Publications des agents du Cirad

Cirad

Can livestock contribute to the ecological intensification of the agriculture in the oasis: A case study from the Drâa Valley?

Sraïri M.T., Mansour S., Alary V., Benidir M.. 2017. Atlas Journal of Biology : p. 322. International American Moroccan Agricultural Sciences Conference - AMAS Conference III. 3, 2016-12-13/2016-12-16, Ouarzazate (Maroc).

DOI: 10.5147/ajb.v0i0.42

Recent developments in the global agriculture have been char¬acterized by the emergence of the concept of ecological inten¬sification, as a means to decrease the use of inputs and their impacts on the environment, while increasing and/or stabiliz¬ing crops and livestock yields. In the meantime, research stud¬ies have emphasized the ability of crops integration with live¬stock farming systems to adapt themselves to numerous stresses (economic, climate, etc.) in comparison to specialized systems with only crops or livestock. In the oasis, such integration has been traditionally achieved, as it has allowed for centuries the resilience of the cropping activities, in an environment charac¬terized by numerous constraints, particularly frequent water shortages. However, this resilience has nowadays become chal¬lenged by increased stresses, above all climate change and its consequences and also social changes, with growing demands of the local population for better livelihoods. Therefore, in this study, the focus was on the ability of livestock to contribute to the ecological intensification of the farming systems adopted in the oasis. A sample of twelve (12) farms located in the oasis of the Drâa valley was selected and it was representing four types of livestock systems (i.e. 3 farms per system). A follow-up of farms was adopted to characterize inputs uses, water vol¬umes and their origins (rainfall, surface irrigation and ground¬water) and incomes from crops. The same methods were used for livestock production. In addition, work needs for crops and livestock were also measured, by determining the contribution of off-farm work uses. The results showed the importance of crop/livestock association in all the systems, in order to implement a sustainable farming activity. The intensification of livestock sys¬tems (retrieved in farms with prominent off-farm feed uses, i.e. D'man breed flocks and dairy cattle) showed the best incomes from crops, and that was mostly remarkable f

Mots-clés : élevage; agriculture intensive; oasis; intensification; agroécosystème; intégration; changement climatique; agroécologie; système de production; maroc; relation agriculture-élevage

Documents associés

Article (b-revue à comité de lecture)

Agents Cirad, auteurs de cette publication :