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The desire to reduce food insecurity and poverty in developing countries is the essential justification to take into consideration rural agro-pastoral activities. Thus this paper proposes a typological study of sedentary farmers in the semi-arid zone of Cameroon which was conducted between January and May 2014. 400 sedentary farmers were surveyed in four cities including Mindif, Doukoula, Koza and Maroua.Descriptive statistics helped to highlight that 100% of sedentary farmers practice agriculture. The fattening of ruminants is an activity that increasingly recruits sedentary farmers. This applies to Mindif where virtually all farmers practice sedentary fattening of ruminants. The factor analysis revealed two main components of variables characterizing the sedentaryfarmers. The extensive sedentary farming group is made up of 66% of producers in the area. The extensive sedentary farming group is made up of 66% of producers in the area. In the group of semi-intensive sedentary farmers, producers are increasingly farming a real business. This group could be a base for the development of animal production of second generation. | Pour réduire l’insécurité alimentaire et la pauvreté dans les pays en voie de développement une analyse des activités agropastorales en milieu rural est nécessaire. La typologie est à la base de cette analyse. Ainsi une étude typologique des élevages sédentaires en zone semi-aride du Cameroun a été menée entre janvier et mai 2014. Pour cela, 400 éleveurs sédentaires ont été enquêtés dans 4 communes dont celles de Mindif, Doukoula, Koza et la communauté de Maroua.Les statistiques descriptives ont montré que 100% des éleveurs sédentaires pratiquent l’agriculture. L’engraissement des ruminants est une activité qui recrute de plus en plus les éleveurs sédentaires. C’est le cas à Mindif où la quasi-totalité des éleveurs sédentaires pratique l’embouche des ruminants. L’analyse factorielle fait ressortir deux composantes principales des variables caractérisant les éleveurs étudiés. La classification two-step a été utilisée à et effet. Le groupe des élevages sédentaires extensifs englobe 66% des producteurs de la zone. Dans le groupe des élevages sédentaires semi-intensifs les producteurs font de plus en plus de l’élevage unvéritable business. Ce groupe pourrait constituer un socle pour le développement des productions animales de deuxième génération.

peer reviewed | Un dosage sérologique des glycoprotéines associées à la gestation chez les caprins (caPAG), par la technique ELISA "sandwich" a été mis au point pour le diagnostic précoce de la gestation chez la chèvre naine de Guinée. Des anticorps anti-caPAG produits chez les lapins ont été biotinylés et titrés pour permettre ce dosage dans le sérum de chèvres. Des échantillons de sang ont été collectés tous les 7 jours chez 6 chèvres après induction et synchronisation des chaleurs puis saillie pour doser la caPAG sérique. Les densités optiques ont été lues à 492 nm sur un lecteur automatique ELISA pour établie le profil de la caPAG. Le taux de caPAG augmente rapidement pendant le premier tiers de gestation pour atteindre un pic (117 ng/ml) vers le 91e jour puis baisse pour atteindre environ 50 ng/ml le 121ème jour et reste plus ou moins stable jusqu’à la parturition où il chute progressivement pour atteindre environ 12,5 ng/ml trois semaines après. Cependant ce taux reste encore élevé dans la circulation maternelle 3 semaines après la parturition. La PAG caprine est détectable dans le sérum par cette technique à partir du 28ème jour de gestation avec une sensibilité de 100 %. Le 21ème jour, la sensibilité est faible (66,7 %). Ce test offre donc une alternative pratique au laboratoire, précoce et fiable pour le diagnostic de la gestation à partir du jour 28 après insémination chez la chèvre naine de Guinée.

Liming soils make both direct and indirect effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If raising the pH of soil, the amount of N2 O emissions in the result of nitrification decreases; therefore, it is important to perform also maintenance liming if applying nitrogen fertilisers. Liming acidic soils contributes to the absorption of nutrients supplied by means of fertilisers by plants, limits the spread of plant diseases, forms better soil moisture and air regimes for plants, improves the structure of soil and activates microorganisms. The aim of this study was to assess liming effect on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions in crop farming. To achieve the aim, this study proceeds in two stages: 1) to analyse the scientific literature on the liming effect on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions in other countries, as a few such research studies are available in Latvia; 2) to calculate potential gains and losses from liming acid soils in order to examine the real situation concerning liming and its effects on the economy of farms. The research finds out that at the farm level in Latvia liming gives a positive economic effect (41.6 EUR haE-1) however, it is essential for maintaining soil fertility, increasing yields, and presumably for more efficient circulation of nitrogen, which decreases nitric oxide emissions.

Cow lifespan is one of most important economical traits in every dairy farm and is affected by different environmental factors. One of genetic factors that affect longevity is cow conformation traits, which varies within different breeds, farms and animals. The aim in this study was to determine how stature and linear conformation traits affect cow lifespan and lifetime milk productivity. In the study, data about 34806 crossbred Holstein Black and White and 38201 Red cow group breed cows, which ended at least one full lactation, and were culled from 2002 – 2012 year were analysed. Data about cow productivity and culling was obtained from Latvian Agricultural Data centre. In the study, data about cow stature, udder depth, central ligament, teat length, and rear and front teat placement were analysed. Conformation traits were distributed in 3 groups. The average lifespan of analysed cows was 1869.9 days in which average 18550.8 kg energy corrected milk (ECM) was obtained. Holstein Black and White cows characterize with shorter lifespan (1833.7 days) than red breed group cows, but lifetime productivity is for 2339.1 kg ECM higher than for average red breed cow. Significantly longer (p is less than 0.05) lifespan – 2031.6 days was in cow group with stature 100 – 135 cm, but in cow group with stature more than 146 cm there is significantly higher lifetime and life day productivity. There is a significant difference between lifetime milk productivity and rear and front teat placement. Significantly higher productivity was given by cows with teat placement inside of quarter (linear evaluation 6- 9 points).

