Abstract
Two different animal models, which differ in whether or not taking maternal genetic effect into account, for estimating genetic parameters of cashmere weight, live body weight, cashmere thickness, staple length, fiber diameter, and fiber length in Inner Mongolia White Cashmere Goat were compared via likelihood ratio test. The results indicate that maternal genetic effect has significant influence on live body weight and cashmere thickness, but no significant influence on the other traits. Using models suitable for each trait, both genetic parameters and trends were analyzed with the MTDFREML program. Heritability estimates from single trait models for cashmere weight, live body weight, cashmere thickness, staple length, fiber diameter and fiber length were found to be 0.30, 0.07, 0.21, 0.29, 0.28 and 0.21, respectively. Genetic correlation estimates from two-trait models between live body weight and all other traits (-0.06~0.07) was negligible, as were those between fiber diameter and all other traits (-0.01~0.03) except cashmere thickness (0.19). Cashmere weight and staple length had moderate to low genetic correlations with other traits (-0.24~0.39 and -0.24~0.34, respectively) except for live body weight and fiber diameter. Cashmere thickness had a strong genetic correlation with fiber length (0.81), and low genetic correlation with other traits (0.19~0.34) except live body weight. Genetic trend analysis suggests that selection for cashmere weight was very effective, which has led to the slow genetic progress of cashmere thickness and fiber length due to their genetic correlations with cashmere weight. The selection for live body weight was not effective, which was consistent with its low inheritability.
Highlights
China is the largest producer of cashmere, with yields accounting for 50% the world’s total production
Animals and traits The data used in this study was collected from the Aerbasi White Cashmere Goat Breeding Farm in Inner Mongolia, China
Between April and May each year, data are collected for cashmere weight (CW), live body weight (LBW) after shearing, cashmere thickness (CT), staple length (SL), fiber diameter (FD), and fiber length (FL)
Summary
China is the largest producer of cashmere, with yields accounting for 50% the world’s total production. The Inner Mongolian White Cashmere Goat (IMWG) is one of the major cashmere goat breeds in China. The cashmere produced by the IMWG is characterized by its brightness, color, elasticity, thin diameter, and feel. With the increasing demand for cashmere in domestic and foreign markets in recent years, cashmere production from the IMWG has steadily increased. The estimation of genetic parameters is an important aspect of animal breeding. Only a few reports focus on cashmere goats (Pattie and Restall, 1989, Baker et al, 1991; Bigham et al, 1993; Bishop and Russel, 1996; Li et al, 2001; Zhou et al, 2002) and in these reports the numbers of animals in the data set were commonly small, from hundreds to thousands.
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