Production environment recording
2009
Scherf, B. | Tixier-Boichard, Michèle | Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) ; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [France] (FAO) ; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [Rome, Italie] (FAO)-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [Rome, Italie] (FAO) | Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative (GABI) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech
Improved understanding of the adaptation of livestock breeds to their production environments is important for many decisions in the field of AnGR management, ranging from genetic improvement to conservation. However, adaptation is complex and difficult to measure. One approach to this problem is to characterize adaptation indirectly by describing the production environments in which a breed has been kept over time, and to which it has probably become adapted. Comprehensive and comparable descriptions of the production environments in which animals are kept are also needed to make meaningful evaluations of performance data and to enable comparative analysis of the performance of different breeds. To address these requirements and in accordance with the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, it has been proposed that a recognized set of “production environment descriptors“ should be established and used throughout the world as a common framework for describing breeds' production environments. An important aspect of the process will be the georeferencing of breed distributions, which will allow them to be linked to a range of existing georeferenced data sets (e.g. climatic data). The link between a breed and a specific production environment may offer a basis for the development of a niche market; examples in include the Bresse chicken of France and the Abondance and Tarentaise cattle breeds of the northern Alps. Such niche markets represent important opportunities for keeping traditional breeds in use.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Institut national de la recherche agronomique