SMALL RUMINANT CONTRIBUTION IN MEAT PRODUCTION IN LIBYA

Absrtact
Sheep and goats are considered the important agriculture activity overall grazing areas in Libya, since natural range represent the important parts of feed and forages for those animals. Barbary sheep and local goats breeds proved their potentiality through ability to withstand the adverse conditions such as drought, sub - maintenance feeding, heat stress, disease and poor management. Libyan Barbary sheep represents the dominant Libyan sheep breed (95%) in which their population is 6.5 million heads raised for meat and wool production. Local goats (Mahali) represents more than 90% of the number of goats in Libya (1.5-2.0 million). Sheep and goat flocks were spread overall the country specially the coast. Extensive production system was the main system used at semi-arid grazing area and mountain. Statistics showed that sheep and goat contribution of meat production during 1998-2009 ranged from 67-80.5%. It looks that Libya does not reach self-sufficient of meat production from small ruminants though the wide spread of these animals. It has recognized that production deficiency percentages from sheep and goats meat ranged from 49 % to 55% during the same period.