Improving the water productivity of livestock: an opportunity for poverty reductionLength: pp.57-65

LivestockProductivityWater requirementsPoverty

Effect of sesame cake supplementation on feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency and carcass parameters in the ration of sheep fed on wheat bran and teff (Eragrostis teff) straw

Twenty-five yearling growing intact sheep were arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments and five replications. The experimental animals were supplied teff straw as basal ration. Different levels of sesame cake were supplemented in various treatment groups i.e. T1 (150 gm wheat bran, 0 gm sesame seed cake DM/day) being control group, T2 (150 gm wheat bran, 150 gm sesame seed cake DM/day), T3 (150 gm wheat bran, 200 gm sesame seed cake DM/day), T4 (150 gm wheat bran, 250 gm sesame seed cake DM/day) and T5 (150 gm wheat bran, 300 gm sesame seed cake DM/day). The experiment was conducted for 90 day of feeding trial and 7 days of digestibility trial. There was significant (p . 0.05) increase in total dry matter intake (TDMI), total organic matter intake (Total OMI) and total crude protein intake (Total CPI) with increase in level of supplementation. There was significantly lower (p . 0.05) crude protein (CP) content in the feces of the control group as compared to the different of level sesame seed cake supplemented groups. There was significant difference in DM, OM and CP (p . 0.05) digestibility between supplemented and control groups. The control treatment had significantly higher (p . 0.05) feed conversion ratio than the supplemented treatments and lower (p . 0.05) feed conversion efficiency as compared to the highest level sesame seed cake supplemented group (T5). Higher (p . 0.05) average daily body weight was gained in sheep supplemented with highest level (T5) of sesame seed cake group than the other supplemented groups and the control treatment. There was increasing trend of body weight gain from control to higher level of supplementation i.e. T1 (7.8), T2 (60.0), T3 (63.2), T4 (72.8) and T5 (77.8). There was increasing trend of slaughter weight (SW), empty body weight (EBW), hot carcass weight (HCW), dressing percentage on slaughter weight base and empty body weight base and rib-eye area with increase in supplementation of sesame seed cake being higher (p.0.05) value for T5 followed by T4, T3, T2 and T1. The size of heart, liver with gallbladder, reticulo-rumen, small intestine, total fat, tail, kidney and total edible organic component (TEOC) were significantly (p.0.05) affected by supplementation. Sheep supplemented with sesame seed cake had significantly higher (p.0.05) visceral fat, and tail than the control treatments. There was a significant difference (p.0.05) due to  supplementation on blood, spleen and pancreas, skin, testicle and penis, feet, head without tongue and total non-edible offal component (TNEOC%).The results of the present study showed that supplementation of 300gDM level of sesame seed cake (T5) increased body weight gain and enhanced carcass parameters which is potentially more beneficial and economically feasible than the other levels of supplements and the control group. Strategic feeding with locally available feed resources will improve efficient use of nutrients by sheep

Reproductive Characteristics of Abyssinian Jennies Exposed to Stallions and Jackasses

The aim of the study was to describe the intraspecies and interspecies sexual interactions and reproductive features Abyssinian type jennies exposed to jackasses and stallions. Twenty post-pubertal jennies, 3 jackasses and 4 stallions were used in the study. Jennies were divided in to two groups of ten each (stallion group and jack group). PGF2a was used to induce heat. A vasectomized jackass was used to assist heat detection. Jennies in the jack group were bred by two jackasses and jennies in the stallion group were bred by a stallion. Mating was on the 6th and 8th days after PGF2a injection and within the last three days after spontaneous return to heat. The durations of estrus and the estrus cycle were 7.4 ± 0.9 (mean ± SD) and 24.3 ± 2.1 (mean ± SD) days respectively. All jennies were receptive to jackasses but not to stallions. The number of cycles per pregnancy in the intraspecies mating was lower than the number of cycles in the interspecies mating (p < 0.05). The lengths of gestation of jennies in foal with jackasses and a stallion were 370.2 ± 4.5 (mean ± SD) and 330 days respectively. The mating resulted in five donkey foals and a hinny. The study showed that Abyssinian jennies have a high intraspecies reproductive potential but low pregnancy rate and abortion appear limitations in interspecies hybridization.Key words: Hinny, Jackass, Jenny, Reproduction, Stallio

