The effect of energy supplementation for a short period on follicuar turnover and estrogen concentration during the estrus cycle in subtorpics was studied in 13 ewes (7 ewes subjected to high energy, HEG and 6 as normal energy group, NEG). After ovulation (Day 0), a high-energy diet (10.87MJ ME/kg diet; 130 % of maintenance) was fed to HEG from Day 1 to Day 4 after ovulation and from Day 8 to Day 11 of the cycle (4 days each). The high-energy diet consisted of 850 g concentrate mixture and 150 g alfalfa hay, plus ad libitum access to wheat straw. The NEG was offered as maintenance diet throughout the experiment. Follicular development was observed ultrasonographically every other day while blood samples were collected daily throughout the experiment for the analysis of albumin, globulin, glucose, total cholesterol, urea, triglycerides, total proteins, estrogen and progesterone. Transient feeding of high-energy ration during early and mid luteal phase of estrous cycle significantly influenced the concentration of glucose and some metabolic profiles. A marked rise in the concentrations of glucose appeared in response to the intermittent nutritional stimulus. Mean plasma concentrations of glucose were significantly (P less than 0.05) higher in the HEG than in the NEG on almost all days during treatment period. For ovarian performance, the total number of medium and large follicles that developed on the day prior to the 2nd ovulation in the HEG (3.5±0.17) was significantly higher than that of the NEG (1.87±0.26). Ovulation rate (2.8±1.0) in the HEG was significantly higher than that of the NEG (1.15±0.6). No significant difference was detected in the concentrations of progesterone and estrogen throughout the experiment between groups except for E2 peak concentration on Day 8. The present experiment demonstrated that short-term intermittent nutritional stimulus in cyclic ewes increased the total number of ovulatory follicles and the ovulation rate in association with increasing plasma concentrations of glucose and peak levels of estrogen.

There are approximately 25 million camels in the world where the global market for camel products has a potential of US$10 billion a year based of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations. The comparative advantages of the camel as a dairy animal over the other species in the same environment are difficult to quantify; however in absolute terms, it is widely recognized that the camel produces more milk for a longer period of time than any other animal under the same condition. Camel meat and milk are utilized in some Arabic and African countries and also Iranian people, in marginal of desert, use the camel meat. At present, there are about 148000 camels in Iran that mainly are dromedary (one humped camel). This number can potentially increase by 600000. Camel raising must not only be socially acceptable, but also economically viable, so management of camel farming must be taken into consideration to increase the farmer income. This study aimed to clarify the performance of production as well as trade of camel population and products in some Middle East countries. Data were collected by FAO statistics (FAO, 2011) which is available online through this organization’s formal website for the period of 2000 to 2010. As a result, there has been a growing tendency to meet demand, particularly for milk, through imports. Thus, understanding the inter-relationships and conflicts between objectives and policies is a critical step towards designing and implementing more effective incentive systems. It was concluded that the meat and dairy production system of camel in the Middle East countries, especially Iran, regrettably received little attention because of unknown profit abilities of this animal.

The study examines research-extension-farmers linkage in relation to participatory finger millet technology development and delivery in Mecha district of the Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, due to the fact that the present research-extension-farmers linkage scenario in the country in general and in the study area in particular has been inefficient and ineffective in achieving the prescribed goal of increasing food production and improving the quality of life of farmers. In this study, random and purposive sampling procedures was used to select 5 sample kebeles (villages) and 100 sample farm households. Moreover, 18 researchers from three research organizations and 26 extension agents from three extension organizations were selected purposfully. The requiered data were collected using both primary and secondary sources, and subjected to descriptive statistics for analysis. Results of the study revealed that the influence and participation of farmers, extension agents, and researchers in the generation, transfer, and adoption of new finger millet technologies have been minimal. Farmers’ awareness of improved finger millet vareties and researcher’s awareness of best farmers’ finger millet vareities and practices were low. Moreover, participation of farmers, researchers, and extension agents in setting both research and extension agenda; use of collaborative activities such as joint adaptive trials, and surveys, has been a bare minimum. Likewise, their mechanisms of exchange of knowledge and information, and feedback of agricultural innovations were found to be weak. The low use of such activities underscores the lack of complete or partial linkage existing between researchers, extension agents and farmers. The overall finding of the study underlined the high importance of a responsible body, which manages linkages in a system perspective with transparent and agreed-upon linkage policy that fosters successful research-extension-farmers linkages with well formulated, properly defined, and institutionalized linkage strategies and mechanism. It should be noted that policy makers, managers, and research and extension personnel should recognize that research and extension are part of a single system and that the mission of this system is to make relevant technologies available to farmers. Therefore, policy and development interventions should give emphasis to linkages, and should treat it as an integral part in the technology generation and transfer process through provision of better incentive mechanisms, adequate financial, physical, and human resources. What is more, effective leadership that makes research and extension accountable for their actions is also needed.

Agriculture in Kenya plays an important role in development as it contributes about 24% of GDP, 75% of industrial raw materials and 60% of export earnings and about 18% of the total formal employment. It also employs about 3.8 million people in farm, livestock production and fishing, while an estimated 4.5 million other people are employed in agriculture-related off-farm activities. Cereals including maize, sorghum, millet, and wheat among others largely constitute the major food items for many households, hence underlining their importance in ensuring food security. In particular, the utility of sorghum is in its climatic adaptability and household as well as industrial use. Hence it is not only a food security crop, but also a major income earner. Despite its utility, there is a remarkably low production of sorghum among Kenyan farmers against food security challenges. This paper provides insights into the institutional characteristics of farmers and how they influence their participation in its production. The institutional factors under study included access to sorghum seed, access to credit, access to contract farming, access to market information and group membership. Simple random and snowball sampling methods were applied in collecting data from 207 farmers using a questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed by the double hurdle model. Only access to seed, access to extension, access to market information and access to group membership were significantly influencing sorghum production in the study area. It was recommended that seed companies should avail improved sorghum varieties and farmers are encouraged to adopt them. There was also need for stakeholders to institutionalize access to extension, contract farming and group membership among farmers.

The paper uses panel data originated from two sessions of household surveys: a baseline survey conducted in 2008 and a follow up survey in 2010, in northern Tanzania. Using a flexible transcendental logarithmic (translog) production function, results showed that the productivity of pigeonpea is positively and significantly associated with the size of pigeonpea cultivated land, labor, interaction between plot size and seed quantity, and the interaction of seed use with time. The study also revealed that there was technological progress in pigeonpea production systems over the period of 2008 to 2010. Furthermore, results from elasticity analysis indicated that smallholder pigeonpea producers were experiencing increasing returns to scale, suggesting that output of pigeonpea could respond positively and with higher proportion for a given simultaneous percentage change in quantity of seed, manure and labor. Therefore, support for human capital formation of farmers and increased access to improved pigeonpea seed varieties could be important intervention areas to increase pigeonpea productivity in northern Tanzania. Moreover, farmers should also be encouraged to use more manure, seed and labor so as to increase pigeonpea production without expansion of land use.