The aim of this study was to investigate amino acid content, biological value and dietary fibre content of conventional and organic pea (Pisum sativum L.) and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum M.) flours. Results showed that pea flours contained high amounts of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine, lysine and arginine while glutamic acid, proline, methionine and tryptophan were found in similar or smaller amounts comparing with wheat flour. The differences of various amino acids between conventional and organic pea flours were insignificant. The content of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, valine, histidine, lysine and arginine was high in buckwheat flours in comparison with wheat flour. There were significant (p is less than 0.05) differences in the individual amino acid contents across buckwheat flours. Significant (p is less than 0.05) variation existed in the content of essential amino acids among samples, whereas the results concerning the proportion of essential amino acids in total amino acids showed insignificant (p is greater than 0.05) differences between pea flours and buckwheat flours (34.80 – 35.77% and 29.96 – 33.90% respectively). The highest content of lysine was found in pea flours, and it formed about 23% of essential amino acids content. For pea flours the total dietary fibre amount varied between 15.28 g 100 gE-1 for conventional and 27.24 g 100 gE-1 for organic pea flour. Pea and buckwheat flours could be characterised as a good source of dietary fibre with significantly (p is less than 0.05) higher content of total dietary fibre comparing to wheat flour.

Kvass is an aromatic soft drink which in a form of powder could be used in dairy or bakery products, or sugar confectionary to expand the diversity of flavours. Spray drying is one of the techniques used for producing powders; however, liquids with high sugar content become sticky during drying process and need additional drying aids to increase glass transition temperature and improve powder stability. The aim of this research was to evaluate the characteristics of dry naturally fermented kvass. Maltodextrin was used in 50, 40 and 25% quantity to kvass dry matter in order to aid the spray drying of naturally fermented non-pasteurised, non-filtered bread kvass. Spray drying of 8 l naturally fermented kvass returned approximately 500 g dry naturally fermented kvass powder with a light brown colour, a pronounced aroma of rye bread and moisture content of 7 ± 0.1%. Microstructure analysis of the spray dried naturally fermented kvass showed irregularly spherical shaped particles, having many shrinkages, breakages and dents on the surface in general. Total viable microorganism count in dry naturally fermented kvass powder was within the recommended levels, traces of lactic acid bacteria were found in all samples. The presence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was established in dry naturally fermented kvass powders, with possible contamination from spray dryer.

Iron deficiency is a common problem especially among children, women of reproductive age and sportsmen. Addition of highly bioavailable iron to foods could be one possibility to enrich daily diet and increase iron absorption. At present moment, there is a limited number of fortified products with iron in the market. Fortification of common food products is an effective strategy to prevent or overcome iron deficiency. The results show a significant increase of iron in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. Comparing fortified products with non‑fortified control samples of chocolate snacks the iron content increased from (1.17 – 2.61) to (10.15 − 11.53) mg 100 gE-1 in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. By developing a successful recipe of fortified food products, animal origin heme iron could be applicable component and satisfy sensory acceptability from consumers. The aim of this work was to create an alternative sweet product as healthy snack with incorporated highly bioavailable heme iron which may be an addition to daily diet with nutritional properties and accepted by consumers.

This study was designed with the aim to determine the impact of residual antibiotics on haematological and biochemical constituents of broiler chickens’ blood. For this, one-day-old chickens were randomly divided into four equal groups with 10 individuals in each group (n = 40). All groups of chickens fed with commercial basal diet; the first group considered as control, fed only with basal ration; the feed of the second, third and fourth groups of chicken were supplemented with amoxystin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, respectively. Antibiotics were given daily, individually, in sub-therapeutic concentrations: amoxystin at the dosage 10 mg kgE-1, tetracycline and chloramphenicol – 20 mg kgE-1 of the chicken’s weight for 41 days. The blood parameters were measured at the end of experiment on the 42nd day. In comparison with the control group, decreasing of leukocytes was observed in the 2nd and 4th groups, and increasing in the 3rd group of broilers. The concentration of erythrocytes and hemoglobin was reduced in the 2nd group and hematocrit was higher in the 3rd and 4th groups (p is less than or equal 0.01). The total protein was decreased by 22% in the 2nd group, 16% – in the 3rd and 4th groups as compared to the control group (p is less than or equal 0.01) in blood serum. The concentration of glucose was decreased by 45.8, 46.5 and 51.5% in the second, third and fourth groups of treated birds, respectively, compared to those of birds in the control group (p is less than or equal 0.01). Based on the results it could be concluded that antibiotics influence the dynamics of haematopoiesis and biochemical indices of broilers.

Canine elbow dysplasia is an heritable orthopaedic disease which includes medial coronoid disease, osteochondritis dissecans and ununited anconeal process, as well as, elbow incongruity. Medial coronoid disease (MCD) is one of the most frequent parts of elbow dysplasia syndrome. The aim of the study was to describe medial coronoid process CT findings in dogs with thoracic limb lameness. In cases where there is suspicion of medial coronoid disease for dogs with lameness, an orthopaedic examination and CT were performed. CT examination was done with Philips MX-16 – slice CT scanner. The study represents data from a time frame between September 2014 and December 2015. Examinations were done at The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Agriculture. The study included 20 large breed dogs, 14 males and 6 females, ages ranging from 6 to 60 months, with a median age of 21.7 ± 13.7 months. Results showed that, in most cases, the dogs had subtrochlear sclerosis of the ulna and fragmentation of medial coronoid. Computed tomography revealed 12 dogs with medial coronoid disease in both elbows, whereas 8 dogs only in one of the elbow joints.