Saving threatened native breeds by autonomous production, involvement of farmers organization, research and policy makers: The case of the Sicilo-Sarde breed in Tunisia, North Africa

Non-genetic sources of variation of milk production and reproduction and interactions between both classes of traits in Sicilo-Sarde dairy sheep

“…Lengths of milking-only and suckling periods were similar to previous values reported by Djemali et al (2009) for both milking-only length (139 ± 47 days) and suckling length (104 ± 22 days). The low production performances observed in this study for the Sicilo-Sarde breed comparatively to Lacaune breed (on average 290 l of milk during 165 days; Carta et al, 2009) and Sarda breed (on average 203 l and 162 days for milk yield and milking period; Carta et al, 2009) could be due to the orientation of farmers to manage the Sicilo-Sarde breed as a dual-purpose or meat sheep.…”

“…The suckling length and lactation length were 100.4 days (±24.9) and 233.2 days (±44.5), respectively ( Table 1). The TMM was lower than those reported by Moujahed et al (2009) and Djemali et al (2009) who reported that Sicilo-Sarde breed produced respectively between 60 and 120 kg per year and 89 ± 47 l per lactation. This result indicated that the producing ability of the studied Sicilo-Sarde population has been declining over the last years.…”

“…Least square means indicated that TMM was higher for lactations in flock 6 with 95.07 l (Table 2). This production exceeded the mean value reported by Djemali et al (2009): 89 ± 47 l. The lowest value was observed for lactations in flock 4 (39.55 l). The significant effect of the flock (P < 0.001) can be explained by different management practices applied in each farm mainly the nutrition component.…”

“…However, milk production from sheep represents a small, yet locally important activity which provides only 2% to 5% of national milk production (Djemali and Kayouli, 2000). The Sicilo-Sarde breed, basis of this production, is a very heterogeneous population resulting from a long-term crossing process between Sarda and Comisana breeds realized by Italians in the early 20th century in Northern Tunisia (Djemali et al, 2009). The Sicilo-Sarde population is concentrated in two sub humid bioclimatic regions: Béjà and Bizerte.…”

No Development, No Conservation: Elements from the Conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources

“…Different types of development initiatives are underway to increase the added value of rare or local breeds (e.g., Gandini and Oldenbroek 2007;Djemali et al 2009;Gandini et al 2010;Herold et al 2010;Lauvie et al 2011, Lauvie andCouix 2012): Production of a particular food product from the local breed, which links the breed with a particular farming system, exploits the specific aptitudes of the breed in specific areas (e.g., mountainous areas, marshland, humid grasslands) or regional identity. Lambert-Derkimba et al (2006) showed how the link between a local breed and a product with a protected designation of origin (PDO) label, via product specification, gives added value to the product and, conversely, how the breed benefits from the development of the product.…”