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The former Livestock Systems and Animal Product Management Research Unit

Animal production systems in developing countries are constantly changing in response to pressure on natural resources and to growing local demand for animal products. Producers often have to make major technical, economic and social changes in order to intensify their farming systems. At the same time, markets in developing countries are opening up, and it is now vital that local commodity chains become more competitive.

The unit uses its expertise in fodder crops and animal feeds, zootechnics and product sanitary quality, and economics and modelling to conduct integrative research on the factors that govern animal production performance, on feed resource management and on changes in farmers’ intensification practices on the one hand, and on the impact of change on production system sustainability, product quality and commodity chain competitiveness on the other.

Former Ruminant Husbandry in Warm Regions Joint Research Unit (UMR ERCC)

Livestock systems in tropical and Mediterranean regions centre on food resources that vary markedly over the year and from one year to the next. As regards such situations, research operations are looking at the interactions between nutritional factors, on the one hand, and production characteristics, such as reproduction, milk production and growth, on the other. It is vital to understand how animal performance is determined in such difficult environments.

The studies conducted on an animal, herd or territory level make it possible to assess the consequences of husbandry constraints on the various production functions. Formalizing the relations between performance and the environment in its broadest sense involves modelling, which makes use of data collected through surveys (Mediterranean and tropical zones) and more analytical measurements made on experimental stations (Mediterranean zone). This overall approach fits in with the drive to reduce the risks for animals and ensure the sustainability of husbandry systems in difficult environments. Original training courses, backed up by the expertise of researchers from CIRAD, INRA and Montpellier SupAgro, are on offer: the animal production chain in warm regions component of the AAA Masters course in Montpellier.