C. Hilan
Agricultural Research Institute, Fanar Laboratory
Beirut, Lebanon
The Lebanese government has set itself the major goal of improving livestock production. This will raise livestock farmers’ income and living standards, guarantee food security in animal products and at the same time develop the local food industry and reduce dependence on imported products, which now are often cheaper than those produced locally. An increase in self-sufficiency in food would help build the national economy.
Livestock accounts for one-third of the gross national product (GNP) of the agricultural sector in Lebanon. Between 1993 and 1995, milk and dairy products accounted for 40% of the GNP from livestock, of which 63% came from cows, 10% from sheep and 27% from goats; meat accounted for 24% of the GNP, with 32% from cattle, 47% from sheep and 21% from goats. Poultry products represented 32% of the total, 84% as meat and 16% as eggs.
Lebanon imports 82% of its requirements for meat, 100% of its milk powder and 53% of its cheese and butter. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published in 1990, showed that in the short term Lebanon will find it difficult to attain any appreciable level of self-sufficiency as far as meat from cattle and sheep and milk and dairy products are concerned.
In view of this, it is necessary to set priorities for animal research, particularly on cattle, based on a detailed study of the country’s agricultural and economic situation, on identifying the constraints on development of livestock production and evaluating local research capacity and livestock research areas, to foster long-lasting and sustainable agricultural development.
There are, according to recent statistics from the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, 80,000 cattle, including 65,000 dairy cows, 350,000 sheep, including 315,000 milk sheep, and 450,000 goats, including 400,000 dairy goats. Of the dairy cows, 40% are of the local Baladi breed, 34% are crosses between Baladi and Canadian Holstein, and 26% are purebred Friesian imported from Germany and Holland. The Friesian and the crossbred Holsteins are generally good milk producers and are kept, for the most part, on small farms, with an average of five cows per farm. Most of the sheep are Awassi and goats are local Baladi. Both are kept in extensive and semi-sedentary systems, where productivity is low.
The annual averages of animals slaughtered and weight of carcass produced between 1994 and 1996 were 38,000 and 8000 t for cattle, 270,000 and 3000 t for sheep, and 175,000 and 3000 t for goats. The estimated average annual output of milk during the same period was 200,000 t for cows, 32,000 t for sheep and 46,000 t for goats. The average annual individual milk production was 300 litres for cows, 110 litres for sheep and 115 litres for goats.
The natural pastures in Lebanon are poor, and seed production is low. Livestock nutrition, therefore, relies on expensive imported feeds.
The major constraints on livestock production are as follows:
- poor, unbalanced, livestock diets during winter
- inadequate veterinary services, lack of vaccination campaigns, high cost of medication and lack of hygiene
- problems relating to artificial insemination in cattle
- poor communication between farmers, veterinarians and the Ministry of Agriculture
- lack of an official pricing policy and problems with availability of credit for farmers
- low prices of imported milk and dairy products
- lack of milk collection, storage and marketing centres
- lack of meat quality control, including in slaughterhouses
- destruction of bushes and woodlands.
A programme was implemented in accordance with guidelines of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) to determine priorities for livestock production research, taking into account four key factors: efficiency, equity, security and the environment. Animal products were ranked in order of importance, with poultry meat as the most important, followed, in order of priority, by goat milk, eggs and sheep meat, cow milk, honey, goat meat, cattle meat and quail, sheep milk, turkeys, pigeons and pheasants, horses, rabbits, frogs and snails, and pork.
Studies were also conducted on livestock farm management, breeds, animal health, nutrition, the marketing of animal products, the impact of livestock production on the environment, and the socio-economic situation of livestock farmers. This programme highlighted the following priority areas:
Studies will be carried out on the prevalence and methods of control of diseases such as brucellosis, peste des petits ruminants (PPR), enterotoxaemia and sheep pox, and of internal and external parasites. Research will also be conducted, with international institutions, on improving nutrition and balanced feed rations, and on new types of feed and pastures.
This programme will need adequate financial resources for research, training and extension.
Livestock research is conducted by the following:
