This paper investigates the factors associated with private sector smallholder livestock and the associated income of the poor in the Indian States of Andhra Pradesh. The data used are drawn from the Livelihood Options Study led by the Overseas Development Institute, London, specifically the Census Survey 2001/2 and Panel Survey of early 2005. Poorer households depend disproportionally on livestock. Important changes were noted; the average size of any single species declined considerably in the five year period beginning from 1996/7, the number of farms keeping the species rose in the 1996/7 to 2001/2 period but dropped in the recent 2001/2 to 2003/4 period. The poorer households kept fewer small ruminants and poultry in the latter period but richer households kept more. This might suggest that the technology is shifting towards what the better off can afford like the intensive poultry keeping, and that they have better access to certain resources such as crop residues. On the other hand, policies such as the ban on grazing by goats will also have affected the poor more since they rely on open-grazing methods. Farmers identified shock/stress variables and natural environment as important for the decrease in livestock population. Livestock act as a very real means of smoothing income by allowing debts to be repaid, farm inputs and medical treatment to be purchased, and dowry to be paid. More than 22% of the farmers mentioned disease problems as a cause of the decline in livestock population. This problem needs to be addressed, possibly through public-private partnership arrangements as are being tried in other countries.

A set of pre-formulated hypotheses about the potentials of inland valleys to agricultural production in general, and livestock (dairy) - based enterprises in particular, were tested with data collected from five regions comprising 71 villages/towns and 630 households in three countries (Nigeria, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire). The study was undertaken to test hypothesis concerning the potentials of the inland valleys systems to agricultural production, and those pertaining to the intensification of livestock production in the valleys systems and their relationships with demand for livestock (dairy) products. Results from the analysis showed that many of the previously held views about inland valley and their potential were supported by the data from the three countries. Most of the hypotheses relating directly with inland valley potentials were accepted in the majority of locations. However, there were few hypotheses which were not supported by data from all countries and study sites. The overall assessment from the surveys is that the potentials of the inland valleys towards dairy production are currently good in all the countries and could be better if the resources available in the inland valley environments (for example crop residues) are better managed and utilized. Intensive use of inland valleys was related more to population density than access to market. Similarly consumption levels of domestic dairy products were influenced by population concentration. Instead access to market influenced positively farmers' practices towards specialization and intensification of dairy production. Increase demand for milk and dairy products is met by intensification and not by increase in herd size. Efforts to ensure continued milking through feeding was not related to herd size. As revenues (sales and home consumption) increased, more lands were left to fallow. These results confirm the assertion that the presence of inland valley systems for cropping and livestock rearing promotes diversification of agriculture, and presumably reduces farmers' production risks.

Dairy production is a major contributor towards national economies and household food security and incomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Milk production in the region is estimated at 1.27 million metric tonnes year-1. However, this level of milk production is inadequate for the existing human population who would require 103 million metric tonnes year-1. In Uganda, milk production only meets approximately 20% of the population's nutritional requirements. As such, methods need to be sought to increase milk production in the region. Research efforts have made strides in identifying the causes of the production-demand gap in the SSA region and a spectrum of interventions to bolster the productivity. Unfortunately, these efforts have by far yielded insignificant results. First and foremost, for exploiting the full potential of the dairy cattle population in the region, among the critical elements often overlooked in research and development processes is the recognition of systematic parametric variations within the sector, which if considered could provide entry-points for targeting intervention efforts. One such high potential entry-point is the recognition of the existence of a dairy intensification "vector" across a country or region, along which exist sections with sequentially marked nuclei of fairly uniform socio-economic and biophysical dairy sub-systems features. To enhance the process of targeting research and development in the Ugandan dairy sector, dairy production systems in the country were categorised on basis of level of intensification of production. Data were collected from 300 households in Mbarara, Masaka and Jinja districts in Uganda. The major variables derived from the data for the categorisation process were those related with milk production, expenditure, income, land area and cattle herds. The data was subjected to a cluster analysis which although produced 16 groups only five had prominent membership (above 5% of the farms). The five major clusters were selected as representative of the dairy production systems. A ranking system was used to develop an intensification continuum for the 5 systems. Herding-on own and communal land (cluster 9) was the least intensive, this was followed by Herding-mainly on own land (cluster 12) and Fenced (cluster 8) respectively. Semi-Zero Grazing (cluster 15) and Zero Grazing (cluster 13) were the most intensive dairy production systems with the latter being at the highest end of the continuum.

