Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez

Tilapia production represents a significant source of employment and high-quality nutritional food. Its socioeconomic importance has driven the farming systems intensification, making biosecurity aspects crucial to supporting industry growth and mitigating health risks. Therefore, the study objective was to characterized the infrastructure and biosecurity measures associated with tilapia farms in Valle del Mezquital, Hidalgo, Mexico. 18 farms were selected through intentional sampling during August 2022. Health and biosecurity data were collected through a semi-structured survey, and the data were processed by a text analysis using IRaMuTeQ. Producers aged 40-59 years were reported to participate, reporting an expenditure of less than 5 US$ on veterinary services during the crop cycle and a crops disease frequency of 66.6%. The health events were characterized by their origin in parasitic pathogens (33.3%), and the treatment based on grain salt (44.4%) through immersion baths (50.0%). Perimeter fences were reported in 100.0% and it is evident that their presence can decrease the frequency of viral diseases. The qualitative analysis showed a high frequency of the conjunction of the forms “does (186) not (171) apply (153)”, and it was mainly related to low frequency and association by FAC with the words “expense”, “dollar”, “deworm” and “deworming”, in addition to the word “injection” represented the only active form of the hapax type marking areas of opportunity in the applied expenditure and the application of preventive treatments in the farms surveyed. The observed trends suggest the ongoing evaluation of the health and biosecurity profile to identify areas for improvement and potential enhancements in tilapia production systems.

El síndrome de disfunción cognitiva es una patología en la que podemos observar la aparición de conductas anormales en perros geriatras. Hay un deterioro en sus funciones mentales y se debe a factores como el desgaste vascular del cerebro, daño oxidativo, alteraciones en neurotransmisores, entre otros. En caninos no está comprobada la eficacia de la Moringa para tratar problemas neurológicos, por lo que se pretende formular un alimento adicionado con Moringa, para tratar y prevenir los signos clínicos de dicho síndrome en perros geriatras, debido a sus propiedades nutricionales y compuestos bioactivos.

The Mezquital Valley, Hidalgo, Mexico, is a region with a significant agricultural and livestock tradition that historically depends on wastewater irrigation, a practice that has favored productivity but also the accumulation of heavy metals in soils, crops, and forage. This review aims to analyze the scientific evidence on the bioaccumulation of cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury in sheep and their presence in meat and organs intended for human consumption. The associated toxicological risks, current national and international regulations, and the regulatory gaps that persist in Mexico are discussed. The findings suggest that consumption of sheep meat from the Mezquital Valley may pose a potential risk to public health, especially in vulnerable populations. The need to strengthen monitoring systems, implement environmental remediation strategies, and promote public policies that integrate animal, human, and environmental health is emphasized.

El objetivo de este estudio fue la determinación y evaluación de los parámetros reproductivos en establos de la Cuenca Lechera de Tizayuca; la recolección de información se llevó a cabo con una entrevista semiestructurada basada en una encuesta para obtener registros de eventos reproductivos en un establo, los datos obtenidos se concentraron en una hoja de cálculo de Excel para su análisis. Los parámetros que se obtuvieron son: edad al primer servicio de 13.7 meses; edad al primer parto de 23.6 meses; intervalo entre partos de 428.6 días; intervalo parto-primer servicio de 74.51 días; 130.5 días abiertos y 2.5 servicios por concepción. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los parámetros reproductivos son similares con datos reportados en estudios en vacas lecheras dentro y fuera del país; algunas variaciones se deben a una falta de registros y datos individuales asociados a poca capacitación del personal, por lo que se sugiere fomentar la actualización del personal que labora en el rancho con la finalidad de concientizarlos y motivarlos a implementar manejos zootécnicos enfocados a mejorar los parámetros reproductivos.

Recently Latin American countries have developed a dairy sheep industry with an increasing number of specialized dairy-sheep flocks. The objective of this study was to evaluate the goodness of fit of empirical and mechanistic models and sampling interval to model the lactation curve of F1 dairy sheep with different shape of lactation curves in an intensively managed flock of the central highlands of Mexico. A total of 4,494 weekly (7D) test day records (TDR) from 156 lactations were analyzed. Three datasets were generated from the original 7D data set, setting TDR at different sampling intervals: 14 (14D), 21 (21D) and 28 (28D) days. Lactation curves were fitted using two empirical (Wood and Wilmink) and two mechanistic models (Dijkstra and Pollott). The parameters of the empirical and mechanistic models were estimated using the iterative non-linear curve fitting procedure in R. The results showed that the estimation of TMY was not affected by the sampling interval. However, the estimation of peak yield (PY) and day at peak yield (TPY) was affected by sampling interval (P < 0.05), with better estimates for 7D and 14D. Estimates of PY and TPY differed between the empirical and mechanistic models with both methods failing to estimate PY and TPY in atypical curves. The Dijkstra model showed the best fit for typical curves and the Pollott model for atypical curves in all the sampling intervals evaluated.

