Promotion de l'élevage de petits ruminants par les groupements des femmes de Nampossela et Nitabougoro dans le cercle de Koutiala au Sud du Mali

The rearing of domestic animals, especially cattle and sheep, plays an important role in achieving food security and contributes significantly to the incomes of rural populations. In rural areas, for example, there are agricultural producers who practice beef and sheep fattening to increase and secure income. It is in this context that the present study was initiated. The objective of this study was to determine the zoo-economic performance of feeding fattening sheep. A questionnaire was used to collect information on sheep ages, purchase price, weighing, feed, manure production, sale price, etc. the study sample included 52 sheep in 2016 and 91 sheep in 2017. These sheep were divided into three treatments: T0 (control, sheep fed with fodder tree leaves, fresh grass and bran), T1 (sheep fed with fodder tree leaves, fresh grass and cotton seed cake) and T2 (sheep fed with fodder tree leaves, fresh grass, bran and cotton seed cake). The sheep breeds used consisted of Djallonke and Bali-Bali. The data analysis shows that in 2016, Average Daily Weight Gain (ADG) was 42±25, 55±18 and 67±33 g /day respectively for T0, T1 and T2 treatments. While in 2017, the ADG was of 28±22 g/ day (T0), 46±28 g/day (T1) and 42±27 g/day (T2). Through these results, it was found that the sheep belonging to the treatments (T1 and T2) had the highest ADG in comparison with the control sheep (T0). In addition, the cumulative production of dried manure throughout the fattening period fluctuated between 33 (T0) and 43 kg per sheep (T1 and T2) in 2016 against 37 (T0) and 44 kg per sheep (T1) in 2017. On sale, the T1 and T2 processing sheep achieved on average the highest profit margin. In view of these results it is recommended for sheep fattening to supplement the sheep with cotton cake for a better production of meat and manure.