Intensify pastures for livestock production: vermicompost use, an agro-ecological practice

The intensification of animal production at pasture is essential to meet the growing demand for animal products but also for other functions, the maintenance of areas, livelihoods and well-being of populations. This intensification must also take into account the reduction of agricultural land, promote positive interactions with the environment and biodiversity, while ensuring the supply of populations. The use of vermicompost involving the action of earthworms is an example of agro-ecological practices, to participate in the intensification of grassland and which has been studied in the context of a call to project, AGRIBIO3. Besides the fact that this practice makes it possible to achieve a proper recycling and recovery of various manures, it improves the quality of organic soil, nutrient bioavailability, and grassland biomass while having a nematophagous action, beneficial to a lesser gastrointestinal parasitism of grazing small ruminants. The biological and financial advantages of this practice in the longer term, and their use to various grassland systems must be quantified

Carbone et élevage de ruminants

Si la digestion chez les ruminants conduit à la formation de CO2 et CH4 contribuant à l'effet de serre, elle entraîne surtout le transfert par l'animal de matières carbonées non digérées, généralement enrichies en azote. L'amélioration des prairies tout comme la gestion des effluents sont susceptibles d'augmenter les taux de C dans le sol, contribuant ainsi à améliorer le potentiel de fertilité dans le complexe sol plante du territoire local; en particulier dans les conditions difficiles des milieux chauds. Dans une tentative de description de la part du compartiment animal et de façon plus générale de la composante "élevage" dans les flux de C découlant des modes de gestion de la biomasse, on peut utilement tirer parti des nombreuses données issues de travaux de recherche conduits en milieux tropicaux et tempérés. Ces exemples fixent des ordres de grandeur et montrent dans le système lié à l'animal les étapes au cours desquelles, les matrices complexes dans lesquelles sont inclus les éléments C et N subissent des transformations à des degrés divers. L'évocation successive des différents compartiments ne permet pas en tant que tel de fermer un cycle complet du C à l'échelle de l'écosystème. Elle montre par contre, tout l'intéret d'une approche intégrée et les nombreux points sur lesquels, l'éleveur peut intervenir au travers de l'animal et de la conduite de son système pour améliorer l'efficience des émissions C et N sous différentes formes, contribuer à la séquestration du C, limiter directement ou indirectement la dégradation de la fertilité des sols, voire l'améliorer. Face à la croissance forte des productions de lait et de viande qui se profile dans les pays du sud, et à la nécessité d'en concevoir le développement selon des modalités durables, il apparaît qu'un important travail d'étude mériterait d'être poursuivi sur la diversité des pratiques de conduite du carbone et de l'azote dans les systèmes et sur la représentation de la complexité et des synergies qui découleraient d'un intégration accrue de l'agriculture et de l'élevage. La simulation en modélisation dynamique des effets et impacts potentiels d'une évolution des trajectoires de conduite des systèmes permettrait d'avancer plus rapidement sur toutes ces questions. (Résumé d'auteur

Adolescents’ Sources of Sexual Health Information in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

Aim and Objectives: To determine the scope of research on Sub-Saharan adolescents’ preferences for accessing sexual health knowledge and information. Background: Despite recent increases in positive sexual health outcomes for adolescents worldwide, young people in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to face some of the highest global rates of teenage pregnancy and HIV infection. Existing research into the sexual health of this population is focused on interventions and outcomes, often through the lens of adult practitioners. The current review examined the scope of research that have explored the source preferences for sexual health education from adolescents themselves. Methods: This scoping review followed PRISMA’s Guide for Scoping Reviews to systematically search and analyze literature published between January 2013 and April 2023. Research was sourced from five public health and social sciences databases: AIM, CINAHL, MedLine, PubMed, and Scopus. Articles were assessed for methodological quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Data from the literature was critically appraised using narrative analysis. Findings and Discussion: 11 studies were included for review, encompassing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed data collection methods. Explicit discussion of adolescents’ stated preferences was a minor note in most research reviewed, behind outcome-focused analysis. Parents were identified as the most preferred source of sexual health information (in six articles); by contrast, very few adolescents reported a preference for learning about sex from mass media sources. Preferred sources of information varied minutely for different types of information (contraception versus puberty, for example), gender, and cultural background. Conclusions: Research on adolescent preferences for sexual health education is limited. Additional, in-depth research is needed into adolescent preferences in order to best impact policies and social work practice. Social worker practitioners, especially, must prioritize adolescents’ preferences to best empower them to lead sexually healthy lives. Key words: comprehensive sexual education, adolescents, Sub-Saharan Afric

