Monday, Nov 16, 2009
Gulf News
Muscat A team of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) researchers and students is conducting a study on meat production and meat quality from Omani camels.
According to the research team at the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, the farmers in the country do not fully understand camel meat production potential.
The study entails offering the specimen camels three different levels of nutrition according to their body weight and monitoring their performance and health status. The project also includes studying the carcass composition and meat quality attributes of camel meat.
The study is being carried out on 12 camels, purchased from Dhofar in the southern part of Oman. The camels, bought when they were four to six months old are now aged between 14 and 16 months.
They have been brought to the Agricultural Experiment Station of SQU and housed in open-sided enclosures.
Evaluation
The daily feed intakes are determined. The camels are weighed every month to determine gain in body weight. Blood samples are drawn monthly.
At the end of a six-month period, the camels will be slaughtered in the Central Slaughterhouse in Bausher and the quality of their meat evaluated.
The researchers said that the project would allow for the study of meat production abilities of the camels maintained under intensive management by determining their growth rate, feed conversion and carcass and meat quality.
Staff Report
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