A study was conducted in the humid-forest, forest-savanna, and Guinea savanna zones of West Africa from 1993 to 1999 to examine the effect of managing crop residues from cereal±legume cropping systems for mulch and fodder for sheep. Increasing the proportion of total crop residues produced from a unit area of land and used as mulch increased maize grain yield, soil organic carbon, nitrogen and available phosphorus. The extra increases obtained when more than half the crop residues were applied as mulch were relatively small, however, suggesting that 25±50% of the crop residues could be removed as feed without any detrimental effect. When any crop residues rejected by sheep were mixed with livestock urine and faeces and returned to the respective ®elds from where the crop residues had been removed, subsequent grain yield and soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and available phosphorus increased. The study demonstrated the possibility of managing crop residues for increased productivity in smallholder mixed crop± livestock systems.introdution In most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, farming systems are predominantly smallscale and have both crop and livestock components. Rapid growth in both human and livestock populations is leading to agricultural intensi®cation, changing landuse patterns and closer integration of the crop and livestock components (Anon., 1992;Jabbar, 1993;Smith et al., 1997). In the smallholder mixed crop-livestock systems, livestock are a source of food, income, manure for crop production, and

Objective: A study was done to evaluate antibiotics residues present in raw cow milk collected from cattle herds in nine townships of Zou department and one township of Collines department in Benin. Methodology and results: Hundred and eighty (180) samples of raw milk were collected at the rate of two samples per farm. Within each farm, the two samples were taken with a 15 days interval. All samples were analyzed with Delvotest T kit (DSM Food Specialities), which is a fast detection method for antibiotic residues in milk. Out of the two sampling periods, only raw cow milk samples of the first sampling period of herds from Bohicon and Ouinhi were negative for antibiotic residues. The rate of positive samples with antibiotic residues per township varied from 0 to 100 % at the first sampling and from 33 to 83 % at the second sampling. Conclusion and application:The study reveals the presence of antibiotic residues in raw cow milk samples coming from various livestock farms. This livestock farms characterize each studied townships as cattle farming area of low, medium or high risk. Antibiotics use should be done by animal health professionals or set under their responsibility.

Objectives: A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of the inclusion levels of sun dried pineapple peel (PP) in the diets, on the digestibility and growth performance of rabbits. Methodology and Results: Diets R0 (control), R20, R30 and R40 were formulated by including 0, 20, 30 and 40% of PP. Panicum maximum C1 fodder supplemented the diet of each rabbit. Twenty-four growing rabbits, of 40 to 55 days old, with initial weight 765 ± 128g were used for 70-day trial. Faecal apparent digestibility of dry matter was measured in 12 rabbits during 7 days. The intakeof the diets based on PP was similar (p>0.05) to that in the control diet. Total feed intake ranged from 66 to 72 g DM/kg. The average dry matter digestibility (67.5%) was similar (p>0.05) in rabbits fed diet containing 20% PP and control diet. Average daily weight gain (15.5 to 16.7 g) and feed conversion ratio (5.48 to 6.08) were better in rabbits fed R0, R20 and R30 diets. Conclusions and application of findings: Results from this study show that weaned rabbits are good consumers of dried PP. This study demonstrated that, the dried PP is a suitable feedstuff for rabbits. It can be included in rabbits' diets up to 20% without a significant adverse effect on feed intake, dry matter digestibility and growth performance.The PP meal is biologically efficient and environmentally sustainable. It successfully enhanced the rabbit's growth performance. To get optimum performance of rabbit, famers may not exceed 20% inclusion level in dietary. However, the present technologies do not take into account other equal practices or more important, in farm conditions. Therefore, it is important to include the economical viability aspect in the technologies during on farm research before starting its dissemination.

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La pomme cajou (PC) constitue un sous-produit agricole disponible au Bénin en quantité et sans une importance économique. Pour la conservation de cette matière première, le séchage solaire est réalisé avant son incorporation dans l'aliment concentré des canetons de barbarie. Les rations alimentaires testées R0, R10, R20 et R30 comportaient respectivement 0, 10, 20 et 30% de PC séchée. L'expérimentation a concerné 64 canetons âgés de 10 à 21 jours. Le séchage solaire de la pomme cajou a permis sa conversion en un produit stabilisé ayant une valeur alimentaire intéressante. La consommation journalière d'aliment à base de la PC séchée a varié de 67 à 150 g MS/canard. Les meilleurs gains de poids et indices de consommation sont obtenus chez les canards alimentés avec les rations R10 et R20. Le rendement en carcasse a varié de 66 à 69,5 % chez les oiseaux. Le recyclage de la PC dans l'alimentation des canetons,constitue alors une technologie d'appoint pour les agro-éleveurs en vue de la réduction du coût élevé des aliments et de la valorisation de ce sous-produit.