36 Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources
Gustavo Gandini and Kor Oldenbroek
he relative economic advantage or disadvantage of a breed is a function of the relative prices for the diferent animal products. A breed, which is not used in high-input, high-
output systems, can be proitable in a low-input system through a high feed intake capacity, longevity, fertility, hardiness, quality of the products or a niche market for
its products see Box 2.2. In valuing breeds, besides the traditional products such as milk, meat, ibre, draught, etc., services such as insurance for the future development of
animal production, environmental and cultural functions should be taken into account. Assessing the economic values of all these components is fundamental to inform policy
decisions, to design economic incentives and to create added value to local breeds. Some research in this respect has been developed in the last years a Special Issue on Animal
Genetic Resources Anonymous, 2003 of Ecological Economics was dedicated to this aspect. In particular some componentsvalues of farm animal genetic resources are not
captured by the market. Speciic methods can be used for their economic valuation, such as techniques based on simulating hypothetical markets to estimate the willingness
to pay by the society and the willingness to accept by farmers. Reviews on economic valuation of farm animal genetic resources can be found in Drucker
et al. 2001, 2005, Roosen
et al. 2005, and a brief overview is presented in chapter 9.
3.2. Improving infrastructures and technical assistance
Most oten local breeds produce in areas characterised by speciic local socio-economic development. his might be associated with lack of infrastructure and technical
assistance, including networks for milk collection and processing, slaughterhouses, networks for commercialisation of products and performance recording. he absence
of breeders associations or breeding programmes plays a negative role on breed
Box 2.2. he use of high altitude pastures by the Abondance and Tarentaise cattle: An example of the establishment of the performance of breeds in a speciic environment.
he French Northern Alps are famous for their landscapes and opportunities for tourism and sport. Dairy cattle production is the main agricultural activity where milk is processed for cheese
production. In particular two cheeses, the Reblochon and the Beaufort, both produced under a Protected Designation of Origin PDO in small dairy factories, increased substantially in market
share over the last 25 years. Two local cattle breeds, the Abondance and the Tarentaise, play a central role in these cheese productions. Comparisons of these breeds with other French dairy
cattle Verrier
et al., 2005 revealed that the Abondance and Tarentaise have: walking capacity with a low impact on dairy production, better resistance to heat, better grazing activity on high
altitude pastures under harsh climatic conditions, and better roughage intake, fertility, longevity, somatic cell count, milk protein to fat ratio, milk clotting quality, cheese yield.
Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources 37
Chapter 2. Strategies for moving from conservation to utilisation
sustainability. It is likely that the removal of these constraints will create conditions and opportunities for increasing the economic performance of local breeds.
3.3. Genetic improvement
In general local breeds do not beneit from modern breeding techniques as much as they should. Selection programmes may increase genetic ability for productivity and
consequently proitability of local breeds. However, three major considerations have to be forwarded:
Breeding goals should take into account the conservation values of the breed. Traits proposed for selection should be accurately evaluated for their genetic correlations
with those traits that determine the conservation value of the breed, in order to avoid their deterioration. hese might include adaptation to a harsh environment
or to low-input production systems or traits like longevity, fertility and quality of meat and milk.
Breeding schemes should be adapted to the farming environment. here is a need for further research on this aspect and implementation of breeding schemes adapted
to lowmedium input production systems. Selection schemes should take into account maintenance of genetic variation within
the breed and risks associated with high rates of inbreeding. To reach these goals, a theoretical framework has been developed in the last years and sotware is available
for ield use see chapter 8.
3.4. Optimisation of the production system
In addition to genetic improvement, increasing the economic performance of local breeds might require re-organisation of their production systems, such as seasonal
planning of the production, changing age or weight at slaughter or introducing some crossbreeding.
Attention should be given to the conservation of the local breed. Taking the introduction of crossbreeding as an example:
Breeding schemes should guarantee the maintenance of viable populations of the local breed through a sound pure breeding scheme.
he breed might be used for the production of commercial crosses with a high performance breed. he commercial crosses might beneit from higher input
production systems, while the local breed should be maintained in its original production environment to maintain its adaptation characteristics.
•
• •
• •
38 Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources
Gustavo Gandini and Kor Oldenbroek
he use of the local breed as a female population instead of as male population, which might be more proitable may be advisable to guarantee the maintenance of
a large population of the local genotype adapted to the production environment. he use of a high performance breed that will produce crosses that cannot be
distinguished from the local breed is not advisable, because of the risk of involuntary introduction of exotic genotypes into the local breed.
3.5. Developing activities to increase the market value of breed products
Successful initiatives were developed in the last years to increase the commercial value of the traditional productions of local breeds. On the contrary, there is still a need for
strategies to induce the market recognising not traditional products, such as the cultural and environmental breed services. his paragraph discusses these two aspects.
3.5.1. Links between products and breeds
Generally the control and the enhancement of the quality of agricultural products is a combination of the raw material meat, milk and the processing. Many local breeds
give products of higher quality with respect to those of commercial breeds that were highly selected for quantitative production. In those countries where the market is ready
to recognise the quality of the products of local breeds, the traditional relationship between local breeds and products has been used to diversify products. In this way
products of local breeds are sold at a higher price, which improves their proitability. In the areas of the world where food security is given greater consideration, such as most
African regions, this approach can rarely be considered. However, an awareness of this option for local breeds is recommended all over the world.
Many successful experiences were developed in the last years supporting the approach of a marketing link between products and local breeds, including dairy and meat products,
such as many cheeses and the famous ham from the Iberian pig. Some examples are given in Boxes 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5. he increased interest in Europe for regional food products,
including the development of speciic organisations such as Slow Food www.slowfood. com, created favourable conditions for these experiences.
Some general conclusions can be drawn from known experiences: he link between product and breed can improve breed’s economic proitability.
Building this link ofers several options: e.g. the link can be part of a protected designation of origin PDO, such as occurs in Europe, or can be used to further
diferentiate a product within a market already diferentiated e.g. within a PDO.
• •
• •
