Definition of the Subject
A major long-term challenge of animal breeding is to ensure that animal breeding is sustainable, in order to contribute to a stable long-term contribution of food for the globe. The need to address sustainability in animal breeding schemes has increased as the development in the last decades has been toward larger demands for food, fewer breeds contributing to the production of animal products, low effective population sizes despite the actual populations being large, and a decreasing number of breeding schemes providing the majority of the genetics underlying production of animal products.
The FAO report on The State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture [1] indicates that the vast majority of developing countries have not been successful in sustaining genetic improvement in their livestock populations. Among the breeds considered to be in active use, 77% are located in developing countries. Animal...
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Abbreviations
- Animal breeding:
-
Intentional breeding for certain traits, or combination of traits, by selecting animals for breeding with superior genotypes in growth rate, egg, meat, milk, or wool production, or in other desirable traits.
- Animal genetic resources:
-
Genetic diversity, either characterized or as yet uncharacterized, that is found in economically important animals.
- Animal welfare:
-
Animal welfare is the viewpoint that some or all animals, especially those under human care, should be treated in such a way that they do not suffer unnecessarily.
- Effective population size:
-
Is the size of an idealized population that would behave the same as an actual population. The ideal population is one in which there is random mating and no selection. The effective size of a population is typically smaller than its actual size.
- Genetic trends:
-
Changes in the mean breeding value of a population over time for one or more traits.
- Stakeholders:
-
Any party that has an interest (“stake”) in a project or activity, which in the context of this chapter is animal breeding.
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FAO (2010) Breeding strategies for sustainable management of animal genetic resources: FAO animal production and health guidelines, vol 3. FAO, Rome, 160 pp
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Berg, P. (2013). Animal Breeding , Long-Term Challenges . In: Christou, P., Savin, R., Costa-Pierce, B.A., Misztal, I., Whitelaw, C.B.A. (eds) Sustainable Food Production. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5797-8_345
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