Abstract
Breeding strategies for smallholder dairy farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were simulated and evaluated considering cow traits identified as priorities by farmers in different agro-ecological zones. These traits were related to cow milk yield, fertility, temperament, feed intake and disease resistance. The first breeding strategy was based on continuous importation of genetically superior exotic dairy sire semen to SSA and crossing with local females leading to a gradual upgrade of the indigenous population. The second strategy assumed that semen from elite exotic bulls would be imported to SSA and used on indigenous cows to produce F1 animals. Thereafter, elite animals would be selected from within the F1 and each subsequent generation to establish a new synthetic breed. The third strategy was to improve the indigenous population by genetically selecting the best sires available domestically. Results showed positive genetic progress for all breeding goal traits. After 15 generations of selection, the genetic response of the importation strategy exceeded the corresponding genetic response of the synthetic breed strategy by 20%-60%. The former also exceeded the genetic response of the indigenous breed improvement strategy by 43%-75%. Potentially there is an opportunity for breeders to choose an appropriate breeding strategy that fits a specific need of smallholder dairy farmers.
Highlights
Earlier research was undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has confirmed that the rate of genetic improvement for milk yield from indigenous breeds is low, ranging from 0% to 0.15% per year (Galukande et al, 1962; Mahadevan et al, 1962; Marshall et al, 2019)
The study quantified the relative merit of three distinct breeding strategies: (a) upgrade of the indigenous population through systematic importation of exotic sire semen and crossing, (b) development of a new synthetic breed based on first-generation crossing between indigenous and imported exotics, and within scheme versus B5a versus C6a
Our results showed that increasing the artificial insemination (AI) uptake to 100% led to increased TEMP in the synthetic breed and the indigenous population mainly due to the high relative emphasis of TEMP in the Overall Farmer Index compared to the Exotic Index, where genetic improvement of the exotics in the country of origin was based on
Summary
Earlier research was undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has confirmed that the rate of genetic improvement for milk yield from indigenous breeds is low, ranging from 0% to 0.15% per year (Galukande et al, 1962; Mahadevan et al, 1962; Marshall et al, 2019). The indigenous and exotic dairy breeds have been often crossed in unsystematic ways to produce a mixture of cattle of varying genetic composition (Mujibi et al, 2019). Upgrading to higher grade exotics has been viewed as compromising animal fitness and adaptability and often less economical than either generating F1 or improving indigenous ecotypes (Singh, 2015). Breed preference has been often used as a guide for choosing breeding dairy cattle instead of individual animal selection based on a well-d efined breeding goal with relevant animal traits. Performance of F1 crosses reportedly depends on the type of exotic breed used and the quality of breeding bulls selected within a breed (Vaccaro et al, 1999). Studies in the tropics have shown that Holstein-F riesian crosses offer the highest advantage for production traits while Jersey crosses have better fertility compared to the former (Singh, 2015)
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