GENETIC RESOURCES OF FARM ANIMALS IN BULGARIA – CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

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During the resent years zootechnical science and practice have paid attention on the preservation, management, and rational use of genetic resources in farm animals. Currently genetic resources conservation and their effective use are the major factor for sustainable development of mankind. The aim of this study is to present the status and opportunities for preservation, use of genetic resources and management capabilities of genetic resources of farm animals. Still there are methods and technologies that can restore the gene pool of extinct breed in country, which is confirmed by the concepts of FAO irreversibility of lost genetic diversity within breeds and populations. Besides genetic factors in the literature are described and non-genetic (anthropogenic) factors behind the erosion and loss of genetic resources in livestock including cattle rearing-like economic, socio-political and demographics factors, climate chang and the associated immediate disaster and accidents: disease outbreaks affecting animals. There have not been developed programmes for conservation of any of the risk breeds. No stimuli are applied to help the population in storage and conservation of such breeds. The objectives of the conservation programmes in breeding farms animals are the conservation of the genetic resources through increasing the size of the population, conservation of the in-breed diversity and drawing the inbreeding to a minimum.
 The main stimuli for maintenance and management of the genetic diversity are the subsidies for breeding stock animals. The goals of conservation are maintenance of breeds and lines and in the long-term improvement of breeds through new methods and techniques of contol, applied in selection. Conservation programmes in farm animals have been developed in the country, and have been foreign programmes. Such programmes do not affect the food resource of the country, but help to organized and manage genetic resources. Bulgaria has set out to achieve improvement and conservation genetic resources and genetic diversity and the quality of productivity and determining the breeding activity of the yielded production through improvement of the genetic potential of the animals, the products from the animals have to meet the requirements for food security and they have to have high consumer quality. In the last years significant changes have occurred in the country in the goal-oriented help for the storage of the endangered breeds. The most significant measure is the programme of the Ministry of Agriculture, The Agency for Selection and Reproduction on the Farm Animals, Agency for Conservation Genetic Resources on the Farm Animals.