Kontribusi Self Efficacy Terhadap Academic Dishonesty Pada Mahasiswa Kampus X Bukittinggi

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kontribusi self efficacy terhadap Academic dishonesty pada Mahasiswa Kampus X Bukittinggi. Desain yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kuantitatif korelasional. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah Mahasiswa Kampus X Bukittinggi

Nitrogen or Water Limitation to Grassland Growth during a Moderate Dry Season in the Humid Tropics

The aim of this work was to compare the effects of nitrogen and water shortage on grassland production during a moderate dry season in a tropical humid environment. The results of two experiments carried out in Guadeloupe (FWI) have shown that during dry spells, the reduction in growth of natural grasslands based on Angleton grass (Dichantium aristatum) is more easily corrected by nitrogen fertiliser application than by irrigation. This shows that it is not the availability of water, but that of nitrogen, which is limiting the primary production of Angleton grass, stands. This result is less clear for a pasture based on Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens), a species introduced to improve forage production. Research experience in the field of water-plant-weather relations in a humid or sub-humid tropical environment cannot be extrapolated to animal production systems based on natural grasslands. The productivity of this forage resource is much more dependant on nitrogen availability, during periods of low rainfall or when water soil reserve is low

Effects of Fasting on Ingestive Behaviour of Sheep Grazing Grass or White Clover Monocultures

Effects of fasting sheep for 24 h (F), compared with controls (NF), on their ingestive behaviour and particle size in extrusa was investigated using oesophageally fistulated animals, grazing monocultures of Lolium perenne (G) or Trifolium repens (C). Bite masses tended to be lower on G than C and tended to increase with fasting (40, 64, 61 and 70 mg DM bite-1) for treatments GNF, GF, CNF and CF, respectively. Prehension rate was lower (52 vs. 69 bites min-1) and masticating rate was higher (106 vs.86 mastications min- 1) for G and C treatments, respectively. Over 24 h following fasting, NF animals grazed less (458 vs. 578 min 24 h-1) and ruminated less (276 vs. 348 min 24 h-1) than F animals. Particles in extrusa \u3c 0.18 mm were 48 vs. 55 %, for G and F, and 49 vs.54% for F and NF treatments

Faecal near Infrared Spectroscopy to Measure the Diet Selected and Productivity of Grazing Ruminants

In ruminants near infrared spectroscopy of faeces (F.NIRS) can measure the concentrations of faecal constituents such as N and fibre. It can also directly estimate many diet attributes, including total N, fibre, digestibility and the major plant groups (e.g. monocots versus dicots, and some plant species). In some situations F.NIRS can be used to estimate voluntary intake and liveweight change, but it is difficult to encompass animal effects (e.g. lactation, maturity), pasture availability or mineral deficiencies. Application of F.NIRS, especially in conjunction with other measurements (e.g. metabolizable energy intake calculated from liveweight change, 13C/12C ratio in faeces, microbial protein synthesis and phosphorus concentrations in faeces) can provide valuable and reliable information about the nutritional status of grazing ruminants. Examples where F.NIRS has been used to measure the nutritional status of grazing cattle and sheep are described for extensive and intensive tropical production systems in northern Australia, the Caribbean, the Amazonian humid tropics, and for temperate pastures in Europe. F.NIRS can be applied to routinely and economically measure the nutrient intakes of grazing ruminants, and such information used to modify herd management