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The poor quality of natural pastures in the dry season does not make it possible to meet dairy cows' requirements for milk production in Burkina Faso and in most West African countries. Therefore, it is urgent to find an alternative by developing a full diet from locally available ingredients. The objective was to determine a diet for dairy cattle based on locally available ingredients in the peri-urban area of Ouagadougou. A progressive methodology was used. Thus, a survey was conducted ontoonton 30 dairy farms. This survey was followed by chemical analysis, for which the most dominant forage and concentrate ingredients were selected. Secondly, the recording of milk and on-farm ingredient use was also carried out using Op-Ration software (Op-Ration version V3.4.5.0) in order to compare and determine the most suitable diets. The data from the survey were subjected to descriptive statistics using SPSS version 20. Those from chemical analysis, milk recording, and ingredient assessment on the farm were subjected to a statistical method using the software Minitab version.18.1.0.0 setup. The results showed two dominant forage species, Sorghum (84.85%) and Pennisetum pedicellatum (90.91%), and two dominant concentrates, corn bran (32%) and cottonseed meal (26%), used by dairy farmers. From these ingredients and simulating the requirements of 400 kgPV0.75 of lactating cows, a diet assessment was carried out at early, middle, and end lactation. The results showed that at the beginning of lactation, the diet consisted of 6.73 kg of forage and 6.59 kg of concentrate for 13.5 L as the main objective of milk production. The diet for mid-lactation was 8 kg of forage and 6.5 kg of concentrate for 15.5 L per day and 5.7 kg of forage and 3.8 kg of concentrate for the end of lactation. The results of this study show that it is possible to manufacture a complete ration for dairy cows at different stages of lactation from locally available forages and concentrates in the peri-urban area of Ouagadougou. This type of method could be applied to other regions from local forages and concentrates for milk production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research aimed at using the application of multi-factor models to support fisheries management decisions for successful resources' conservation. The study was based on the tilapia species Coptodon guineensis, which is among the most widely exploited in Benin coastal zone. In an attempt to suggest conservation strategies, the phenotypic variability of 356 accessions of this species was assessed in relation with water salinity, and several interactions. The fish were collected through small-scale experimental fishing using cast nets and gillnets. The findings indicated that the salinity observed in the sampled rivers is due, at proportions ranging from 0.13% to 47%, to the sea surface salinity (SSS) of the Atlantic Ocean, suggesting a leading inland origin of the salinity of these rivers. The evidence also showed that the tilapia populations have been relatively adapted to the increasing water salinity of the sampled rivers. The fish species*river type and fish species*fish sex interactions had significant effects on phenotypic characteristics rather than river type*fish sex interaction. For an efficient conservation of these populations, two conservation areas (Lake Nokoué and Porto-Novo lagoon vs Lake Toho and Grand-Popo lagoon), could be considered for this tilapia species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the body condition score, traction force and speed of draft oxen in order to assess their conditions of use and propose ways to improve animal traction. Two villages in each province (Houet, Tuy and Kénédougou) of the Hauts-Bassins Region were identified, for a total of 06 villages. In each village, 08 pairs of draught oxen were selected from producers previously included in the baseline survey of the appropriate agricultural mechanization project (ASMC-USAID), for a total of 96 pairs of draught oxen. All oxen included in the experiment were currently working on field. Our results reveal that 75 % of the cattle in the Hauts-Bassins Region had a traction force capable of carrying out ploughing and other farming operations. However, the traction speed was below the standard values and varied around 0.64 ± 0.03 m/s. As for the body condition score (BCS), 71.9 % of oxen recorded values between 3 and 4. Efforts must be made at the regional level to ensure that all draught oxen had a good BCS and adequate ploughing force to have a positive impact on agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]