The Libyan Journal of Agriculture

Water fingerprint of animal products in Libya and efficiency of water use

2024-09-03T19:25:02+00:00

Water foot print (WFP) is a new indicator used to determine precisely the amount of fresh water required for country per capita utilization as well as for crop animal or industrial products starting from cradle to grave. It includes the calculation of 3 types of water: blue, green and grey. Virtual water is the embedded water that was used to produce the products in the exporting country and refers to world trade between countries; it results in a positive water balance for the importing countries and a negative to the exported. Usually, countries deficient in water resources depend on virtual water trade. Globally, it was reported that the water footprint of animal products is largely greater than crop and vegetable products as M³/ Ton: beef meat 15400, sheep meat 10400, goat meat 5500, broilers 4300, eggs 3330, milk 1000, cheese, butter and ghee 8308. For plant products: wheat 1692, barely 3118, corn 1390, oats 2301, peanuts 3359, soy beans 2077 , sorghum 1107, onions 349, potatoes 421, tomatoes 235 and legumes 4055 . It was also found that the water footprint for production of a unit gram of protein and a unit of calorie was higher for animal products than those for cereals vegetables and legumes. In Libya, water footprints for some plant and crop cereals and forages were recently investigated but no information is available for animal products. Determining WFP for animal products will help increasing benefits of better utilizing fresh water in animal and plant productions. Efforts can be afforded to: 1. Use other underground waters as sulfur water to meet livestock requirement under range conditions. 2. Replace crop products to get similar requirements of protein and energy instead of animal sources. 3. Import frozen and/or cold meat from countries rich in water sources to help keep positive water balance internally. 4. Encourage producing strategic exportable crops with low requirement of water as forage crops, cereals, peanuts, rice and vegetables. 5. Encourage consumer habits to replace their animal diets with crops or vegetables having similar nutritive values. 6. Range reclamation and improve varieties of range plants adapted to scarcity of water.7. Improve performance of animal species through extensive genetic، physiological selection to attain higher feed conversion ratio with feeds at lower water requirements. use of new biotechnology techniques such as Nanotechnology to improve diet quality, deliver minor feed particles and drugs (Drug delivery) directly to cells without being subjected to rumen fermentation.

Feeding habits and Length-weight relationship for Pagellus erythrinus in Tripoli coast- Libya.

2024-11-12T19:38:22+00:00

A total of 614 specimens of pagellus erythrinus fished from the coastal waters of Tripoli area were collected on monthly basis from October 2019 until September 2020. The results showed that the total length ranged from 12.1 cm to 30.6 cm and the total weight margins between 12.1gm and 340.4 gm and the gastro somatic index (GSI) 1.70 recorded during winter the lowest 0.90 recorded during the spring. The highest feeding index (FI) level recorded during the winter season 56.96% while the lowest level 26.75% recorded during the summer season. The examination of stomach contents revealed that the most favorite food elements in successive order were Crustacea 29%, boney fish 27%, molluscs 22%, digested food 18% and the rest of remaining stomach contents were found in much lesser amounts which include Echinodermata 3%, polychaete 1%, gravel and sand 0.24%, Flatworm 0.09% and sea grasses 0.02% with seasonal disparity in their amount was recorded. The growth was negative allometric during the study b=2.934 with correlation coefficient R²= 0.970, and it approaches isometric in different seasons. The Condition factor (K) ranged between 1.12-1.17. This study covered the feeding habits and the relationship of length to weight, and the coefficient of health status (k), for this important species in the beaches of Tripoli - Libya in order to create a biological database for this fish, in preparation for its future cultivation on the Libyan coast.

Estimation of Greenhouse Gas (CH4 & N) Emissions from Ruminants and Monogastric under Libyan Climate

2024-11-12T20:10:23+00:00

Because of the direct role of Green House Gases (GHG) in causing global warming، this study was undertaken to estimate GHG emitted by livestock under Libyan climate. The estimation was performed on ruminants (sheep, goats, cattle and camels) and mono-gastrics (horses, donkeys and mules) by applying certain equations according to the guidelines recommended for Tier 1 by (IPCC 2006). Tier 1 is primarily used to estimate GHG in the developing countries based on the total number of livestock in each country .In Libya, The animal Data used in this study for ruminants for period 2010 - 2019 was extracted from, while. Data for horses, donkeys and mules was taken for years 2015 - 2019 issued by Libyan committee of animal genetic resources (2020). Extrapolation of animal numbers for year 2030 and 2050 was done according to animal growth rate. The calculations showed that total gas emissions (methane and nitrogen) Gg CO2. Eq. from all animals was 3981 in 2019, and expected to be elevating to 4424 and 5665 Gg CO2. Eq. by year 2030 and 2050 respectively. Total nitrogen emission was slightly higher than methane during whole period (53%). Amount of methane emitted was higher in sheep than goat and cattle. In contrast nitrogen emission was higher in cattle than other animal’s .The contribution of mono-gastric animals does not exceed 2% of total emissions. The rate of gases emission is positively related to number of animals and to per animal head (the heavy head > lighter head), and inversely related to per unit body weight (the smaller the animal the higher the emission rate per unit of body weight (sheep &goats >horses &donkeys > cattle > camels). The differences in the results of GHG emissions from livestock in numerous developing countries were due to variations in animal populations, emission factors, Gas warming potential (GWP) used to convert emission values to CO2. Eq. manure management (collection, storage and end use) and others. Most previous studies undertaken by developing countries recommended the need for updating the guidelines of using Tier 1 (IPCC 2006) to fit local and regional climate and livestock characterizations. However, using Tier 1 under existing circumstances is still more recommended for preliminary estimates to GHG emissions of livestock in developing countries. These estimates will help policy and decision makers locally and climate panels considering climate changes to establish local and global strategies to mitigate level of livestock GHG emissions. In addition, to ameliorate suitable climate for livestock to produce and reproduce to assist establishing local food security.