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The status of conservation and management of indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa - A review
79-91Views:66Indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa play an important role in local food security and they are adapted to local conditions. Their genetic and cultural values have to be recognised for national importance. The conservation of these breeds is very critical as most of them are already classified as endangered. The South African government has the initiative to attempt the conservation of these animals; however, it comes with several challenges. In addition to funding, breed conservation demands farmers to understand and recognise the role of such breeds in society. This is especially crucial in the rural communal lands where breeds are kept. Farmers that raise indigenous breeds should be taught the necessity of maintaining the purity of these breeds. Indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa are not favored by the commercial farmers and thus they are more vulnerable. This review outlines the nature of sheep farming and the conservation status of four indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa. The effort and challenges that are met in current conservation arrangements are discussed. Moreover, we emphasise on the conservation techniques that are employed in South Africa.
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An overview of swine production and marketing in Africa - Mini review
121-129Views:51Pigs are the oldest domesticated animals, though their ancestry is still uncertain because of a lack of archaeological and genetic evidence. Pigs serve a vital role in reducing the demand for livestock and livestock products in most parts of the world. Especially in the African continent, pigs serve as mobile cash implying how easily they can be converted into cash to sort pressing family needs. Pig production in Africa is different from advanced systems of production in temperate countries, however, it has similarities with most of the tropical low and middle-income nations. Pig production in Africa requires attention to enable it to contribute effectively to the growing African population. However, it has been orchestrated with a myriad of challenges including market access. This mini-review is designed in a manner to provide an overview of pig production contribution to livelihoods in Africa and associated challenges with possible appropriate solutions.
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Utilization of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench.)
122-125Views:119Okra is warm season crop native to Africa. Presently it is widely grown in the northeastern parts of Brazilia, both northen, and western parts of Africa, southeast Asia, and in the eastern parts of the Mediterraneum. In Hungary it is a rarity. It’s adaptation to Hungary began about 40 years ago.The optimal sowing time under Hungarian climatic conditions is middle of May. The harvests is started – depending on the weather – first, by the middle of July, and picking continues until the first of September.
According to our results, seed soaking, sowing under a perforated foil sheet-covered trench (2 weeks earlier the normal sowing time), and 55-65 g thousand weight seeds are favourable.
The harvest period under Hungarian circumstances is appr. one and half months. -
Evolution of European Union’s policy towards the Mediterranean region
5-10Views:109This paper examines some specific problem in Euro Mediterranean relation. Author decided to concentrate on two main issues: the characteristics of the institutions of the Union for the Mediterranean, indicating similarities and differences in the Euro-Mediterranean programs and the presentation of specific new initiatives. The author will also summarize the main possible positions in the ongoing debates about the need to reform the European Union addressed to the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.
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Impacts of ethnoveterinary medicine integrated with livestock farm technologies on the performance and antimicrobial resistance of indigenous goats in South Africa –A review
93-103Views:42Ethnoveterinary medicine and livestock farm technologies represent a junction of innovation and tradition with the aim to accomplish livestock systems that are resilient, productive, and sustainable to meet 21st century challenges, especially the antimicrobial resistance issue. This article aims to emphasise the impacts of integrating ethnoveterinary medicine with livestock farm technologies on the performance of indigenous goats in South Africa. With the growing concern over antimicrobial resistance in livestock, there is a pressing need for complementary approaches to the health of animals and their productivity. In this review, the aim evaluated whether an integrative approach could offer a sustainable alternative that benefits animal health and productivity while addressing the concerns of antimicrobial resistance. Comparative study designs across multiple indigenous goat farms were used to integrate specific medicinal plants in ethnoveterinary medicine with present-day livestock technologies that are used to monitor the effects on livestock performance indicators and antimicrobial resistance patterns. In the treated populations, the outcomes were indicative of substantial improvements in reproduction and growth rates, and alongside, there has been a notable decrease in the markers of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, it is proposed that through these discoveries, the integration of these traditional and modern approaches not only improve the performance of indigenous goats but also contribute immensely to the mitigation of risks associated with antimicrobial resistance.
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Investigation of the impacts of the by-product of sewage treatment on some characteristics of maize in the early growth stage
77-82Views:52The use of sewage sludge on arable land has been widespread for many years. This by-product, treated as waste, can provide valuable nutrients to the soil, but the applied amount of sewage sludge to arable land is limited. The possibility of application of sewage sludge is essentially determined by the composition of the sludge. The goal of the experiment was to demonstrate that the physiological, morphological, and biochemical parameters of maize (Zea mays L. cv. Armagnac) linearly change with increasing concentrations of sewage sludge (25%, 50%, and 75% as m/m%). The experiment was set up in a glasshouse. The following parameters were investigated: plant height, relative chlorophyll content, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, carotenoids), and leaf proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and PS II quantum efficiency in the 3-leaf stages of the plants. Sewage sludge applied in lower doses had a beneficial effect on the initial growth of maize. The relative chlorophyll content was significantly higher in all treatments compared to the control. There was no significant difference in the maximum quantum efficiency of PS II reaction centers among the treatments. In this experiment, different concentrations of sewage sludge treatments had different impacts on the MDA and proline content of maize leaves. The proline content was significantly higher in all treatments, while the MDA content did not change significantly compared to the control.
