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Seasonal variations of the sexual behaviour and semen quality of Tunisian Arab stallions during the collection

Variations saisonnières des paramètres du comportement sexuel durant la récolte et de la qualité du spermogramme des étalons pur-sang Arabe élevés en Tunisie

 

A. Najjar 1

S. Kalamoun 2

S. Ben Said 2

B. Benaoun 3

M. Ezzaouia 3

 

1 National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia.

2 High School of Agricultural of Kef, Tunisia.

3 National Stud Farm of Sidi Thabet, Tunisia.

 

Abstract - The objective of the study was to determine the effect of the season on sexual behaviour stallion’s during collection and on the semen quality. A total of 17 Tunisian Arab stallions were collected using an artificial vagina during and out of the mating season. The numbers of jump, the erection preparation and collection durations of the stallion were noted during the semen collection. The semen quality was evaluated: the volume of ejaculates, sperm and the fraction of gel were noted. The percentage of mobile spermatozoa, sperm concentration and morphologic features were studied. The results showed that sexual behaviour parameters were high during the out of the mating season (p<0.05). However, the semen quality doesn’t vary during and out of the mating season. Only the volume of the gel fraction was high during the out of the mating season (p<0.05). We conclude that despite their low sexual behaviour, Tunisian Arab stallions have a good semen quality during the out of the mating season which allowed them to accomplish their reproductive service.

 

Keywords: season, sexual behaviour, semen quality, stallion

 

Résumé - L’objectif de l’étude est de déterminer l’effet de la saison sur les paramètres du comportement sexuel des étalons durant la récolte de leurs éjaculats ainsi que sur la qualité de leur semence collectée. Un nombre total de 17 étalons pur-sang Arabe ont été récoltés à l’aide d’un vagin artificiel au cours et en dehors de la saison de reproduction. Durant la récolte, le nombre de sauts, le temps de préparation à l’érection et le temps de récolte de l’étalon ont été notés. La qualité de la semence a été évaluée en déterminant les volumes d’éjaculat, de sperme et de la fraction du gel lorsqu’elle est présente, le pourcentage des spermatozoïdes mobiles, la concentration et les anomalies morphologiques des spermatozoïdes. Les résultats ont montré que les paramètres du comportement sexuel des étalons ont été plus élevés en dehors de la saison de reproduction (p<0,05). En revanche, la qualité de la semence n’a pas varié en fonction de la saison. Seul le volume de la fraction du gel a été plus élevé au cours de la saison de reproduction (p<0,05).  Il en résulte qu’en dehors de la saison de reproduction, les étalons conservent une bonne qualité de leur semence qui leur permet de garder leur fonction de reproduction pour répondre aux sollicitations de la période malgré une diminution de leur vigueur sexuelle.

 

Mots clés : saison, comportement sexuel, qualité de la semence, étalons.

 

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Influence of Sowing Dates on Yield and yield components of lentil under semi-arid region of Tunisia

A. OUJI 1, 2*

M. MOUELHI 2

 

1 Regional Research Development Office of Agriculture in Semi-Arid North West of Kef, Tunisia

2 Field Crop’s Laboratory, National Institute for Agricultural Research of Tunisia, Ariana, Tunisia

 

Abstract - A field experiment was conducted at Kef research station (INRAT) located in a semi-arid zone in north-western of Tunisia to study the effect of two sowing dates (27 November 2014 and 7 February 2015) on phenology, growth and yield components of nineteen lentil lines. Our results showed that the different lines responded differently to different sowing dates. As sowing was replayed from November to February, numbers of days until flowering (NDF) and numbers of days until maturity (NDM) were decreased by 41% (78.3 vs. 133.4 days) and by 29.2% (171.8 vs. 121.7 days) respectively. On the other hand, the delay in sowing of lentil lines from November to February reduced the plant height (PH), the biological yield per plant (BYPP), the number of productive branches per plant (NPBPP) , the pods number per plant (PNPP) and grain yield/ha (GY/ha) by 28%, 21%, 46%,45% and 66% respectively. It is important to note that some lentil lines (line4 and line8) produce more grain yield under later sowing date comparatively to early sowing date. These lentil lines need more attention and can be incorporated in lentil breeding programme for the development of short stage varieties.

 

Keywords: Lentil (Lens culinaris L.), sowing date, yield, semi-arid, Tunisia.

 

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Environmental factors affecting birth weight of Tunisian local goat population kids

A. Atoui *1,2

Z. Hajejji 1,2

M. Abdennebi 1

A. Gaddour 1

S. Najari 1

 

1 Institute of Arid Regions, Médenine, Tunisia

2 Faculty of sciences (F.S.G) Gabes, University of Gabes, Tunisia.

 

Abstract - Data collected on 964 local kids, recorded between 1998 and 2014 were used to study the impact of genetic and non genetic factors on birth weight. Results indicate that Tunisian local goat population kids were characterised by a reduced weight at birth, it was only 2.34 ± 0.44Kg. Similar performances were observed for rustic goat population. The kidding year affect the birth weight, while the kid’s colour pattern had no significant effects (P>0.05). The kidding season, had a significant (P<0.05) influence on the studied trait. It was inferred that single born kids were significantly heavier than multiple. In average, the birth weight for male and female were 2.46 ± 0.44 and 2.20 ± 0.39Kg respectively. The birth weight was found to be the highest in 5years age group (2.64 ± 0.42Kg). The weight of the dam had significant effect on birth weight of kids of both sexes. The establishment of the kid’s weight parameters under arid regions helps to develop accurate selection indices and to optimally a breeding programs and performance recording systems for maximum economic gain or profit from growth traits.

 

Keywords: Local goats, arid regions, birth weight, non-genetic factors.

 

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Copyright

This article is published under license to Journal of New Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

CC BY 4.0