Agropastoralis Scientia
Volume 1, Numéro 0, Pages 59-59
2023-01-30

Camel Breeding Sector And Its Importance In Promoting Sustainable Development And Achieving Economic Renaissance In The Steppe Region

Authors : Imelhayene Meriem .

Abstract

The steppe holds 14% of Algeria's total space with 32 million hectares and sheep husbandry is most fortunate. According to statistics of 2021 from the Algerian Agricultural Ministry, the number of sheep exceeds 5 million, while the productivity of goats and camels varies between 2 million and 50,000 heads. Despite the great importance of sheep in cultural heritage, the ecosystems were devastating the steppe region with destruction of the vegetation of the pastoral and thus a direct threat to the biodiversity and sustainable development. Therefore, the camel husbandry development has been an alternative for sheep to achieve sustainability in several respects: nutrition by investing in camel meat and milk as a real source of healthy food. In the industrial economic sector through the investment of slaughter co-products in the production and marketing of functional biopolymers such as gelatin and collagen, as well as the ecological role of camels in renewing natural vegetation and maintaining it from partial or total demolition. In this work, dynamic camel, sheep and goat husbandry are studied in the steppe zone since 2017 using Q GIS program. Also, the prospects for the production of functional substances such as gelatin extracted from camel bones and comparing its general characteristics with the quality marketed in stores have been illustrated. The camel breeding development was estimated by 2% in the steppe areas, higher in Biskra with 5,190 heads, then Laghouat and Msila with 1,630 heads, while the number of sheep in these states is estimated at 10 times higher. Camels also contribute to the regeneration of 89 % of steppic plants by stimulating seeds germination by passing through his digestive tract. As for the investment of camel slaughter residues in the production of gelatin, the estimated yield are18 % of the total amount of bones with 78 % of protein and high functional characteristics compared to gelatin marketed. In conclusion, despite the modest development of the camel breeding division, it is indeed an important window that opens up very great prospects in the development of the semi-dry areas. We recommend the stimulation of intensive breeding and expanding the area of camel production and investment of its by-products across all the states of the region.

Keywords

Camelus dromedarius; steppe; sustainable development; functional bio-polymers