Background: Small-scale dairy systems are vital in rural communities and strategic for livelihoods an economic development. Objective: To estimate the economic and financial viability of small-scale dairy Representative Production Units (RPU) in the high plateau of the State of Mexico using a Monte Carlo simulation. Methodology: Net yields were estimated for a 5-year planning horizon via simulated values for the distribution of input and product processes, establishing 2022 as the base scenario. A stochastic modelling approach was used to determine the economic and financial outlook considering the cost of two sources of labor for the simulations: (1) Cost of family labor (FL); and (2) Cost of external hired labor (EL). Results: A panorama of economic viability was evidenced. However, a lack of financial wellbeing was also determined. When FL was factored in, net income was estimated in $17.99 thousand USD in 2023 and $26.35 thousand USD in 2027. On the other hand, considering EL resulted in a net income of $9.88 thousand USD in 2023 and $16.31 USD in 2027. The Net Present Value in 2027 was calculated at $-161.84 thousand USD and $-191.27 thousand USD, with FL and EL, respectively. While the RPUs were determined to be competitive, the level of risk was significant due to the high monetary value, limited degree of specialization of the RPUs, and the prevailing volatile scenario at the time. Implications: This study can enable decision-makers, on one hand, to analyze and design policies and differentiated strategies for small-scale dairy production systems. On the other hand, it can empower dairy farmers to assess scenarios of technical and productive intervention. Conclusions: The financial and economic weakening of the studied RPU could have negative implications in terms of public policy, labor, marketing, value chains, and the persistence of producers in such activity.

México es un país productor de ovinos de los cuales una tercera parte se encuentra en los estados del centro incluyendo a Estado de México, Hidalgo y Puebla. Debido a la poca capacitación de los ovinocultores, no hay una buena producción y reproducción en las granjas, sobre todo de pequeña escala. Los ovinos son animales poliestricos estacionales lo cual no les permite quedar gestantes en cualquier estación del año, pero existen técnicas que pueden ser usadas para inducir y sincronizar los celos y de esta manera mejorar la productividad en las unidades de producción. Por lo que en el presente documento se resumen los principales aspectos para mejorar las estrategias reproductivas y productivas de los sistemas ovinos del Municipio de Singuilucan, Hidalgo.

El objetivo del estudio fue relacionar los estilos de aprendizaje (EA) y hábitos de estudios (HE) con el rendimiento académico (RA) de los estudiantes de propedéutico de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. Para obtener la información se utilizaron dos instrumentos, el cuestionario de Honey-Alonso de estilos de aprendizaje (CHAEA) y el cuestionario de hábitos y técnicas de estudio (CHTE). El muestreo consideró a 142 estudiantes de propedéutico, de los que se obtuvieron las calificaciones de sus materias cursadas. Las respuestas del cuestionario sobre los HE y de los EA se analizaron mediante la prueba de Kruskal-Wallis y se evaluó la correlación entre las diferentes escalas. Durante el primer semestre, quienes manifestaron tener hábitos moderados tuvieron la menor calificación (77), y los de buenos y excelentes hábitos tuvieron similar calificación (81.5-81.7). Durante el primer semestre los estudiantes con muy altos EA tuvieron la menor calificación (79). En los estudiantes con EA activo no se observó correlación con las calificaciones. Se concluye que la correlación de los hábitos de estudio y los estilos de aprendizaje con el rendimiento académico en estudiantes de propedéutico de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo fue muy baja y en muchos casos no existió significancia.

This article combines a Policy Analysis Matrix with a sensitivity and poverty line analysis with the objective of evaluating the economic contribution of comparative advantages to the private profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy systems. For 1 year, socioeconomic data were collected from 82 farms selected from four strata via statistical sampling. Two scenarios were established to determine the quantitative contribution of comparative advantages: (1) a simulated scenario, which accounted for the cost of purchasing the total food and the opportunity cost of the family labour force (FLF), and (2) an actual production scenario, which accounted for the cost of producing food and eliminating the payment of the FLF and included other income. The E3 and E4 producers were the most profitable and competitive in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. Of the four scales evaluated, the E2 and E1 producers were the most efficient in taking advantage of the economic contribution provided by the comparative advantages in their own production of food and employment of the FLF, in addition to accounting for other income, a condition that increased their profitability by 171 and 144% and competitiveness by 346 and 273%, respectively. The poverty results indicated that only E3 and E4 producers were non-vulnerable in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. The purchase of food was the comparative advantage with the greatest sensitivity to cost increases in the two scenarios analysed, which exacerbated the effect on the E1 and E2 producers.