Exchange, use and conservation of animal genetic resources : policy and regulatory options

The aim of this report is to support informed and evidence-based decision-making by exploring a range of policy and regulatory options related to exchange, use and conservation of AnG

Back to the future : How Scenarios of future globalisation, biotechnology, disease and climate change can inform present animal genetic resources policy development

With the aim of assessing how exchange practices regarding Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (AnGR) affect the various stakeholders in the livestock sector and to identify policies and regulatory options that could guide the global exchange, use and conservation of AnGR, an exploration of future scenarios was used as a complementary approach to reviewing the current situation, as well as to identify stakeholders’ views on AnGR policy development. Four 2050 future scenarios were developed and included:1. Globalization and regionalization.2. Biotechnology development.3. Climate change and environmental degradation.4. Diseases and disasters.Having developed the scenarios, these were then used as an input point for a wide range of stakeholder consultations. The findings show that such an approach has been a useful analytical tool. The ‘far’ future perspective appeared to make people less defensive, especially in a situation where current exchange problems were not yet particularly visible or well documented. Many interviewees broadly considered that it was not a question of ‘if’ the scenarios would happen, but rather a question of ‘when’. This implies that we might do well to consider the need to respond to future challenges through the proactive development of new policies or regulations. Such a finding is partly in contrast with the general perception of the current regulatory situation being broadly acceptable

Review of small ruminant research and development activities in Ethiopia

Discusses the economic importance of small ruminants in the national livestock economies in Ethiopia. Looks at major constraints like feeding and marketing and discusses social factors that hindered the development of sheep and goat industry. The current and future research and development priorities set by a technical committee were reviewed

Ethiopian Adal sheep: Genetic and environmental factors affecting body weights and post-weaning gain

Genetic and environmental factors affecting performance of Adal sheep are investigated. Birth records of 723 Adal lambs at Melka Werer research station were analysed to determine effects on birth, weaning, 6-month and yearling weights and post-weaning daily gain. Year, sex and type of birth had highly significant effects on all traits except year on birth weight and post-weaning daily gain, and type of birth on post-weaning daily gain. Heritability estimates were of low magnitude, expect that of yearling weights. Genetic correlations were all positive and of high magnitude, except for those of birth weights. Taking yearling weight as the selection criteria is the most effective way for increasing body weight in comparison with other traits in the study

A note on the relationship between duration of mating season and flock fertility in some Ethiopian breeds of sheep and goats

Analyzes mating/parturition records on Ethiopian sheep and goat breeds, to study the effect of the duration of mating season on flock fertility, with emphasis on data related to cumulative percentage of females conceiving at different intervals of the mating season

Productivity of Horro ewes under 12-monthly and 8-monthly mating systems

After a preliminary common lambing, Horro ewes were mated either twice at 12-month intervals or three times at 8-month intervals over a period of two years. There were no significant differences between the two mating systems in their productivity at each lambing. However, ewes in the 8-monthly system lambed on average 2.6 times during the two years, whereas ewes in the 12-monthly system lambed on average only 1.6 times during the same period. As a consequence, total production over two years increased from 2.2 to 3.5 lambs born

Productivity of purebred Adal and quarterbred Saanen x Adal goats in Ethiopia

The productivity of Ethiopian Adal and quarterbred Saanen x Adal goats was compared over 5 yr. Annual percentages of does kidding and of multiple births were 79 and 39. Kids born and kids weaned per doe joined were 1.12 and 0.95. Birth weights were 2.2 kg. Mortality rates from birth to weaning (3 mo), between 3 mos and 6 mos and between 6 mos and 12 mos were 14%, 6% and 4%. No differences (P > 0.05) between the genotypes were noted in any of the foregoing parameters. Quarterbred Saanen x Adal does produced more (P 0.05). Crossing Adal goats with Saanens to the quartebred level could increase milk production in the existing pastoral system without reducing other aspects of productivity and with no requirement for improved management or increased feed resources

The Effects Of Slip Condition And Multiple Stenoses On Micropolar Fluid Flow Through A Channel Of Non-Uniform Cross-Section

In this paper, steady incompressible micropolar fluid flow through a non-uniform channel with multiple stenoses is considered. Assuming the stenoses to be mild and using the slip boundary condition, the equations governing the flow of the proposed model are solved, and closed-form expressions for the flow characteristics (resistance to flow and wall shear stress) are derived. The effects of different parameters on these flow characteristics are analyzed. It is observed that both the resistance to the flow and the wall shear stress increase with the heights of the stenoses and the slip parameter; but decrease with the Darcy number. Furthermore, the effects of the wall exponent parameter, the cross-viscosity coefficient and the micropolar parameter on the flow characteristics are discussed