The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to support research designed to adapt science and technology to the needs of developing countries. The Centre's activity is concentrated in six sectors: agriculture, food and nutrition sciences; health sciences; information sciences; social sciences; earth and engineering sciences; and com­ munications. IDRC is financed solely by the Parliament of Canada; its policies, however, are set by an international Board of Governors. The Centre's headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada. Regional offices are located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Le Centre de recherches pour le développement international, société publique créée en 1970 par une loi du Parlement canadien, a pour mission d'appuyer des recherches visant à adapter la science et la technologie aux besoins des pays en développement; il concentre son activité dans six secteurs : agriculture, alimenta­ tion et nutrition; information; santé; sciences sociales; sciences de la terre et du génie et communications. Le CROI est financé entièrement par le Parlement cana­ dien, mais c'est un Conseil des gouverneurs international qui en détermine l'orien­ tation et les politiques. Établi à Ottawa (Canada), il a des bureaux régionaux en Afrique, en Asie, en Amérique latine et au Moyen-Orient. El Centro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo es una corporaci6n publica creada en 1970 por el Parlamento de Canada con el objeto de apoyar la investigaci6n destinada a adaptar la ciencia y la tecnologia a las necesidades de los paises en desarrollo. Su actividad se concentra en seis sectores: ciencias agri­ colas, alimentos y nutrici6n; ciencias de la salud; ciencias de la informaci6n; ciencias sociales; ciencias de la tierra e ingenieria; y comunicaciones. El Centro es finan­ ciado exclusivamente por el Parlamento de Canada; sin embargo, sus politicas son trazadas por un Consejo de Gobernadores de caracter internacional. La sede del Centro esta en Ottawa, Canada, y sus oficinas regionales en América Latina, Africa, Asia y el Medio Oriente. This series includes meeting documents, internai reports, and preliminary technical documents that may later form the basis of a formai publication. A Manuscript Report is given a small distribution to a highly specialized audience. La présente série est réservée aux documents issus de colloques, aux rapports internes et aux documents techniques susceptibles d'être publiés plus tard dans une série de publi­ cations plus soignées. D'un tirage restreint, le rapport manuscrit est destiné à un public très spécialisé. Esta serie incluye ponencias de reuniones, informes internos y documentos técnicos que pueden posteriormente conformar la base de una publicacion formai. El informe recibe distribucion limitada entre una audiencia altamente especializada. IDRC-MR237e April 1990 SMALL RUMJ:HANTS RESEARCH AND DE\tELOPMENT J:H THE NEAR BAST Proceedinqs of • workshop held in Cairo, Eqypt, 21-4 November 1988 Editor: A.M. Aboul-Naga Material contained in this report is produced as submitted and has not been subjected to peer review or editing by IDRC Communications Division staff. Unless otherwise stated, copyright for material in this report is held by the authors. Mention of proprietary names does npt constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information. SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS *Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Egypt. *International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. * In cooperation with: FAO, Near East Regional Off ice European Association of Animal Production (EAAP) International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS) ORGANIZING AND SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE A.M. Aboul-Naga, Animal Production Research Institute (APRI), MOA, Egypt. E.S.E. Galal, Ain Shams, University, Egypt. M.B. Aboul-Ela, Mansoura University, Egypt. Ferial Hassan, APRI, MOA, Egypt. M. El-Serafy, Ain Shams, University, Egypt. Eglal Rashed, IDRC, Cairo. ii coNTBN'rs Page l'ORif'llORD ......................... ~ ................... 1 KEYNOTE LECTURE : The role of small rumin~nts in agricultural systems in developing cbuntries. C. Spedding ........ i.. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2 PART I : IllPROVING LAJIB AND KID J'RODUCTION IN INTENSIVE AND SEJII - INTENSIVE SYSTEJIS Selection for improved teproductive performance of native sheep. J. P. Hanrahan ..... ~ . 9 Selection for reduced seasonality in sheep. G. Ri cord ea u . 2 O National breeding and rtcording systems for sheep and goats und r semi-intensive production conditions:t e Cyprus experience. A. Constantinou . 34 Crossbreeding for improving fecundity in native sheep. A. M. Aboul-Naga, and M. H. Fahmy ....... 