Evaluation of the Sustainability of Phoenicultural and Market Gardening Production Systems of the Development in the Ouargla Region (Southern Algeria)

. The aim of our work is to study the sustainability of seal and market gardening production systems. This study was carried out in two study areas N'goussa and Hassi Ben Abdellah in the region of Ouargla (Algeria), through 75 surveys in different farms where we elaborated a typology of evolution in order to know the determining elements of the trajectories. The Ouargla region's Farm Sustainability Indicator (IDEA) is important. The assessment of agro-ecological, socio-territorial and economic indicators indicates that the agro-ecological indicator is the most represented by (the indicator of fertilizer and agricultural practices) by 46 out of 100. The work was followed by statistical analyses (using Excel stat) to study sustainability constraints. The results show that the polyculture system (date palm, market gardening, etc.) is the most dynamic in terms of cultivation practices. The market gardening production system is economically profitable in the two study areas due to the evolution of market gardening under shelter. The stability of the seal farming system and its uniqueness indicate that it shows the most signs of sustainability.


Introduction
The Algerian Sahara, with an area of more than 02 million km², is one of the world's hottest and most arid deserts. In this very dry and evaporating climate, life has traditionally been organized around the cultivation of date palms made possible by the existence of water points and oases [9]. The Saharan regions have experienced significant agricultural dynamics since the second half of the 1980s following the application of the APFA [1,[14][15] and even more importantly, since the launching of the PNDA in 2000. [3,4,5,6] The usable agricultural area (UAA) represents only 7.6 million hectares, i.e. 3% of the total area. The UAA per inhabitant went from 0.63 hectares in 1967, to 0.36 in 1982, and 0.20 in 2010. [16] The agricultural space in the Algerian Sahara has been experiencing an unusual dynamic for several decades, particularly since the promulgation of Law 83/18 on APFA (Accession to Agricultural Land Ownership). Oases and desert have never ceased to compete for the Saharan space. This dynamic is the result of agricultural policies that are not always coherent [7]. Agricultural development has mainly taken place in the communes of Hassi Ben Abdallah and N'goussa, with 8,815 hectares and 1,237 hectares allocated respectively. [6] In the Saharan regions, agriculture is characterized by two farming systems:  The old agricultural system, or agriculture in the old palm groves, which is subject to significant degradation and which involves State intervention through support to farmers for ecological, social, economic and cultural imperatives.  The new agricultural system or the new palm groves that are being created as part of agricultural land development and the various development programmers. Two types of agriculture can be distinguished in these new areas: the first type through the extension of palm groves which has given rise to "peri-urban" agriculture or small development because it is made up of small and medium farms and the second type which is described as large development through large concession programmers. [6] The land has often been developed at the gates of old oases, with the farmer combining his old palm grove with a larger, more modern farm [13]. The development resulting from this important evolution is mainly due to farming practices, but the advantages of this development have negative consequences for these lands. Therefore, the sustainability of this Saharan agriculture remains one of the most delicate question marks. The central question lies in determining the factors of sustainability of phoenicultural and market gardening farms? The objective of our study is to assess the sustainability of phoenicultural and market gardening production systems in two study areas in the Algerian Sahara (Hassi Ben Abdellah and N'goussa in Ouargla).

Materials and Methods
Our study was based on field surveys in two areas of the Ouargla region. The Working Methodology consists of four steps:  Collection of information on the study areas.  Surveys at the level of agricultural structures and perimeters.  Selection of sampling sites.  Field surveys (Identification of farms and evaluation of development actions.

