Influence of Sugar Cane Diets and a High Fibre Commercial Diet on Growth and Carcass Performance in Local Caribbean Pigs (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION The Creole (CR) pig is the most important local breed in the Caribbean region. In Guadeloupe (French West Indies, 16[degrees] Lat. N, 61[degrees] Long. W.), the local Creole pig (CR) have significant traditional and economic role supplying 40% of the fresh-meat consumed locally (Zebus et al., 2005). This breed constitutes a heterogeneous population resulting from successive crossbreeds between Iberian breeds and other European and American breeds introduced into the West Indies at early 16th century (Le Mentec, 1970). The CR pig is characterized by an early sexual maturity, low prolificacy, smaller mature size, low growth potential and higher body fat content when compared with modern European breeds such as Large White (Canope, 1982). However, CR pigs are also well-known for their rusticity and good meat quality (Depres et al., 1992; Renaudeau et al., 2005; Renaudeau et al., 2006; Renaudeau and Mourot, 2007). Currently, the feeding of the CR pigs raised in semi intensive breeding system follows that recommended for conventional breed. According to the low nutrient requirements of CR pigs, this strategy leads to high carcass fatness. This results in a gradual substitution of the CR by high lean genotype pigs with a possible extinction of this local breed in a medium term. From that it appears that adapted feeding strategies for the CR pigs must be established in order to increase the carcass quality. In order to valorise the local breed pigs, it would be possible to use an industrial diet specially formulated for CR pigs and/or using local feed resources in an organic system with a close integration between crops and livestock within the system.