Revue des connaissances sur la micro-filière ovine laitière en Tunisie : état des lieux et perspectives de relance de la race sicilo-sarde

Abstract

Cet article est distribué suivant les termes et les conditions de la licence CC-BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ deed.fr) Introduction. La race sicilo-sarde est la seule race ovine laitière tunisienne. Elle est à la base d'une micro-filière de production de fromages. Son effectif s'est effondré dans les années 1990 en raison de choix économiques et politiques peu favorables ainsi que d'un manque de maitrise technique des élevages, mettant la pérennité de cette filière en danger. Toutefois, des initiatives pour la préserver sont entreprises depuis quelques années. Cette revue de la littérature, scientifique et professionnelle, fait le point sur les connaissances actuelles de la filière laitière ovine et présente les actions en cours ou à entreprendre en faveur de sa sauvegarde. Littérature. La race sicilo-sarde affiche des niveaux de production laitière faibles mais améliorables, même dans des conditions extensives. Les conduites d'élevage (allaitement/sevrage/traite) et de reproduction devraient être revues afin d'accroitre la production laitière. De même, la voie génétique devrait être mobilisée par la mise en place d'un schéma de sélection appuyé sur le relevé de phénotypes d'intérêt en ferme (quantité et qualité de lait, morphologie mammaire) et/ou par introduction de sang sarde en recourant à l'insémination artificielle. Conclusions. Un regain d'intérêt pour la race sicilo-sarde en Tunisie est constaté depuis 2005, à travers une réorganisation de la filière, insufflant un nouveau dynamisme au sein de la profession. Les marges importantes de progrès ont été mises en évidence, tant au niveau des animaux que des éleveurs. L'aval de la filière doit aussi aider à une meilleure identification des produits et du terroir de production auprès des consommateurs. Ainsi se dessineront de nouvelles opportunités de développement de cette micro-filière, seule à même d'assurer sa durabilité. Mots-clés. Ovin, sicilo-sarde, aptitude laitière, mutations, durabilité, Tunisie.Review of the Sicilo-Sarda dairy sheep micro-sector in Tunisia: current situation and prospects for the recovery of the Sicilo-Sarda breed Introduction. The Sicilo-Sarda is the only Tunisian dairy sheep breed. Milk from this breed is used in a micro-sector of cheese production. Numbers of sheep from this breed fell significantly during the 1990s, due to unfavorable economic and political choices, as well as a lack of technical control of livestock, which risked the sustainability of this cheese production sector. However, initiatives to preserve this breed have taken place in recent years. The present review of the scientific and professional literature highlights the current knowledge of the sheep dairy sector in Tunisia and presents the actions currently under way or to be undertaken in favor of its safeguarding. Literature. The Sicilo-Sarda breed shows low levels of milk production but this can be improved even in extensive systems. Breeding (suckling/weaning/milking) and reproductive management needs to be reviewed in order to increase mil...

Baseline composition and microbial quality assessment of raw milk from endemic small ruminants and Maghrebi camels in the oasis area of Tunisia

“…Bacterial counts (log 10 CFU/mL) in the milk of studied species from the Tunisian oasis region. Milk from local QFO gave in this study total solids, fat, protein, casein, and ash content comparable to those reported by El Gharbi et al(2015) for Barbarin sheep breed reared in a semiarid climate but was lower than ndings ofAloulou et al (2018) for Sicilo-Sarde ewes and those ofRouissi et al (2008) for Sicilo-Sarde and Comisane dairy sheep breeds raised in an intensive system in the extreme north of the country. The variation from the reported results could be attributed mainly to the difference in the breed, management conditions, including feeding, and environmental factors, among others.…”

Genetic Variability and Population Structure of the Tunisian Sicilo-Sarde Dairy Sheep Breed Inferred from Microsatellites Analysis

“…The productivity of the two breeds’ ancestors Sarda and Comisana reached 201 and 159 L/ewe/lactation, respectively [ 7 ]. Although this truncated quantitative production is explained by this breeding strategy, the milk quality of the SS and its cheese are classified within the high range of Mediterranean dairy breeds [ 9 , 10 ]. Its milk fat, protein and casein contents, on which cheese yield depends [ 9 ], were 7.49%, 6.55% and 5.16%, respectively [ 8 ].…”

“…All of these cited results highlighted the excellent milk quality of the SS sheep. Despite this high quality, SS milk is limited to micro-sector cheese production mainly characterized by handmade quality yogurts and cheeses, especially the “Sicilian” cheese with a uniquely “terroir” reputation [ 10 , 13 ].…”

“…The sustainability of the sheep-milk cheese production in Tunisia has been threatened in recent decades after a dramatic decrease in the number of dairy breed (90% of the total number). Its decline from 200,000 female units in 1991 to 26,500 units females in 1995 and to 25,000 in 2000 indicate that this breed faces a threat of extinction and that the situation has reached a critical level [ 8 , 10 ]. The low prices of sheep milk as well as the shift to the breeding of dairy cattle were among the main causes of this decline.…”

“…Faced by these changes, many alternatives were undertaken by national and international institutions to save this breed. In 2003, the creation of the Sicilo-Sarde Breed Association by private farmers in the Beja region reversed the critical situation of the breed into a winning one following an efficient triple interaction between farmers, researchers and policy makers [ 6 , 10 ]. Under a multidisciplinary improvement program, new genes from the ancestral Italian Sarda breed were introduced by intra-uterine artificial insemination to the Tunisian dairy sheep population of Beja.…”