Proceedings of a workshop held at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria, November 30 to December 3, 1987

The livestock sector plays an important role in the economics of the Near East countries, especially sheep, goats and cattle During the last decade, small ruminant production in the Near East region has been facing serious constraints mainly feed deficit A study was conducted in marginal areas of Lebanon to assess the feasibility of four small ruminant production systems ranging from settled to semi nomadic using a cost benefit analysis technique (CBA) Two analyses were performed economic and financial In the former, CBA revealed negative returns in all four systems which is due to the inclusion of labor cost Labor cost as an opportunity cost may have inflated the total cost with negative effects on feasibility While in the financial analysis, only the settled system was profitable and this analysis revealed that feed expenses if coupled with grazing costs are major constraints towards feasibility of production.--Efforts are now directed towards increasing animal productivity using local resources namely crop residues and agro-industrial byproducts through their incorporation into feed block supplements A survey of the agro-industrial byproducts available in Lebanon was conducted and revealed an abundance of byproducts to be used as feed supplements for livestock animals Accordingly, feed blocks were formulated using the most important potential byproducts as feed supplement for small ruminants Simulated feed block diets were then compared with the four hand fed diets used in the systems studied in terms of estimated cost, metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) per kg of feed Preliminary analysis showed that the use of feed block diets could improve the economic sustainability of small ruminant production systems.

Moreover, this study assessed the potential of vetch intercropping under rain-fed fruit trees in Arsal as an alternative source of feed for sheep and goat. Preliminary analysis showed partial replacement of hand-fed diets with vetch hay could improve the sustainability of small ruminant production in semi-arid areas of Lebanon in terms of an average profit of 2,656 L.L. per head. Moreover, this study assessed the potential of vetch intercropping under rain-fed fruit trees in Arsal as an alternative source of feed for sheep and goat. Preliminary analysis showed partial replacement of hand-fed diets with vetch hay could improve the sustainability of small ruminant production in semi-arid areas of Lebanon in terms of an average profit of 2,656 L.L. per head.