PARASOL – Current situation in Slovakia

Sheep breeding is an important sector of slovak agriculture. The importance of sheep breeding, among other things, lies in off-production functions, where sheep play an irreplaceable position in the preservation of the cultural character of the country.

The sheep husbandry is determined by natural conditions mainly in mountain and sub-mountain regions. The number of sheep and their production are permanently subject to marked fluctuations which are influenced by the created macro-economic conditions and all-around suitability of the breeding environment. Around 400 000 sheep are currently raised in Slovakia. Almost 60% of this figure is ewes.

The Improved Valachian breed is the most represented sheep breed (approximately 42 percent out of the total number of sheep kept in Slovakia). The proportion of the Tsigai breed is approximately 38 percent, the Merino type comprises 19 percent, and other breeds together make up approximately one percent. All Tsigai and Valachian sheep in Slovakia are milked and a part of the Merino sheep is milked, too.

According to estimate, the highest proportion of sheep is concentrated in enterprises keeping 200-500 animals. In general average number per herd is from 300 to 350 animals.

As regards the intensity of breeding, the extensive or semi-intensive system of breeding prevails with most of the sheep breeders, if we judge the intensity of breeding by the level of nutrition, organization of breeding during the winter and summer season, and according to the level of technological equipment of farms mainly in connection with machine milking of sheep.

The farmers in Slovakia deal with many problems. Many agricultural enterprises are insolvent. The lack of investment means for development programmes and introduction of progressive breeding systems (e.g. from the viewpoint of nutrition, technical and technological equipment in breeds) results in low or average performance, with low labour productivity. In some agricultural enterprises there is unqualified management; however, the more urgent problem is lack of qualified sheepmen which means that labour productivity is decreasing.

Monitoring efficacy of anthelmintic drugs

The results of two anthelmintic resistance survey (1992-1993 and 2003-2004) in sheep farms revealed low prevalence (approximately 10 %) of benzimidazole resistance. It is interesting to note that the situation remained stable over the last fifteen years.

Parasol Activities in Slovakia

During 2006-2007 we have selected and identify 5 conventional commercial sheep farms in which experiments were carried out during pasture season (May-October). The farms were selected from database of the Slovak Association of Small Ruminant Farmers and farmers were interviewed personally. Our investigations on each farm include the following steps:

• To fill the questionnaire contained 18 questions related to farm management and worm control practices.
• Once per month each of the farms was visited and parasitological indicator faecal egg count (epg) versus a physiological or pathophysiological markers - LIVGAIN (weight) BODCON (body condition scoring) and DISCO (diarrhoea index) were taken.
• To characterize the resistance/susceptibility status of the population on the farms in vitro tests were carried out.

The overall attitude of the farmers was positive towards the project. Some farmers were not favorably disposed to use new recommended methods although farmers who were educated (usually by veterinarians) seem to be more willing to try new methods. Farmers in general believe that adoption of new techniques can help to improve the productivity in their farms. However low qualification of some sheepmens resulted sometimes in lack of project effectiveness.

Parasol Activities in Slovakia (englisch, PDF, 52 kB)