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Condensed tannin content and antioxidant activity of Hungarian sorghum varieties grown at Research Institute in Karcag
155-160Views:238Cereal-based products are one of our main energy sources, and are consumed on a daily basis. One of the weaknesses of wheat based products is their low antioxidant content. Sorghum is a minor cereal, mostly consumed in Africa and Asia. Amongst other phenolic components it contains tannins, which are potent antioxidants and have other positive effect on human health, for example anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral/bacterial effect. We evaluated the tannin content (vanillin-HCL) and antioxidant capacity (DPPH) of sorghum varieties (Alföldi1, Zádor, Foehn, Albita, Albanus) grown in Hungary, with two type of agronomy technology.. Red varieties especially Alföldi1 and Zádor had higher tannin contents than white varieties. The highest condensed tannin content was 1470±73 mg 100g-1 (Control, Alföldi1), 1810±154 mg 100g-1 (Fertilized, Alföldi1), and the highest total antioxidant capacity was 2099±19 mg 100g-1 (Control, Alföldi1) and 2117±26 mg 100g-1 (Fertilized, Alföldi) We found that sorghum type, variety and color influence their tannin and antioxidant contents in general.
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Investigation of the heat shock gene Hsp70 polymorphism in different sheep genotypes
41-45Views:150Nowadays the climate change has an increasing effect on the animals. The warming climate brings up several problems on the area of the animal husbandry, which ones are really important. From the first time the living beings have defensive mechanisms against the heat shock. In current examination we use– from Hungary and from other countries collected –samples of sheep breeds, which are living on different climate. Our fundamental assumption was, that the animals living on other climate adapted to the changes of the environment and there are differeces in their genetic background. These fixed mutations we are looking for in the HSP70 heat shock gene, but we haven’t found any polymorphism yet. We are going to involve further breeds and more individuals in the investigations.
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Examination of microsatellite markers of Dorper sheep breed
57-61Views:202Number of not woolly and molty sheep exceeds 60 million throughout the world. Their numbers and their importance is growing, still they have appeared in the past two decades all over in North-America, Australia, New-Zealand and also in Europe. The South African Dorper has been a pioneer among them in Hungary. It was introduced in 2006 in the country. The Dorper sheep is the second largest breed in South Africa, which was developed from the crossing of Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian. The aim of the EU Member States in terms of this specific breed is increasing the small populations, improving the productive qualities, in addition to this avoiding inbreeding. However, finding appropriate breeding stock is difficult due to the small size of available populations and also to the suspected common of origin. With the help of various molecular genetic methods we could get a total view of the genetic background of these flocks. Nowadays the most commonly known and used genetic markers are microsatellites, because their applications give fast, accurate and easily reproducible results. There is no specific descriptive information on the genetic background of Dorper populations in the various EU countries , also regarding diversity between populations. Therefore in our work we want to optimize the conditions of applicability of 31 selected microsatellite reactions as a first step of mapping the entire genetic background of the different EU Dorper populations.
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Global tendencies in turkey meat production, trade and consumption
83-89Views:95Global meat production totaled 357 million metric tons in 2021. Poultry accounted for nearly 40 percent of total meat production, including 4.2 percent of turkey meat (5.8 million tons). Global turkey meat production has stagnated between 5.5 and 6.0 million tons since 2008, in contrast to the monotonous upward trend in poultry meat production. Turkey meat production generally occurs under well-integrated conditions, with some large multinational companies and smaller, regional players. The industry is exposed to a number of factors that affect supply and demand, including disease outbreaks, government regulations, consumer preferences, and economic conditions. Key factors driving market growth include population growth, urbanisation, and increasing consumer awareness of the health benefits of turkey meat over other meats. In addition, advances in processing, packaging, and distribution technology have improved turkey meat's shelf life and availability, further fueling growth. Turkey farming and production are mainly concentrated in certain regions such as North America and Europe, where industrialisation has a long history and infrastructure is well developed. Turkey meat production in these areas is sufficient to meet local demand and is often exported to other regions. However, in other regions where turkey farming is less developed, such as parts of Asia and Africa, turkey meat production is insufficient to meet local demand. This type of meat must be imported from other regions. The degree of self-sufficiency in turkey meat depends on the level of development of the sector in each region. This study investigates the factors affecting global and regional markets for turkey meat and systematised the development of global consumption, production, and trade of turkey meat.