Improving the water productivity of livestock: an opportunity for poverty reduction

In Ethiopia, intensification of agricultural production is the primary focus of the government’s poverty reduction strategy. Livestock constitute an invaluable resource providing essential goods and services to small-scale poor farmers and their families and communities. Production of high valued livestock products provides a route out of poverty especially where growing urban demand fuels the markets. Water security is a requisite input for livestock production and its resultant contribution to poverty reduction. Typically, one tropical livestock unit (TLU = 250 kg live weight) requires less than 50 litres/day derived from drinking water and moisture in animal feeds. Assuming annual rainfall of 500 to 1000 mm and a stocking rate of one TLU/ha, the drinking water required by livestock is less than 0.2% of the intercepted precipitation. While sufficient high quality water is essential to sustaining livestock production, direct water intake is only of minor significance in terms of livestock water budgets in farming systems and watersheds where the water required for feed production can be up to 5000 litres/TLU per day or 100 times the amount directly consumed. Water productivity of livestock may be high or low depending on the context within which livestock production is evaluated. Livestock produced solely with irrigated forage and grain crops may be very inefficient in terms of water consumed for food produced. However, ‘cut-and-carry’ and grazing production relying on consumption of crop residues and tree fodder can be very efficient since the water used for plant production would have been used with or without livestock feeding on it. The stover or feed is simply a by-product of growing crops and does not require additional water for its production. Livestock also provide rural farmers with additional value in terms of consumable and marketable outputs without incurring significant demand for water. Understanding and managing water productivity of livestock presents opportunities to contribute to poverty reduction. Water productivity varies according to the geographic scale being considered and depends largely on the degree to which water is depleted or available to other users or ecosystem services. Livestock have a profound impact on downstream water resources. In urban and peri-urban areas, livestock production may be an ideal agricultural practice in terms of water productivity if downstream contamination can be avoided. Increasing demand for livestock products implies increased future demand for water that can be expected to rival the water requirements for production of all other food products consumed by the urban population. In many cases, livestock management practices jeopardise water quality, human health and aggravate water mediated land degradation. Research is needed to develop practical strategies to enable poor people in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to better manage livestock so that they can realise poverty reducing benefits and minimise harmful effects on themselves and others. An utmost need exists for community based natural resources management, a critical issue of interest to water and livestock managers. Given the paucity of literature on livestock–water interactions, key areas for future research are highlighted

Hydrometallurgical removal of uranium and thorium from Ethiopian tantalite ore

This study focused on the leaching of uranium and thorium from a high grade Ethiopian tantalite ore using sulfuric acid. The effects of variables such as acid concentration, temperature and leaching time were studied. In general, the leaching efficiency of uranium increases with increasing temperature from 100 to 300 °C whereas the opposite trend was observed for thorium. The amount of uranium leached increased from 69.1% at contact time of 1 hr to 88.6% when the tantalite ore was leached for 3 hrs. On the other hand, for the experiments conditions considered in this study, the leaching behavior of uranium and thorium did not change significantly with varying sulphuric acid concentration from 70 to 90 wt%. Overall, the highest dissolution of uranium and thorium were achieved at 100 °C, 70 wt% H2SO4 concentration and 1 hr contact time

One-shot additive manufacturing of robotic finger with embedded sensing and actuation