Four butter-making methods (3 traditional: clay pot - CP, 'mesbekia' - M - a wooden agitator with three to five finger like projections at one end, and a combination of the two - CP+M; and one improved internal wooden agitator fitted to the traditional clay pot - IWA) were evaluated for their efficiencies in terms of fat recovery and churning time at 12 smallholder milk producers in the central highlands of Ethiopia. About 21 litres of milk was needed to produce one kg of butter (83% total solids - TS). An average churning time of 222 min was recorded for the three traditional methods with a mean fat recovery of about 90%. Churning time was significantly reduced by 65% for the IWA as compared to the average of the 3 traditional methods. The effect of holding Ayib (Ethiopian cottage cheese) in whey for different time length (1 h, 2 h and overnight) on Ayib yield was compared. The mean Ayib-making time and temperature was respectively 48 min and 57°C. Weight of Ayib recovered significantly increased with increasing length of time Ayib stayed in whey before separation, amounting to 1266, 1475 and 1776 g per 9.2 litres of buttermilk for 1 h, 2 h and overnight, respectively. About 6 litres of buttermilk was needed to produce one kg of Ayib (20.4% TS). Besides, aerobic mesophylic bacterial count (AMC), counts of enterobacteria, and coliform bacterial count (CC) were performed. Average AMC, counts of enterobacteria and CC of butter samples were 8, 5.3 and 3.8 log cfu/g, respectively, while the counts for Ayib samples were 7.9, 5.1 and 4.4 log cfu/g, respectively. Enterobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella and Klyuvera were the genera identified, while Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella gr. 47 are the species commonly isolated from both products. The knowledge on traditional butter- and Ayib-making efficiencies and their microbial properties is essential to increase yield and improve quality and preservation of the products. (Résumé d'auteur)

In order to design an effective small ruminant (i.e., goats and sheep) breeding program in Kenya and other areas with similar production circumstances, it is important to understand the socio-economic factors applying to the relevant production system. Information on these was obtained from a questionnaire carried out on both smallholders and pastoral/ extensive farmers in seven selected districts. From the 458 responding households, 18% kept only goats, 34% kept only sheep, and 48% kept both species. Goats were generally ranked lower in popularity. The most represented breeds in the households were the indigenous East African goat and the Red Maasai sheep, and crossbred genotypes of goats and sheep. However, according to the farmers, the pure breeds were more popular than the crossbreeds. The households owned the majority of the used land for small ruminant production. In many cases, male household members were in control of the land. Animals were in most cases owned by the household head only or by both the household head and the spouse. The most important water source for animals was the river with the frequency of watering in the dry season in some cases being as low as once a day. Both males and females made most decisions in smallholder households. Women in the pastoral/ extensive systems participated less significantly in decision making than those in smallholder households, although they were responsible to many animal production related activities.

Agriculture of the Czech Republic has features of submonate and montane agriculture. More than half of the surface of the Czech Republic is less favourable areas (LFA). Organic farming is carried out on the area of 6% of the surface of arable land. The contemporary state of farming has been evaluated and organic and conventional farming systems have been compared in the framework of the analysis of structure of farming in the Czech Republic. The selective group of 437 associations, consisting of 3 subgroups, is divided into several categories according to the farming method and altitude. Parameters of plant and animal production and use of the agro-environmental programmes and measures are evaluated. The evaluation of the structure of farming permits to find optimal possibilities for future development of conventional and organic farming in the Czech Republic and for arrangements of the settings of grants and subsidies.