44 Potential sheep and goat breeds in the Near East. R. A. Guirgis ...... i...................... 54 Potential of dual purpose goats. C. F. Gall ......... 19 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6 7 Seasonality of reproduciive activity in native sheep and goa breeds and their crosses with intr duced breeds. M. B. Aboul-Ela and . Chemineau ........ 74 Control and manipulatiot of reproductive functions in native she p. A. Lahlou-Kassi, R. Boukhliq, A. Tibary nd A. Sghiri ....... 88 Meat production from goats in semi­ intensive systems. M. Hadjipanayiotou . ,. 101 PART II : STRATEGIES FOR SJIALL RCillINANTS PRODUCTION Stratification of small ruminants production systems. E. s. E. Gal al ..... i• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 111 iii Goat production in small farm systems. C. Devendra ..._ . 120 Improving sheep feeding systems in Morocco during the stubble grazing and the feeding straw phases. F. Guessous and O. Benslimane ........... 132 Strategies of goat feeding in intensive and extensive systems of production. P. Morand-Fehr .......................... 140 Feedstuffs supplementation in deteriorated rangelands : Effects on performance of small ruminants in arid and semi-arid regions. A.H. El-Serafy and A.S. El-Shobokshy .... 158 Use of Syrian marginal land for fat-tailed sheep production. F. Bahhady, A. Osman and L. Russi ....... 172 Methods of evaluating productivity of native sheep under both research farm and producers conditions. E.S.E. Galal and A.A. Younis ............ 184 Some economic aspects affecting small ruminant development in Near East countries. I. Soliman .............................. 192 PART III : ROUND TABLES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Round table 1 : "Implementation of intensive lamb production systems : incorporation of native breed and maximizing the utilization of their potentials". (Working paper by : A.H. Aboul-Naga) 199 Round table 2 : "Planning requirements for executing small ruminants development programmes, research priorities and linkages with regional programmes". (Working paper by: A.W. Qureshi) ........ 201 Reco1111Dendations. 215 List of Participants. 217 iv l'OUWORD Small ruminants (SR) are important in agricultural enterprises in the Near East (NE) region, and are the basic source of animal protein and cash to large communities in the region. NE region raises more than one fifth of the world's sheep and goat population and the demand for their products are rapidly increasing in the region. On the basis of these considerations, the Near Wast Regional Cooperative Research and Development Network on Small Ruminants was established the first of its kind in the region. The Technical Consultation of the NE Regional Cooperative Research and Development Network on Small Ruminants held in Rome in 22-24 October 1986, recommended successive regional workshops on SR research and development. Ministry of Agriculture (NOA), Egypt took the initiative to host the 1•t SR workshop in the NE region held in Cairo 2-4 November, 1988. The International Development Research Centre (IDRCJ significantly collaborated with NOA, Egypt in holding and sponsering the workshop. FAO-NE Regional office, has supported the workshop as an activity of the NE- SR network. The workshop was planned to coincide with the International Symposium on Constraints and Potentialities of Ruminant Production in the Dry Subtropics, 5-7 November, 1988. A. Aboul-Naga 1 K.EYN"OT.E L.EC:TCJR.E THE ROLE OP SMALL RUKINAN'l'S IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES C. R. W. SPEDDING University of leading, England Small ruminants (sheep and goats) are numerous in many developing countries and, indeed, some 94\ of the world's goats are to be found in developing countries. This is not the case for sheep which, for some reason, are frequently found in large flocks. This is easily explained where wool is the primary product (as in Australia, for example) but large meat-producing flocks are also found (in New Zealand and the UK, for example) . In Africa, small ruminants represent 24\ of the total tropical livestock units in Western Africa and 17\ in Eastern Africa (Peacock, 1984). They tend to be found rather more in drier areas and c. 58\ of the sheep and c. 65\ of the goats occur in arid and semi-arid zones of tropical Africa. Their economic contribution is hard to determine, as they are often consumed at home, and this has led to some underestimation of their importance. This may be one reason why they have also often been neglected in research programmes (Knipscheer et al., 1987). Small ruminants are frequently of considerable importance, however, with a whole range of advantages over other, larger livestock. They also have some disadvantages, of course, but the balance appears to be heavily in their favour. The advantages and disadvantages are summarized