Presentation of the Study Zones
Ouargla is bordered to the north-east by the wilaya of El-Oued, to the north-west by the wilaya of Djelfa, to the west by the wilaya of Ghardaïa, to the south-west by the wilaya of Tamanrasset, to the south-east by the wilaya of Illizi and to the east by the Tunisian border and the wilaya of El-Oued. Its geographical coordinates are: 4° 57' 09° East longitude and 31° 47' 59° North latitude. [12] The commune of Hassi Ben Abdellah is located in the Daïra of Sidi Khouiled. The chief town of the commune is about twenty kilometres away from the city of Ouargla and is located near the intersection of the road linking Ouargla to Touggourt with that linking Ouargla to Hassi Messaoud. [6] The commune of N'goussa is located in the North-West of the wilaya of Ouargla at a distance of 20 km from the city of Ouargla.

Sampling
In our work we chose for sampling two zones in each region and approached 75 investigations to the farmers of these farms in each zone in the study region. We will therefore constitute a reasoned sampling, which aims to discover the operating diversity of production systems and we will choose production units in each of the previously identified categories and also in relation to the presence of the farmer. Surveys at the farm level of development: A survey was carried out at the farm level, it enabled us to have essential information on the identification of the activities and the mode of operation of the farm, as well as aspects related to the socioeconomic and environmental environment. The field diagnosis was based on surveys in two zones of the study region, the approach adopted of which consists in reviewing the main issues and challenges facing collective farms from an agricultural development point of view, and the main factors sustainability. The number of farms surveyed depends on the presence of the farmer and his agreement to be surveyed. So the main variables studied in our survey for sustainable exploitation in each study area are: Use of phytosanitary products, type of irrigation system, age of the farmer, use of labor. work… are presented in tables (2,3). These variables are studied by statistical analyzes (Excel Stat) Figure 1. Geographic location of the study areas. Source D.P.A.T. of Ouargla [11].

Example of the investigation
So we set up a reasoned sampling, which aims at discovering the diversity of functioning of the production systems according to two criteria studied farm size (small farms 16 farms surveyed, and large farms 24 total of 40 farms). And according to cropping system: phoenicultural farms (06 farms), phoenicultural farms with market garden crops under shelter (25 farms) and phoenicultural farms with underlying crops (excluding palms), market garden crops (under shelter) and fruit trees (04 farms), which represents the following table: Surveys will therefore be carried out on the various new (development) farms by integrating the Hassi Ben Abdellah zone and the N'goussa zone into the phoenicultural production and market gardening systems

Typology of Farms
This typology consists in characterizing the types of farms identified and highlighting their assets and constraints and identifying their evolution. To this end, we identified four types of farms in the two study areas based on farm size and cropping systems. The typology highlights the following systems:  In relation to the cultivation system:  Model A: phoenicultural system (date palm);  Model B: phoenicultural system and vegetable crops;  Model C: phoenicultural system + market garden crops under shelter and underlying crops (excluding palm) and fruit trees.  Abandoned model  In relation to the size of the farm:  Large-scale operations > 2ha;  Small-scale operation  2ha. The typology we have developed shows that the polyculture production system (date palm, market gardening and fruit trees ....) is a system diversified by the different cultivation practices and remains open to new cultivation practices and techniques. This has been confirmed by Bouammar [6] WHO states that "The stability of the phoenicultural production system and the extension of phoenicultural areas on cereal farms, combined with a decrease in cereal areas, all indicate that the phoenicultural production system is more profitable and more sustainable".

Type of Manure
The manure used in the Hassi ben Abdellah and N'goussa area is shown in the following table:

Use of Phytosanitary Products
According to our surveys in the farms in the area the majority of farmers use phytosanitary products (such as pesticides and herbicides) against the diseases that affect your crop. But the majority of farmers do not recognize the risks of irrational use of these products.

Evolution of The Seal Production System
The number of farms growing only date palms (generally Deglet Nour and Ghars) in the two study zones. Underlying crops and a few fruit trees, as a second stratum, for self-consumption are found. This system is generally characterized by small areas, with production oriented towards a large proportion for self-consumption. In addition, the phoenicultural production system is weakly integrated upstream to the input market (requires few inputs) and above all more labour-intensive. This singularity makes it more suitable in terms of sustainability and much more likely to diversify economically.

