans. Finally, supporting organizations such as rural financial services and micro-finance need to ensure up-to-date market information is available to ensure fair prices are paid. They should also be able to negotiate favourable conditions for loans and reach out to these resource-poor rural populations where formal credit systems are absent.