The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources

Africa is richly endowed with large numbers of indigenous livestock breeds. However, there is a perception that a major constraint to livestock production is the limited genetic potential of these breeds. This paper uses the Nguni from South Africa as an example, and demonstrates the role of rese...

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Main Author: Scholtz, M.M.
Format: Conference Paper
Language:Inglés
Published: TSAP and ILRI 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4766
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author Scholtz, M.M.
author_browse Scholtz, M.M.
author_facet Scholtz, M.M.
author_sort Scholtz, M.M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Africa is richly endowed with large numbers of indigenous livestock breeds. However, there is a perception that a major constraint to livestock production is the limited genetic potential of these breeds. This paper uses the Nguni from South Africa as an example, and demonstrates the role of research in addressing such misconceptions. Initial studies on the Nguni in the early 1980s indicated that the Nguni has the shortest calving interval of all beef breeds and its efficiency exceeded that of most breeds. This resulted in a revived interest in the Nguni from the seed stock industry, and the Nguni is currently numerically the sixth largest beef breed in the country. The seed stock industry requires breeds to be competitive, hence a need for selection. This is in contrast to keeping animals in their natural state, which implies a breed should remain the same and be frozen in time.
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spelling CGSpace47662022-02-18T12:42:24Z The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources Scholtz, M.M. research livestock Africa is richly endowed with large numbers of indigenous livestock breeds. However, there is a perception that a major constraint to livestock production is the limited genetic potential of these breeds. This paper uses the Nguni from South Africa as an example, and demonstrates the role of research in addressing such misconceptions. Initial studies on the Nguni in the early 1980s indicated that the Nguni has the shortest calving interval of all beef breeds and its efficiency exceeded that of most breeds. This resulted in a revived interest in the Nguni from the seed stock industry, and the Nguni is currently numerically the sixth largest beef breed in the country. The seed stock industry requires breeds to be competitive, hence a need for selection. This is in contrast to keeping animals in their natural state, which implies a breed should remain the same and be frozen in time. 2006 2011-08-14T11:58:29Z 2011-08-14T11:58:29Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4766 en Open Access TSAP and ILRI Scholtz, M.M. 2006. The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources. In: Rege, J.E.O.; Nyamu, A.M.; Sendalo, D. (eds.). 2006. The role of biotechnology in animal agriculture to address poverty in Africa: Opportunities and challenges. Proceedings of the 4th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture and the 31st annual meeting of Tanzania Society for Animal Production, Arusha, Tanzania, 20–24 September 2005. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: TSAP and Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
spellingShingle research
livestock
Scholtz, M.M.
The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title_full The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title_fullStr The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title_full_unstemmed The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title_short The role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
title_sort role of research and a seed stock industry in the in situ conservation of livestock genetic resources
topic research
livestock
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4766
work_keys_str_mv AT scholtzmm theroleofresearchandaseedstockindustryintheinsituconservationoflivestockgeneticresources
AT scholtzmm roleofresearchandaseedstockindustryintheinsituconservationoflivestockgeneticresources