Discussions
There are several indicators to assess the sustainability of farms in the Ouargla area among them:

Indicators of Farm Sustainability
As IDEA is an ecosystem and quantitative approach method that was developed in a multidisciplinary working group. This grid makes it possible to quantitatively evaluate, for a plot or a vegetable farm, practices likely to go in the direction of sustainable development. [2].

Agro-Ecological Sustainability
The average for agro-ecological sustainability was 46 points out of 100. This pillar of sustainability brings together ecological diversity, spatial organization and agricultural practices. Figure 5 shows the large difference between the average of this component and its theoretical maximum. The farms are less diversified in terms of production and the activity as carried out does not promote the maintenance of specific soil diversity. Among the indicators of this component, only that of "Valorization and conservation of the genetic heritage".

Socio-Territorial Durability
The average of this dimension of sustainability was 20 points out of 100. The average for this dimension of durability was 20 out of 100 points. This pillar of sustainability has three components: human development, management and quality of production and employment and local development. The "human development" component had an average of 18 points with a maximum of 33 points. This indicator is less represented on farms in this region

Durability Economic
This sustainability scale has four components: sustainability, transferability, independence and efficiency. Had a dimension of 33 out of 100 points. Vegetable farms are. These observations are linked to the small cultivated areas which do not allow producers to reap high profits.

Socio-Economic Constraints
The constraints related to socio-economic problems in our study are mainly: the cost of electricity, lack of manpower and the problem of theft, the increase in the price of fertilizer and seed. This implies that the economic environment has a strong influence on the functioning of these farms.

Environmental Constraints
Among the environmental problems from which the farms suffer we mention the diseases that affect market gardening crops especially, silting (problem of wind. and the absence of wind breezes) and the great problem of weeds especially (Guesab: Phragmites communis) problem of drainage functioning that occurs mainly in the area of N'goussa (old palm grove). The natural conditions in the Ouargla region require a rigorous management of these conditions in order to achieve acceptable agricultural production. Analysis of the results (1st Figure) indicates that the most dominant natural constraint in the region raised by the farmers is climatic: frequent and violent sand winds cause damage to young plantations.
Silting of the development perimeters may occur in the medium term. To cope with this phenomenon, the need to invest in the establishment of adequate wind breakers becomes an absolute necessity for the protection of these recent farms following the problems affecting crops, especially market gardens (diseases). The water stress in these desert environments is forcefully raised by farmers despite a very large underground water reserve in the region. The study by DADAMOUSSA et al [8] also indicates the constraints on the environmental level: soil pollution by salinisation and the waste of non-renewable fossil water.

Conclusion
Our study showed that the monoculture system (date palm) in the N'goussa area is slowly evolving and remains more stable and sustainable. On the other hand, in Hassi Ben Abdellah, the Phoeniculture farms have been extended by the introduction of market gardening. The polyculture system (Phoeniculture and market gardening system) in the two study areas is evolving through farming practices and techniques (mechanical ploughing 50%, use of organic manure more than 90%, crop treatment more than 80%). For the "abandonment" system, most of the farms are transformed into "fallow" land. The areas of Hassi Ben Abdellah and N'goussa have experienced a remarkable dynamic in the development of market gardening in greenhouses. This situation is the result of an evolution of the production system which was mainly phoenicultural and underwent profound changes to give birth to a market gardening production system and a mixed production system (market gardeningphoenicultural). The Ouargla region's Farm Sustainability Indicator (IDEA) is important. The assessment of agro-ecological, socio-territorial and economic indicators indicates that the agroecological indicator is the most represented by (the indicator of fertilizer and agricultural practices) by 46 out of 100. The management of development perimeters or operations is complex for the management and development actors and for the operators. Several natural and socio-economic constraints exist and they constitute an impediment to agricultural development in the Ouargla region. Indeed, the scarcity of irrigation water, desertification, diseases of