CHICKEN DUMPING IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON LOCAL COMMERCIAL CHICKEN FARMING INDUSTRY: A REVIEW

The aim of this article is to highlight the effects of chicken dumping trade on South African local commercial chicken farming industry. The high cost of farming in South African has risen and this has created a fertile ground for overseas countries where chicken production costs are low to intensify their exports to South Africa for their excess chicken products at a lower price. South African chicken farmers are already facing domestic challenges which includes high-cost feed, high cost of importing chicken lines and resources to produce the meat chicken. A local single fertilised Ross 308 / Cobb 500 Fertile egg cost at least R2.50 ($0.12), whereas international, local breeders source these genetic lines at over a$1 an egg. Locally, there is persistent drought, chicken diseases, high electricity cost and electricity shortages (load shedding). These challenges inevitably raise costs of chicken production in South Africa whereas the US, Brazil and EU countries farming industries are highly subsidised and experience no high electricity costs or load shedding. In perspective, imported chicken from Brazil cost R9 per kg as compared to locally produced chicken at R25 per kg. To mitigate the chicken dumping trade, the South African government imposed legally sound chicken import tariffs of up to 62 %, however in August of 2022, the government suspended these tariffs due to rising food costs in the hope that the cheap dumped chicken would provide a relief to the financially stressed consumers. This move has raffled feathers within the local chicken farming sector which is struggling to sustain their farms due to stiff competition with the low-priced chicken, predominantly from Brazil and the US. More chicken farms in South Africa are shedding jobs. As of 2023, the poultry industry in South Africa employs an estimated total of 70,000 people, and others are questioning the sustainability of their enterprises going forward if the chicken dumping in the country is not controlled via stringent legislation that include appropriate dumping tariffs. This article suggests that both the chicken farming industry, the chicken importers and the government should hold regular dialogs to get common ground before the majority of local chicken farmers close shops due to chicken dumping. The regular engagements between the government and the chicken industry could avoid seemingly unilateral suspension of import tariffs. Subsidies that could absorb some of the operation cost, as is the case with US or Brazilian farmers should be introduced

Ruminal acidosis: A review with detailed reference to the controlling agent Megasphaera elsdenii NCIMB 41125 (Review)

Ruminal acidosis is discussed with reference to causes and economic and health implications. Distinction is made between the acute form which with proper adaptation to high energy diets is seldom encountered and the more problematic chronic or sub-acute form, commonly referred to as sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA). Apart from stepwise transition from roughage to concentrates, methods adopted to reduce SARA include grain treatment to reduce starch degradation, feed additives such as buffers to control ruminal pH, dicarboxylic acids to stimulate the growth of lactate utilisers, antibiotics such as virginiamycin and the ionophores which inhibit the growth of lactate producers, and direct-fed microbials (DFM’s), some of which are lactate utilisers but used more often as stimulants of the major ruminal lactate utilisers Megasphaera elsdenii and Selenomonas ruminantium. Some of the feed additives are expensive and their effects on SARA mostly inconclusive. With regard to the ruminal lactate utilising bacteria, the potential of M. elsdenii to control lactic acid has been recognized and some success with patented strains has been achieved. However, these strains have not been commercialised because of one or more reasons which include inadequate growth rate, inability to multiply at a low ruminal pH, non-preferential use of lactate as primary substrate, inability to survive in sub-optimal anaerobic conditions, inhibition by ionophores, inadequate delivery methods to the ruminant and inability to keep on producing acetate when fibre digesters become inhibited. Megasphaera elsdenii NCIMB 41125, selected from the concentrate-fed rumen through stringent screening and a pH-auxostat technique, proved to meet most criteria mentioned above. In addition, the strain is unaffected by most anthelmintics and in-feed antibiotics. Research results show that: a) strain 41125 is highly successful in preventing ruminal pH decline and lactic acid accumulation to SARA levels; b) volatile fatty acid (VFA) production is similar to current in-feed products and the proportional contribution depends on substrate, dilution rate and pH. Propionate as preferred VFA can be promoted further by the synergistic benefits of strain 41125 with some antibiotics; c) feed intake may be enhanced but not consistently, apparently depending upon adaptation procedure followed and dietary composition; d) because of effective ruminal acidosis control, less roughage can be used during adaptation which is of economic benefit; e) animal health associated with the SARA-compromised immune system is improved with administration of strain 41125; f) in feedlot cattle carcass gain and carcass feed conversion may benefit by about 2% and in dairy cattle high producers may produce more milk because strain 41125 enables management to challenge these cows with higher levels of concentrate in total mixed rations (TMR’s), and g) drenching sheep with strain 41125 before entering harvested maize fields prevents ruminal acidosis.Keywords: Megasphaera elsdenii, ruminal acidosis, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, DFM, antibiotic

Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Anxiety Disorders

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be used to examine the structural integrity of regional white matter and to map white matter tracts. DTI studies have been performed in several psychiatric disorders, especially in those for which a developmental or a neuropsychiatric component was postulated. Thus far, the use of DTI has been very limited in panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, and somewhat more extensive in post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In most anxiety disorders, the results of DTI studies are in line with other structural and functional MRI findings and can be interpreted within the frameworks of existing models for the neurocircuitry of the various disorders. DTI findings could further enrich neurobiological models for anxiety disorders, although replication is often warranted, and studies in pediatric populations are lagging behind remarkably.Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa