International audience

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.

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide national and state-level policymakers, private sector investors, civil society and donors with an analysis of the rural economy of Mon State and pathways to improved prosperity for its population. The analysis is based on a representative survey (the Mon State Rural Household Survey 2015) of 1680 rural households, which comprise 73% of Mon State’s 2 million residents, and extensive interviews with farmers, traders, processors, local leaders and government officials.

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.

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.

The objective of the current research was to investigate effects of germination on chemical composition of hull-less barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.), hull-less oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale spp.), and wheat (Triticum spp.) grains for comparison. All the grains were cleaned, washed, steeped and germinated at temperature 35 ± 2 °C and relative humidity 95 ± 2% for 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. After germination grains were dried till moisture content 14 ± 2%. Main quality parameters such as starch, proteins, b-glucan (in hull-less barley) and individual sugars were determined in cereals during their steeping and germination. Non-germinated grains were used as a control sample. In the present experiments non-significant protein content increase was observed in the analysed hull-less barley, hull-less oat, rye, and wheat during their germination for 48 hours. Starch content in hull-less barley, wheat and rye grains decreased non-significantly during germination for 24 h; opposite results were obtained for hull-less oat grains, where content of starch decreased by 16.7% after steeping and by 26.4% after germination for 24 h. b-glucan content in hull-less barley grains after germination for 48 h decreased by 20.5%. Non-significant changes were obtained in fructose content in analysed cereal grains during germination for 48 h; it was significantly increased after germination for 24 h and in germination for 48 h. Non-significant sucrose content changes were observed in hull-less barley, rye and wheat grains during germination for 12 h and in hull-less oat grains – for 24 h significantly increasing in future germination for 48 h.

The diversity of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in raw, pasteurised milk and maturated Swiss type cheese was tested. The aim of the present study was to analyse the concentrations and representatives of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in raw milk and to evaluate the changes of their concentrations and representatives during pasteurisation of cheese milk and Swiss-type cheese production. The analysis carried out in the study showed a variation in the microbial composition and quantity of raw milk. The most frequently isolated lactobacilli were found at low level in raw milk (mean 27.5×104 CFU mLE-1) and the most frequently identified species were Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus paracasei. The microflora of raw and pasteurised milk is similar analysing lactic acid bacteria representatives in the samples. Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus paracasei were detected in the same samples in raw milk, pasteurised milk and maturated cheese. Our study showed that lactic acid bacteria concentration was quite low in pasteurised milk (1-12 CFU mLE-1), but they grow rapidly in cheese during ripening reaching 1.1-1.8*106 CFU gE-1. The present study has shown that NSLAB in Swiss-type cheese mainly derive from raw milk, and only a few strains survive the processing conditions and grow during ripening.

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.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentrated cocktail of growth factors and inflammatory mediators, and has been considered to be potentially effective for cartilage repair. Animal clinical studies suggest that PRP is a promising treatment for cartilage injuries and relieving symptoms due to its three biological properties: an anabolic effect, enhancement of cartilage regeneration and inhibition of inflammation. The aim of this article is to analyse the available evidence on the clinical application of this biological approach to animals for the injective treatment of cartilage lesions and joint degeneration, and also to support the rationale for the use of platelet concentrates and to give indications on what to expect from intra-articular injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in animals. This article is a summary of analytical research papers about the use of platelet-rich plasma as a treatment for the osteoarthritis. The intra-articular injections do not just target cartilage; instead, platelet-rich plasma might influence the entire joint environment, leading to clinical improvement. Many biological variables might influence the clinical outcome and have to be studied to optimize PRP injective treatment of cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis.