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The breeding of small ruminants is the main means of livelihood and job provider for the population of the Eastern region in Morocco, with increasingly frequent use of concentrated feed without abandoning grazing. The objective of this study is to update knowledge on breeding and feeding systems of sheep raised in Beni Mathar steppe of eastern Morocco. The study was conducted through a survey of eighty-three sheep farms in the rural area of eastern Morocco. After multidimensional analyzes based on feed management and on the form the rangeland uses, three distinct groups of breeding systems in the study area were obtained. The first system included the subsistence pastoral farms (n=53) with a feeding system based mainly on stubble grazing with an annual supplementation of 25815 FU. The second one included peasant pastoral farms (n=12) grazing mainly on natural pastures and providing an annual supplement of 72374 FU. Finally, the third system is composed of speculative pastoral farms (n=14) which also benefit from the free fodder units of the rangelands but supplemented at about 103514 FU per year. The result of this study encourages to take development measures appropriate to the specific conditions and resources of each system., African and Mediterranean Agricultural Journal - Al Awamia, No 136 (2022): Feed Resources in Small Ruminants - Special Issue

Improving feed efficiency is an important issue for beef producers. To study its feasibility, 588 Charolaisyoung bulls were fattened in four experimental stations, from 2015 to 2019, with either corn silage or grasssilage. Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) was higher for animals fattened with corn silage (0,164 kg/kgMS vs 0,146 kg/kg MS). Efficient animals better used diet nitrogen and had a lower natural abundance of15N in plasma. Genetic study showed that feed efficiency is heritable, but some correlations wereunfavorable with performance traits. A genetic selection of beef cattle is possible with a selection indexthat combined both feed efficiency and production.; Sélectionner sur l’efficience alimentaire est un enjeu important pour les éleveurs bovins allaitants. Pourétudier sa faisabilité, 588 jeunes bovins ont été engraissés dans quatre stations expérimentales, de 2015à 2019, avec de l’ensilage de maïs ou d’herbe ad libitum. L’efficience de conversion des aliments (EA)était supérieure chez les animaux engraissés avec l’ensilage de maïs (0,164 kg/kg MS contre0,146 kg/kg MS) lié à des croissances élevées. Les animaux efficients valorisaient mieux l’azotealimentaire et avaient une abondance naturelle en 15N dans le plasma moindre. Les analyses génétiquesont montré que l’efficience alimentaire est héritable, mais certaines corrélations sont non favorables avecles performances. Une amélioration génétique du troupeau allaitant est possible via un index de sélectioncombinant efficience alimentaire et production.