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Adequate design of diets to animal health and productivity is essential in livestock industry. For the above, commonly are use bulky ingredients (fibrous sources) combined with a concentrates ingredients as cereals (energy sources), legumes (protein sources) and mineral concentrates. Mucuna spp. is a tropical legume in which its nutrients characteristics have been underutilized by livestock industry. Mucuna seed have an important nutritional characteristics as feedstuff: 1) Crude protein and energy concentration (dry matter basis) of 20 to 30 % and 15.7 to 24.7 MJ kg-1, respectively; 2) Presence of unsaturated fatty acids; 3) Similar concentration of anti-nutrient factors than other legumes, within which L-3,4 dihidroxiphenilalanine (L-DOPA,) can be easy reduced until no adverse effects on animal growth are noted. In addition, mucuna seed is a feedstuff economically advantageous, since is commonly considered as agriculture waste. The aim of this paper is to present a review of available information about the presence and concentration of nutritional compounds in the seed of Mucuna spp. with high potential for livestock industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between the quality and value of a well-Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) with respect to its price, taking the experience of 20 yr of beef producers of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Through a qualitative research through the focus group technique and the use of the software Atlas.ti, it was found that the meat of the Sierra de Guadarrama has several factors that strengthen consumer confidence in the Autonomous Community of Madrid to the good and specialty, such as: cultural identity; the attachment to be a local product; good practices of animal health and meat safety. Despite the social prestige of the specialty, there are limitations to achieve better prices paid to farmers due to a market failure based on the lack of complete information to the consumer (importance of livestock to the preservation of the heritage landscape assessment), as well as a window of opportunity to improve the organization of the association, greater collective action of producers which helps to improve the form of governance, in particular their capacity to negotiate with other actors in the marketing phase and this may be a better balance between the quality, value and price to the farmer of the PGI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the socio-economic and farm variables and cognitive and social factors influencing the use of cultivated pastures by small-scale dairy farmers. A field survey was conducted. The sample was divided in two groups defined as: users (Group 1, n= 55) and non-users of the innovation (Group 2, n= 51). Data were analysed through the Mann Whitney test and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Socioeconomic and farm variables influenced the use of cultivated grassland, as observed in Group 1. This group showed a bigger proportion of farmers (60%) who indicated a positive intention to use cultivated grasslands, in comparison with 36% of farmers from Group 2. Farmers from both groups perceived similarly the utility and importance of the use of cultivated grassland; however, farmers' intention of Group 1 showed a significant correlation (P<0.05) with utility and importance. Other factors influencing the use of cultivated grasslands were the positive beliefs, social referents and difficulties perceived of the innovation. It concludes that different factors influenced the use of cultivated grassland in each group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beekeeping is practiced in Mexico since pre-Columbian times, nowadays it has presence in several agricultural regions of the country and more than half of the production of honey is exported. The importance of this activity is given by its generation of foreign currency earnings, income and employment, so that changes in foreign markets affect the income of rural families and the economy of the livestock subsector. For this reason, this paper analyze the level and competitive position of Mexican honey considering the external supply of the main producing countries; therefore its relation with their main variable. Four indicators were estimated ex post, taking into consideration the procedure proposed by the Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. The volume of former supply and the yield per hive, place Mexico in the sixth position worldwide, while as an exporter is located as third. It was found that honey obtained in the country has a high level of competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, exceeded only by China and Argentina. Production and exports evolution of honey are related to the primary phase of the supply chain, marketing processes and the physical and natural environment that determine the productivity, as well as the exportable surpluses and the economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the effect of plant lipids added to dairy ruminant diets on milk fat fatty acid profile. Changes in milk fatty acid profile when oils and oilseeds are added to the diet are broadly similar in cows, ewes and goats. Some of the observed effects are common to all oils and oilseeds whatever the quantitatively main fatty acid (i.e. oleic or linoleic or α-linolenic acids) they supply to the diet: butyric acid content does not usually change, medium chain saturated fatty acid content is lowered and unsaturated fatty acid content increases. Oils and oilseeds rich in linoleic acid raise the content of vaccenic, rumenic and trans10-18:1 and increase the n-6 to n-3 ratio in milk fat. Adding linseed oil or linseeds to the diet also increases vaccenic and rumenic acid contents, but does not affect that of trans10-18:1 in milk fat and lower its n-6 to n-3 ratio. As a conclusion, including oils and oilseeds into dairy ruminant diets widely modifies milk fat fatty acid profile. Best results from human health point of view are obtained adding linseed oil or linseeds to the diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of historic vegetation growth curves for both grasslands and shrublands in Mexico becomes a real challenge due to lack of statistics. Remote sensing technology using satellites, allows obtaining a first approximation through vegetation indices (VI). The present study discusses an indirect parametric modeling of the biomass growth curve in individual pixels of both Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), thus allowing their characterization using pre and post process algorithms. Results obtained through application of the algorithms discussed in the present paper, allow obtaining annual growth curves at 100 ha (AHVRR) and 6.25 ha (MODIS) scales that can be used in studies on climate change and on grassland/shrubland management in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]