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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the technical efficiency of dairy cattle farms in Tizi Ouzou region as one of the main dairy basins in Algeria. To do so, a two-step analysis was applied. First, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to quantify the technical efficiency of dairy cattle farms. In the second step, a Tobit model to examine factors affecting farms’ technical efficiency is used. The analysis used cross-sectional data collected from 146 dairy cattle farmers. The study found that the average technical efficiency under VRS assumption is relatively high, suggesting that farms can reduce their inputs by an average of 17% while maintaining the same level of output. The study also highlights the crucial role that agricultural advisory system and traditional insemination play in enhancing technical efficiency. In this region, where cattle breeding is traditionally practiced on a small scale, increasing herd size can result in reduced performance. The study also recommended that agricultural policies should be adapted to local specificities and that a more supportive strategy should be adopted for small-scale family dairy farms instead of promoting the large farm model.

Abstract Background The impacts of climate change on crop and livestock sectors are well-documented. Climate change and its related events (e.g., high temperatures, extreme events, disease outbreaks) affect livestock production in various ways (e.g., nutrition, housing, health, welfare), and tend to compromise the physical productivity and the economic performances. Understanding animal responses to climate change may help planning strategies to cope with the adverse climatic conditions and also to reduce polluting emissions. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we develop a conceptual framework to assess and develop new organisational models for Mediterranean small-scale farming systems so as to mitigate the impacts of climate change, to improve farm management and farming technologies, and to achieve an effective adaptation to the climate changes. The conceptual framework consists of four phases: (i) community engagement, (ii) strategies development, (iii) data collection and analysis, (iv) business model generation and sustainability assessment. We assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the eco-solutions by mean of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis technique. Results The proposed eco-solutions are expected to increase the sustainability of agriculture and food production systems by introducing new and efficient uses of natural resources. The proposed models are expected to have an impact not only on the environment (in terms of mitigation), but also on the economic and social performances, as they are expected to foster the responses of small-scale farms to the increasingly frequent effects of climate change (adaptation solutions). Among the positive impacts, we emphasise the importance of more stable revenues, a tendency that would help farmers to raise their revenues. Last but not least, we found that the proposed models are likely to increase the social resilience of the farming systems to the challenges imposed by the climate change. Conclusions The eco-solutions can support stakeholders involved in Mediterranean small-scale farming systems by suggesting novel land, crop, and livestock management approaches to optimise revenue flows, business models and climate change mitigation strategies thanks to the adoption of a systemic approach, that is not only focused on specific components of the system but instead based on the linkages between environmental, social, and economic aspects.

In recent years, despite its hostile environment and harsh climate, the wilaya of Ghardaïa has emerged as a leader in dairy production in southern Algeria. This article sought to analyze how the innovation system in the dairy sector has, positively or negatively, influenced the development of the sector in this region and identify the socio-economic factors and institutions that have contributed to it. To do so, a functional-structural approach was taken. The data used were collected from semi-directive interviews and focus groups with different stakeholders involved in the dairy milk sector. Market restructuring, but also the collective organization, which is very common in the region, were found to be the main factors positively affecting the dairy sector. In addition, lobbying by the dairies and the asymmetry of power between dairy farmers and agri-food industrialists, a lack of collaboration and interaction between actors, a lack of coordination in knowledge development, and a lack of formal financing mechanisms to invest in livestock, turned out to be the factors hindering the innovation system. Finally, although the dairy sector in Ghardaïa attracts investors from the North of Algeria, and is thus a pronounced success in economic and organizational terms, the question of its sustainability is not being considered in these southern territories.

Abstract In recent years, due to the dramatic increase of the bacteria resistance to antibiotics and chemotherapeutic drugs, an increasing importance is given to the discovery of novel bioactive molecules, more potent than those in use. In this contest, methanol extracts of different parts of the medicinal plant Limoniastrum monopetalum (L.) Boiss. (Plumbaginaceae), widely occurring in Tunisia, were prepared to evaluate the antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. The methanol extract of the roots showed the highest antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus and E. faecalis, whereas the stem extract exhibited the highest antiproliferative effects towards a Hela cell line. Analysis of volatile fractions, using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID) techniques, led to the identification of camphor as the most abundant constituent, which represented from 84.85 to 99.48% of the methanol extracts. Multiple chromatographic separation of the methanol leaf extract afforded the flavonoid maeopsin-6-O-glucoside (S1) and a few fractions that were subjected to biological activity assays. One fraction exhibited interesting antibacterial activity against E. coli and E. faecalis (MIC values of 62.5 and 78.12 µg/mL, respectively), and antiproliferative effects against Hela and A549 cells (IC50 = 226 and 242.52 μg/mL, respectively). In addition, in silico studies indicated that maesopsin-6-O-glucoside, which was moderately active against Staphylococcus aureus, strongly interacted with the active site of the accessory gene regulator protein A (AgrA) of Staphylococcus aureus.

In the present work, copper oxide (CuO NPs) was synthesized by an eco-friendly, simple, low-cost, and economical synthesis method using Ephedra Alata aqueous plant extract as a reducing and capping agent. The biosynthesized CuO-NPs were compared with chemically obtained CuO-NPs to investigate the effect of the preparation method on the structural, optical, morphological, antibacterial, antifungal, and photocatalytic properties under solar irradiation. The CuO NPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-VIS spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) analysis, and field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDX). The photocatalytic activities of biosynthetic CuO-NPs and chemically prepared CuO-NPs were studied using methylene blue upon exposure to solar irradiation. The results showed that the biosynthesized CuO photocatalyst was more efficient than the chemically synthesized CuO-NPs for Methylene Blue (MB) degradation under solar irradiation, with MB degradation rates of 93.4% and 80.2%, respectively. In addition, antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated. The disk diffusion technique was used to test the biosynthesized CuO-NPs against gram-negative bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, as well as C. Albicans and S. cerevisiae. The biosynthesized CuO-NPs showed efficient antibacterial and antifungal activity. The obtained results revealed that the biosynthesized CuO-NPs can play a vital role in the destruction of pathogenic bacteria, the degradation of dyes, and the activity of antifungal agents in the bioremediation of industrial and domestic waste.