Wagyu cattle breeding in Japan: progress and future prospects
2010
Iwaisaki, H., Kyoto Univ., Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan). Div of Bioscience
Wagyu cattle or Japanese modern native beef cattle had been bred in Japan for over 100 years as a domestic large animal. These cattle were developed through a completely closed breeding system to produce highly marbled meat. There are four breeds of Wagyu, of which the Japanese Black is considered the primary breed. Genetic evaluation of animals and on-farm progeny testing of bulls for carcass traits using routine field data play an important role in the current Japanese Black breeding program. Clear genetic trends of traits including marbling are currently observed. In the future, while keeping the degree of marbling in the current population, improvement of traits will be focused on fatty acid composition of fat, as well as meat quantity. In performance testing of bulls, growth traits and residual feed intake are regarded as important. For breeding females, reproductive traits particularly calf production index is considered an important selection criterion. Actual use of DNA information in the breeding applications will be gradually advancing. There is extremely limited genetic diversity in the Japanese Black population, so that an effective strategy for recovering the genetic diversity has become very important.
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