The vegetation pot experiment was conducted at the Institute of Soil and Plant Sciences of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Latvia University of Agriculture. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effectiveness of five Rhizobium legumonosarum strains stored in the period from the 18th of August till the 20th of October 2006 in the collection of the Latvia University of Agriculture. Three of the five mentioned Rhizobium legumonosarum strains were included in the international Rhizobium database IBP World Catalogue of Rhizobium collections. Taking into consideration the results of the experiment it has been pointed out that all Rhizobium strains were active and inoculated plants formed nodules on the roots. Inoculation with Rhizobium strains increased the proportion between shoots and roots' weight. It has been found that the dry matter content of the inoculated plants increased in comparison with the untreated ones. In addition, negative correlation between the dry matter and the protein content has been observed.

A study was conducted to determine efficiency of an organic acids and phytogenic additives on pigs' growth processes and digestive tract microflora. The feed of the control group (C) did not contain the additives. The feed of the organic acid group (A) contained 6 kg of organic acids additive per tonne feed for pigs after weaning, 4 kg per tonne feed for grower pigs, and 3 kg per tonne feed for finished pigs. The feed of the phytogenic additive group (F) contained 0.5% of phytogenic additive per tonne feed for pigs after weaning, and 0.2% per tonne feed for grower and finished pigs. The feed of organic acids plus phytogenic additives group (A+F) contained 6 kg of organic acids additive per tonne feed for pigs after weaning, 4 kg per tonne feed for grower pigs, and 3 kg per tonne feed for finished pigs 0.5% of phytogenic additive per tonne feed for pigs after weaning, and 0.2% per tonne feed for grower and finished pigs. Compared to groups pigs from the group (F) had by 9.7%, group (A+F) - by 8.3 % and from group (A) had by 3.2% higher mass. The bests results of feed conversion were found in the group (A+F) - 2.84 kg, which was by 8.5% less than in the group (C), whereas the group (F) had by 5.1% and group (A) - by 6.7% better results than the control group. The results of Duodenum and Rectum microflora analyses showed that use of organic acid and phytogenic additives reduced mould yeast Staphylococcus sp. colony formed units (CFU gE-1).

Neosporosis is an infection disease caused by a single celled parasite Neospora caninum that produces cysts in the host organism. The dogs are a definitive host of parasite; cows and other ruminants are intermediate hosts. It causes neuromuscular disorders in dogs and abortions, birth of weak calves and neonatal mortality in cattle. Disease occurs worldwide (Sweden, Germany, Spain, Australia, Canada, USA et al.). Our aim of this study was to clear up how many seropositive animals in two seropositive dairy herds (after bulk milk investigation) in Latvia there are, their relationship and possible changes of their biochemical data. The studies in 2006 between September and November were carried out. In two farms there were 14 seropositive animals (from 67). There was evidence of inheritance of neosporosis infection. No differences were recognized in cows' blood biochemical data between positive and negative animals.

The effect of selenium on the content of thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), as well as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L), hull-less barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and hull-less oats (Avena sativa L.) grains during germination were investigated. The winter wheat grain variety 'Zentos', hull-less barley and hull-less oats were used for study. Grains were soaked for 120 hours totally in solutions containing selenium from 10 to 200 mg lE-1 in the form of sodium selenate (Se+6). Grains with moisture content of 43%-44% were let to sprout at ambient temperature of 18+-2 deg C. The content of B1, B2 and B5 vitamins in germinated grains were determined using standard methods. Laboratory studies showed that changes in vitamin B1, B2 and B5 content depend on selenium concentration and kind of grains. Selenium additives promote biochemical activity of vitamin B1 and content of this vitamin decreases after 5 days' germination in all investigated grains at all applied selenium concentrations. Selenium concentrations of 10 and 25 mg lE-1 promote forming of vitamin B2 in wheat, barley and oat grains. The changes in vitamin B5 content depend on selenium concentration and kind of grains.