Milk production (cattle) in Tunisia is carried by about 484 000 cows of which 56% come from a local population with high genetic heterogeneity (The Atlas of Brown, Blonde Cape Well, Zebu, Bretonne Pie Noire, ...). Dairy cows are purebred Holstein mainly (97%) of Montbeliard, the Tarentaise, the Brown Swiss ... Some nuclei were initiated Flechwick in the region of Sfax.
For years it was difficult for governments to decide on the one hand between an elitist solution to factory farms of Holstein (but are expensive: costs of importation, installation and management) and other conservation, improving slowly (sometimes disappointing) to hundreds of thousands of local cow that is well adapted to bioclimatic conditions in Tunisia, which is high cost and without producing a calf whose meat is very popular.
A Since the 1990s a massive importation of cows with high genetic potential, with a particular enthusiasm for the Holstein, has achieved self-sufficiency in terms of production. Admittedly, this policy has been rewarding in terms of total production but the individual productivity of these animals was far below the potential permit because the operating conditions of these animals were difficult to obtain: tech farmers, food quality, specialized barns ....
In this case, is it reasonable to invest more than 3000 $ For a cow that will produce only 4000 kg of milk per lactation? Is it reasonable to divide the animals into micro-herds not exceeding 5 cows? Is it reasonable that the majority of these animals are not enrolled in a milk recording program ...? Many answers to which policy makers must find answers or solutions rather.