A main challenge in the additive manufacturing (AM) field is the possibility to create structures with embedded actuators and sensors: addressing this requirement would lead to a reduction of manual assembly tasks and product cost, pushing AM technologies into a new dimension for the fabrication of assembly-free smart objects. The main novelty of the present paper is the one shot fabrication of a 3D printed soft finger with an embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator and two different 3D printed sensors (strain gauge and capacitive force sensor). 3D printed structures, fabricated with the proposed approach, can be immediately activated after their removal from the build plate, providing real-time feedback because of the embedded sensing units. Three different materials from two nozzles were extruded to fabricate the passive elements and sensing units of the proposed bioinspired robotic finger and a custom-made Cartesian pick and place robot (CPPR) was employed to integrate the SMA spring actuator into the 3D printed robotic finger during the fabrication processes. Another novelty of the present paper is the direct integration of SMA actuators during the 3D printing process. The low melting thermoplastic polycaprolactone (PCL) was extruded: its printing temperature of 70 °C is lower than the SMA austenitic start temperature, preventing the SMA activation during the manufacturing process. Two different sensors based on the piezoresistive principle and capacitive principle were studied, 3D printed and characterized, showing respectively a sensitivity ratio of change in resistance to finger bending angle to be 674.8 Ω∘Angle and a capacitance to force ratio of 0.53pFN . The proposed manufacturing approach paves the way for significant advancement of AM technologies in the field of smart structures with embedded actuators to provide real-time feedback, offering several advantages, especially in the soft robotics domain

Identifying Biomarkers from Mass Spectrometry Data with Ordinal Outcome

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in using protein mass spectroscopy to identify molecular markers that discriminate diseased from healthy individuals. Existing methods are tailored towards classifying observations into nominal categories. Sometimes, however, the outcome of interest may be measured on an ordered scale. Ignoring this natural ordering results in some loss of information. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian model for the analysis of mass spectrometry data with ordered outcome. The method provides a unified approach for identifying relevant markers and predicting class membership. This is accomplished by building a stochastic search variable selection method within an ordinal outcome model. We apply the methodology to mass spectrometry data on ovarian cancer cases and healthy individuals. We also utilize wavelet-based techniques to remove noise from the mass spectra prior to analysis. We identify protein markers associated with being healthy, having low grade ovarian cancer, or being a high grade case. For comparison, we repeated the analysis using conventional classification procedures and found improved predictive accuracy with our method

Brazil, Ethiopia, and New Zealand lead the way on climate-smart agriculture.

As countries around the world face urgent agricultural challenges, the concept of ?climate-smart? agriculture (CSA) has been put forward to achieve climate change adaptation, mitigation, and food security synergistically. A new report explores how three countries are using integrated policy approaches to CSA and offers insights for how other countries can build CSA into their policy mix. Brazil has invested in research to support sustainable intensification while creating legal and enforcement mechanisms to protect forest areas as a response to unrestrained agricultural expansion driven by market demand. Ethiopia initiated innovative participatory watershed development programs, in partnership with numerous international institutions, which helped smallholder farmers to rehabilitate marginal land and break out of a poverty cycle. New Zealand has removed agricultural subsidies while partnering on research and development with the private sector as a way to ensure efficiency and resilience in an agricultural sector influenced by climate change and international trade dynamics. To assemble an integrated set of national policies that fosters CSA, governments will need context-specific assessments, strong multi-stakeholder institutions, coordination frameworks, and multi-scale information systems. Governments can select from an array of policy instruments ranging from regulatory mechanisms and economic incentives to public investments and educational campaigns. Many existing national policy goals and public programs designed to increase agricultural production, improve livelihoods, and reduce environmental risks can become important pillars of a national CSA strategy. Countries have obvious interests in fostering an agriculture sector that is climate-resilient, provides national needs for food, fiber, and fuel, and supports farm livelihoods. However, the incentives for national-level action toward reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) levels are less clear in the absence of serious and shared international commitment. Integrated national CSA policies will be encouraged by clear, consistent signals from multilateral agencies, global donors, and international conventions and trade agreements that promote agriculture as a pathway for poverty reduction and food security