Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the agro-ecological sustainability of dairy cattle farms in the suburban area of the city of Blida. An investigation was carried out on 19 farms. The study area, located in the Mitidja plain, is well known for its farming tradition and has suffered over the last decades from countless environmental constraints. The assessment tool used is the IDEA method (Indicateurs de Durabilité des Exploitations Agricoles or Farm Sustainability Indicators). The agro-ecological scale comprises three components: domestic diversity, organization of space and farming practices, summing up 18 indicators. Analysis of the results showed that the surveyed farms are characterized by a low agro ecological sustainability (45.97/100) mainly explained by the limited diversity of perennial crops, lack of crop rotation, poor use of space and water, many failures in the management of fodder resources, the non-protection of soil resources, and high energy dependency.
Key words: Assessment, sustainability, indicateurs de durabilité des exploitations agricoles (IDEA) method, dairy cattle, Mitidja.
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