A variety of nutritional management strategies that reduce enteric methane (CH4) production are discussed. Strategies such as increasing the level of grain in the diet, inclusion of lipids and supplementation with ionophores (>24 ppm) are most likely to be implemented by farmers because there is a high probability that they reduce CH4 emissions in addition to improving production efficiency. Improved pasture management, replacing grass silage with maize silage and using legumes hold some promise for CH4 mitigation but as yet their impact is not sufficiently documented. Several new strategies including dietary supplementation with saponins and tannins, selection of yeast cultures and use of fibre-digesting enzymes may mitigate CH4, but these still require extensive research. Most of the studies on reductions in CH4 from ruminants due to diet management are short-term and focussed only on changes in enteric emissions. Future research must examine long-term sustainability of reductions in CH4 production and impacts on the entire farm greenhouse gas budget.

Nutritional management for enteric methane abatement: A review

This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe, Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike.

Governance in global value chains

This paper examines the nutritional and veterinary effects of tannins on ruminants and makes some comparisons with non-ruminants. Tannin chemistry per se is not covered and readers are referred to several excellent reviews instead: (a) Okuda T et al. Heterocycles 30:1195-1218 (1990); (b) Ferreira D and Slade D. Nat Prod Rep 19:517-541 (2002); (c) Yoshida T et al. In Studies in Natural Product Chemistry. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, pp. 395-453 (2000); (d) Khanbabaee K and van Ree T. Nat Prod Rep 18:641-649 (2001); (e) Okuda et al. Phytochemistvy 55:513-529 (2000). The effects of tannins on rumen micro-organisms are also not reviewed, as these have been addressed by others: (a) McSweeney CS et al. Anim Feed Sci Technol 91:83-93 (2001); (b) Smith AH and Mackie RI. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:1104-1115 (2004). This paper deals first with the nutritional effects of tannins in animal feeds, their qualitative and quantitative diversity, and the implications of tannin-protein complexation. It then summarises the known physiological and harmful effects and discusses the equivocal evidence of the bioavailability of tannins. Issues concerning tannin metabolism and systemic effects are also considered. Opportunities are presented on how to treat feeds with high tannin contents, and some lesser-known but successful feeding strategies are highlighted. Recent research has explored the use of tannins for preventing animal deaths from bloat, for reducing intestinal parasites and for lowering gaseous ammonia and methane emissions. Finally, several tannin assays and a hypothesis are discussed that merit further investigation in order to assess their suitability for predicting animal responses. The aim is to provoke discussion and spur readers into new approaches. An attempt is made to synthesise the emerging information for relating tannin structures with their activities. Although many plants with high levels of tannins produce negative effects and require treatments, others are very useful animal feeds. Our ability to predict whether tannin-containing feeds confer positive or negative effects will depend on interdisciplinary research between animal nutritionists and plant chemists. The elucidation of tannin structure-activity relationships presents exciting opportunities for future feeding strategies that will benefit ruminants and the environment within the contexts of extensive, semi-intensive and some intensive agricultural systems. (c) 2006 Society of Chemical Industry

Unravelling the conundrum of tannins in animal nutrition and health

Influence of hydrogen on rumen methane formation and fermentation balances through microbial growth kinetics and fermentation thermodynamics

Agriculture and fishing are the primary source of almost all our food, as well as of many other products, so remain vital activities even though their share in the economy is small and in continuous decline. Partly for this reason public policy in these areas is almost entirely integrated at European level in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Forestry policies are also heavily affected by EU-level decision-making. As agriculture dominates in terms of direct contribution to GDP and numbers of people engaged in it, as well as accounting for the largest amount of public support expenditure, it is agriculture that will receive the greatest attention here.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

The influence of technology characteristics on the rate and speed of adoption

Village chicken production systems in ethiopia: use patterns and performance valuation and chicken products and socio-economic functions of chicken

Methane emissions from sheep

Growth performances and feed utilization potentials of six chicken populations were investigated at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Centre, Ethiopia. Five local ecotypes originated from different Agro- ecologies and corresponding market sheds in Ethiopia, namely, Tilili, Horro, Chefe, Jarso, Tepi, and the Fayoumi breed was used as a reference breed. Ecotype had a significant (p<0.01) effect on overall body weight gain per bird and mean body weight gain per bird per day from day old to 12 weeks of age. The highest body weight gain per bird was recorded for Fayoumi chicks. The Fayoumi chicks were 11.9, 97.7 and 49.4% heavier than chicks from Chefe (heaviest locals at this age) ecotype, Jarso (least total body weight gain among the locals at this age) ecotype and mean daily gain of all local ecotypes, respectively at si x weeks of age. Chefe chicks ecotypes showed 76.8% positive deviation over chicks from Jarso market sheds in terms of total body weight gain per bird at this age. The Fayoumi chicks consumed 41, 115 and 65% more feed than chicks from Chefe ecotype (highest body weight gain and feed intake among locals at this age), Jarso ecotype (lowest body weight gain and least feed intake among the locals at this age) and the mean feed intake of all local ecotypes, at six weeks of age, respectively. Among the local ecotypes, Jarso and Tepi had the smaller body weight gains while Chefe and Tilili had larger weight gains. The result from the analysis of variance showed a highly significant (p<0.001) difference on body weight gain per bird, average body weight gain per bird per day, feed intake per bird, average feed intake per bird per day and feed conversion ratio (feed: gain) among the different ecotypes and sex from six to 12 weeks of age. The highest body weight gain per bird and mean daily body weight gain per bird per day among the locals were recorded for Tilili growers. The Fayoumi chicks were 28, 77 and 52% heavier than chicks from Tilili ecotypes (heaviest locals at this age), Tepi ecotypes (least total body weight gain among the locals at this age) and mean body weight gain of local birds, respectively. Male growers from Tilili ecotype (heaviest locals at this age), Tepi ecotype (least total body weight gain among the locals at this age) and mean body weight gain of local birds, were 22, 30 and 33% heavier in body weight gain per bird over female chicken at twelve weeks of age , respectively. Feed conversion ratio was also significantly (p<0.01) affected by ecotypes. The highest feed requirement per unit gain was recorded for the Fayoumi chicks followed by chicks from Tepi and Horro chicks and the lowest feed requirement per units of gain was recorded for Tilili and Chefe chicks with feed conversion ratio of 4.95g and 5.2g feed per unit of gain, respectively.

Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in Ethiopia: Growth and Feed Utilization Potentials

This paper describes the rural poultry production system and the role of scavenging chickens in the rural household economy of Ethiopia. Past attempts that have been made to improve the production ...

Kurt J. Peters

Papers

The influence of technology characteristics on the rate and speed of adoption

Village chicken production systems in ethiopia: use patterns and performance valuation and chicken products and socio-economic functions of chicken

Methane emissions from sheep

Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in Ethiopia: Growth and Feed Utilization Potentials

Indigenous chickens in Ethiopia: genetic potential and attempts at improvement