Conservation agriculture has no significant impact on sheep digestive parasitism

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Veterinary Science

Hatem Cheikh M'hamed¹  Mourad Rekik²  Limam Sassi³  Mohamed Gharbi³  Mokhtar Dhehibi³  Sihem ElHamdi⁴ 

[1] Institut National des Recherches Agronomiques de Tunis (INRAT), Tunis, Tunisia;International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan;Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Université de la Manouba, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia;Ruminant Internal Medicine Service, Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Université de la Manouba, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia;

关键词: conservation agriculture;    conventional agriculture;    digestive parasites;    sheep;    Tunisia;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fvets.2023.1244355

 received in 2023-06-22, accepted in 2023-08-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Conservation agriculture (CONS A) is a sustainable agriculture system based on crop rotation with no tillage. It has various environmental advantages compared to conventional agriculture (CONV A): decreased water evaporation, erosion, and CO2 emissions. In this first study of its kind, we aim to evaluate the impact of this type of agriculture on sheep gastrointestinal parasites. Two lamb groups aged between 5 and 10 months were randomly included to graze separately on CONS A and CONV A pastures. Each group was composed of two batches of three lambs, and these were followed up for two rearing months. Liveweight, hematological parameter variation, and digestive parasites were studied. At the end of the study period, lambs were slaughtered the carcass yield was determined, and a helminthological autopsy was performed on the digestive tracts of the animals to estimate different parasitological indicators. There was no difference between lambs reared on CONS A and those reared on CONV A for all parasite indicators (infestation intensity, abundance, and prevalence). The same trend was also obtained for hematological parameters, liveweight evolution, and carcass yield. These results prove that there is no impact of CONS A on the sheep's digestive parasitism. Further studies are needed to support these findings on larger animal samples and to investigate the impact of conservation agriculture on other parasite species. Similar studies could also be conducted on ruminant species.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 ElHamdi, Sassi, Rekik, Dhehibi, Cheikh M'hamed and Gharbi.