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The dairy sector in Tunisia is based on small-scale farms, with 81% of the breeders owning less than five cows. On these farms, milk is stored in plastic containers, resulting in post-production losses estimated at 10% in the studied region. Due to high temperatures, the present paper aims to study the implementation of an innovative solar-powered milk cooling system in Central Tunisia and assess its profitability for dairy farmers. The methodology is based on a comparison of three small-scale farm business models: a farm without any milk cooling equipment, a farm using an innovative milk cooling technology, and a farm using an electrical cooling tank. Results showed the significance of milk cooling in reducing milk rejection to 0%, leading to a total production of 6400 L per cow by the fifth year. Additionally, milk sales were found to increase due to the premium of 0.010 TND/L for cooled milk paid. In addition, farms utilizing solar-powered milk cooling technology exhibited superior profitability in terms of financial indicators. This research offers a sustainable energy solution for milk cooling on small farms, specifically addressing the challenges faced by these farms located in isolated areas where access to electricity is limited and the availability of milk cooling equipment is lacking.

This paper considers the vision of how to develop an efficient value chain and development strategies to improve the value chain in Oman. The main key factors of inclusive and sustainable development of the date value chain are determined to carry out the appropriate actions for improving the date palm sector in Oman. To explore the challenges and opportunities leading to the improvement of the marketing, commercialization, and competitiveness of dates and date palm products in this country, an analytical tool guideline (SWOT) was framed. Such analysis is useful to raise awareness to create policies for improved marketing of dates. Based on the SWOT analysis, the diversification of date varieties, and orientation toward modern plantations are the most important strengths of the date value chain. However, the increasing competition in regional and global date markets is the major threat to the date sector in Oman. There is a good possibility to promote the date processing industry in Oman given the rising demand for fresh and processed dates in national and international markets. A profitable and competitive date palm sector could be achieved by focusing on high yield and commercial varieties to ensure higher date palm productivity and the orientation toward adoption of quality standards to meet international market demand.

Awassi dairy sheep farmers in the Middle East are facing high feed costs, particularly during the milk production season, along with large fluctuation in grain and straw prices. Incorporating agro-industrial byproducts into the diet of Awassi dairy sheep can help to balance diets and decrease costs. But it may affect milk quality through changes in the fatty acid profile. Six experimental diets were compared to a control diet in the research station of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Tal Hadya, Syria. Milking Awassi ewes (n = 56) were used to test six experimental diets, in which supplements comprised molasses, sugar beet pulp, or cotton seed cake to a traditional control diet contained barley, wheat bran, and barley straw. Milk samples were collected on a weekly basis from April to June. The daily milk production and fat content were enhanced in diets containing urea-treated wheat straw (P

Journal of Dairy Research, 78 (4), ISSN:0022-0299, ISSN:1469-7629

This study investigated whether offering either binary or multiple choice among low quality forages has an effect on intake and feeding behaviour compared to no-choice situations where only one single low-quality forage is offered. Forages from different woody plants and straw were tested in lactating sheep either in Syria (Exp. 1; Awassi sheep) or in Switzerland (Exp. 2; East Friesian Dairy sheep). Artemisia herba-alba, Atriplex leucoclada, Haloxylon articulatum, Noaea mucronata, and Salsola vermiculata were used in Exp. 1. The three most preferred plants (A. leucoclada, H. articulatum and S. vermiculata) were tested again in Exp. 2 together with Betula pendula, Castanea sativa and Juglans regia. Both experiments started with a binary choice test where one plant and barley straw were offered separately for 4 h in the morning to six sheep (test period) in a random sequence in consecutive 7-day sub-periods. A control group (n = 6 per experiment) received only straw in the test period. For the rest of the day, a basal diet composed of straw ad libitum and concentrate was offered. After the binary choice test, two 2-week periods followed, where in the first straw only and in the second all test plants were offered to all animals from both groups to ascertain equal familiarisation with all plants. For the following 7-day multiple choice test animals were allocated to two new groups. The ‘multiple choice’ group could choose among all test plants and straw during the 4-h test period, the ‘control’ group received only the basal diet. Intakes of test feeds during 4 h and 24 h as well as feeding behaviour during the first 30 min were recorded. Additionally, nutrient intake was determined. Total daily test feed intake was always higher in the choice groups, but this was more pronounced in the multiple choice situation (Exp. 1: 30 and 48, Exp. 2: 49 and 74 g dry matter/kg live-weight0.75 with ‘control’ and ‘multiple choice’, respectively). A. leucoclada (Exp. 1; proportionately 0.73 of total test plant intake) and B. pendula (Exp. 2; 0.87) were the preferred plants in the multiple choice test and also with binary choice. Most other feeds were only consumed in low amounts in the binary and even less in multiple choice situations. In conclusion, giving sheep the choice among low quality forages seemed to be advantageous. Even though in both experiments animals preferred especially one plant, choice still facilitated intake.

Two experiments were carried out in Syria with the purpose of investigating to which extent the effects of including 30 % olive cake (replacing parts of forage and concentrate) or tomato pomace (replacing concentrate) in the diet, described under controlled on-station conditions, can be recovered on farm. A total of 180 lactating Awassi ewes (three farms per experiment, 15 ewes per treatment) were fed either control diets or test feed diets over a period of 7 weeks. Milk yield was measured bi-weekly and milk composition was analysed for gross physicochemical composition and fatty acid (FA) profile. Both feeds reduced milk yield (−10 %) and milk protein content, whereas milk fat content was increased by tomato pomace. Both feeds resulted in similar changes in milk FA profile, namely less saturated and polyunsaturated FA and more monounsaturated FA including 18:1 trans FA. Tomato pomace and olive cake also resulted in increased n-6:n-3 FA ratios, while the proportion of the conjugated linoleic acids was not affected by either treatment. In conclusion, the response of the ewes on farm was clear and similar in nature for most of milk-related traits as that found on station, but lower in magnitude., Tropical Animal Health and Production, 47 (1), ISSN:0049-4747, ISSN:1573-7438

Generally, agricultural production involves several challenges. In the drylands, it is further complicated by weather-related risks and resource degradation. In this paper, we present a case study of the mixed crop-livestock production system in Jordan. To better capture the nature of response farming in the drylands, we develop a methodology for using crop simulation models to directly generate data for optimizing production practices of an integrated crop-livestock producing household in a dynamic stochastic context. The approach optimizes producer’s adaptations to random events, such as weather, which are realized throughout the planning horizon. To ensure the sustainability of the optimized production decisions, long-term valuations of end of horizon soil attributes are included in the objective function. This approach endogenizes the tradeoff between short-and long-run productivity. Model results show that due to the limited natural resource endowments and financial liquidity constraints of the typical farm households in the study area, we find these households have limited options. To optimally respond to weather conditions during the production season, better manage risk, and achieve improvements in soil attributes, a typical household would need larger farm size, larger flock, and better financial liquidity than it currently commands. Like all such models, the farm household model used in this paper is not suitable for drawing policy implications. Therefore, targeted analysis using appropriate sectoral or economy-wide models will be needed in the future to identify and test the efficacy of different policy and institutional interventions including land consolidation, establishment of producer and marketing cooperatives, access to financial services including agricultural credit, and crop insurance in expanding the resource base of farmers—thereby positioning them for higher earnings, ensuring soil conservation, and enhancing the sustainability of the production system.