In order to manage important transformations affecting a steppe area, it is necessary to analyze the existing pastoral system by evaluating the sustainability of its subsystems of production. For this reason, in this study, a tool for the evaluation of the sustainability of livestock production in the steppe area was used in order to identify the most sustainable systems. The study was conducted using a survey of 87 livestock farmers (production units) in the region ranked first in terms of sheep production. Principal component analysis (PCA) enabled us to identify two production systems: (i) the pastoral production system, characterized by the mobility of livestock and its high dependence on concentrated feed; (ii) the agropastoral system, combining fodder and livestock production, which is sedentary and semi-extensive. Using a grid for evaluating the sustainability of livestock systems in steppe regions, the impact of each system on the environment (environmental, economic, and social) was examined, and the results showed that the feed system was unbalanced, with high pressure on steppe rangelands. Nevertheless, multiple ways of improving these systems emerged from the analysis, such as encouraging the production of fodder and its association with livestock, on new spatial, temporal, regional, and national levels.

1. Human traditions have developed the knowledge and use of medicinal plants to improve human health [1]. The medicinal properties of plants are due to products synthesized by the plants themselves...

The species belonging to the genus Pistacia possess ecological, economic, and medicinal value. They show a very high ecological plasticity. This research is a contribution to the study of the intraspecific diversity and variability of 10 populations of Pistacia lentiscus in different bioclimates. Nine locations in Algeria and one site in France have been selected in order to understand the strategies developed by this species under extreme conditions, including altitude and aridity, and to identify the adaptive processes that can be observed based on the morphological and ultrastructural features of the leaf. As a result of this research, we have collected a large quantity of important information on morphological and microphytodermal leaf variability for the ten studied populations. The statistical analyses showed a very important difference in the studied characteristics between these populations. It has been demonstrated that environmental factors also have a significant impact on the heterogeneity of most measured leaf features. Moreover, the observations with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) enabled us to highlight new characteristics of the studied species, such as the glandular trichomes on the leaflets and embedded stomata in the epidermis. These criteria could supplement the existing morphological characteristics used in the systematic classification of the Pistacia genus. Overall, the studied species have shown xeromorphy features, which give them the opportunity to be used in desertification mitigation programs, due to their ability to withstand conditions of extreme aridity.

Les exploitations agricoles algériennes sont confrontées à d’importantes difficultés de financement qui limitent considérablement leur capacité de production. Leur difficulté d’accès au crédit bancaire est due en grande partie à l’indisponibilité d’informations fiables sur leur situation financière et à leur faible taux de remboursement. Pour inverser la tendance et faciliter l’accès des exploitants agricoles au crédit bancaire, les pouvoirs publics ont revisité l’usage de la bonification des taux d’intérêts en mettant en place pour eux en 2011 un crédit d’investissement totalement bonifié appelé Ettahadi. Cependant, l’intervention publique dans le système de crédit, à travers la bonification, n’a eu qu’un très faible effet sur la demande de financement et un effet mitigé sur l’accès effectif au crédit. Les résultats d’une enquête menée auprès d’un échantillon représentatif d’agriculteurs de la wilaya de Laghouat ainsi que l’analyse des données de la Banque de l’agriculture et du développement rural montrent que la gestion du risque de crédit et les objectifs de rentabilité ont poussé cette banque publique à adopter une forme organisationnelle qui limite la distribution de crédit.

Background: The problem of soil contamination is a major concern of emerging countries. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, and mercury cannot be biodegraded, and therefore, persist in the environment for long periods. It has become essential to develop efficient techniques for decontamination of polluted soils. One of these techniques, phytoremediation, is economically viable and compatible with environmental preservation policies. The application of phytoremediation in salty areas requires the use of plants that are able to tolerate heavy metals and high soil salinity. Atriplex halimus is one of the species with a great purification potential, which is a spontaneous halophyte species, and endowed with a fairly important aerial and root biomass. This study aimed to determine the effect of cadmium sulfate (CdSO4 ) on the germination and growth of A. halimus, and to assess its ability to accumulate cadmium and proline. Methods: This is an experimental study of the tolerance of A. halimus to increasing concentrations of CdSO4 by an in vivo test. This study aimed to assess the degree of tolerance of this perennial species towards different concentrations of CdSO4 . Results: The results show a non-significant effect of CdSO4 on the seed germination rate and growth of the aerial and root parts. However, a significant accumulation of proline was observed especially in the aerial part, whereas the highest cadmium content was recorded at the roots. Conclusion: According to the results, this species can be used in phytoremediation to decontaminate soils contaminated by heavy metals.

To combat desertification and land degradation in arid and semi-arid zones, the government has adopted an approach of rehabilitation of pasturelands through forage plantations. This program was launched at the beginning of the 1990s and, to date, there has been no global or national study on the sustainability of the program, particularly its economic profitability. Our work’s principal objective was to perform an economic analysis of the forage plantation program across the different periods since the creation of the program until the year 2020, focusing on the economic evaluation parameters of the projects, such as mean annual net income, net present value, annuity of the net present value, profitability index and payback period, based on the data collected from the official institutions. The results showed that the forage plantation program significantly contributes to sustainable development in steppe areas.