Typologie des élevages bovins laitiers de la région de Souk-Ahras (Algérie)

The purpose of the typological study is to characterize the different types of dairy cattle farming, in the Wilaya of Souk-Ahras, with a dairy vocation in Algeria. For this, we analyzed data from a survey that covered 91 farms by multiple correspondence analysis, followed by an ascending hierarchical classification. The analysis demonstrated that land, livestock size, and race are the main characteristics that discriminate the three identified groups (G1, G2, and G3). The results also showed a very low productivity of the livestock farms despite the importance of the genetic potential of the livestock. Thus, a useful agricultural area and livestock size in the first two groups (G1 and G2) did not contribute to the productivity improvement that is similar to the G3 in which the land constraint is more pronounced. This is mainly attributed to low forage production due to low rainfall and irrigated areas, which are mainly reserved for cereal crops considered more profitable. Given this situation, the high dependence on concentrate supplies in the cows' ration can be explained by the low quantities of forage available on the farms studied.