Spatial and Temporal analysis (2008-2017) of droughts and their effects on livestock in the Brazilian semi-arid region.

In this study a temporal analysis (2008-2017) was conducted to examine the occurrence of droughts and the spatial distribution of livestock herds in the Brazilian semi-arid region. Maps of vegetation cover, classes of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference drought index (NDDI) were used. Image processing took place on the Google Earth Engine platform along with QGIS Software (2.18). Two historical series were created to compare the variation between two herds and the dry monitoring, one called the 1st series (2008-2012) and 2nd series (2013-2017) which were compared using a paired t-test. The comparative analysis showed that the classes of extreme drought and exceptional drought covered the greatest land areas in the 2nd series, while abnormal drought covered the greatest land area in the 1st series. The analysis of herds, a reduction in the cattle herd and an increase in goat and sheep herds were noted. This study considers the efficacy of NDDI and NDVI indices to monitor the distribution of droughts in the Brazilian semi-arid region. The geoprocess of Sidra data enabled an analysis of the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the herds in the semi-arid region and how drought may have impacted livestock dynamics.

Nutritional performance, hepatic and renal function in goats fed diets containing detoxified castor cake at different stages of pregnancy.

We evaluated the influence of the substitution of soybean meal by detoxified castor cake on performance, digestibility of nutrients, nitrogen balance, hepatic and renal functions of pregnant goats fed with diets containing detoxified castor cake by alkaline solutions during the stages (first two-thirds and final third) of pregnancy. Three diets were provided: one based on soybean meal and the other two based on castor cake detoxified with whit calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. Goats fed detoxified castor cake sodium hydroxide had lower consumption. Was no effect (P>0.05) of diets or stages on the digestibility of dry matter and nutrients. The goats that received the diets based on soybean meal and detoxified castor cake calcium hydroxide consumed larger amounts of nitrogen. The goats fed with diet the basis of SM had greater weight in the parturition day. The average levels of enzymes for hepatic and renal functions were within normal patterns. Of enzymes related to liver metabolism, only the gamma-glutamyl transferase increased in the final third of pregnancy. The present study demonstrated that detoxified castor by sodium hydroxide reduces the consumption of goats during gestation, but did not affect negatively the renal and hepatic parameters.