Integrated Systems in Agricultural Production - Use of non-conventional plants and methane mitigation in sustainable sheep production systems

• Grant number: 23/10138-1
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: October 02, 2023
• End date: October 21, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Lopes Dias da Costa
• Grantee: Ricardo Lopes Dias da Costa
• Visiting researcher: Fernando Casanova Lugo
• Visiting researcher institution: Instituto Tecnológico de la Zona Maya (ITZM), Mexico
• Host Institution: Instituto de Zootecnia. Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Nova Odessa , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to ARCO (Brazilian Association of Sheep Breeders) 68% of sheep breeders are small producers, with less than 50 animals, and according to LUPA/SP, in the State of São Paulo there are almost 10 thousand producers of sheep, more than 80% of which are small producers. Therefore, finding food alternatives that replace products considered "commodities" and, at the same time, promote a more sustainable sheep farming can be a solution to encourage and leverage sheep farming in the State and in the country. Ruminants have the ability to transform vegetables (grass, legumes and other unconventional plants) into food for humans, of high biological value. There are numerous plants with potential for animal production, both for their protein content and for their potential to mitigate greenhouse gases, which could be alternatives for small and medium-sized sheep producers. There are many of them in Mexico, some of which have recently been studied and used in Brazil. Therefore, the experience of some researchers from Mexico with some of these plants (among them Moringa and Tithonia) is very wide and can bring great knowledge and development to the productive systems of São Paulo and Brazil, aiming at a more sustainable production, both in in terms of efficiency and in environmental terms. Thus, this theme of the visiting researcher is very interesting and important for small producers, especially with the possibility of adding value within their creations, which justifies the visit of the visiting researcher. (AU)