Beef and dairy cattle breeding research and development

During the year 1998 the Beef and Dairy Cattle Breeding and Development Project has completed 4 majors activities as described by categories. (1) The database development. The CD package of beef and dairy cattle production and management for Thai beef and dairy producers was completed. (2) Genetic evaluation and development. Genetic parameters for birth trait was estimated from 562 beef records for the prediction of breeding value. It was found that the genetic parameters were in medium to high values and yielded high breeding value for the birth weight (-1.8 to 2.1 kg). It showed that rapid selection response would be expected from this commercial beef herd. The study of genetic parameters related to fattening beef cattle at various ages and period were conducted. It was found that location from which animals were bought from, month of fattening, and period of fattening had significant effect on body weight gain (p0.01). The prediction of breeding value from the Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand was developed for the 4th year. (3) The use of GIS technique to identify the optimum area for dairy production. It was found that the area recommened for the dairy production had not been found to rais dairy cattle by farmers. The return on investment in this notsuitable area yielded the B:C ratio of 1.09 which revealed very low impact. The local crossbred cows showed comparatively better adaptation than the imported crossbred ones inspite of the lower milk yield per day (12.5 vs 10.1 kg). The artificial insemination index of the local cows was superior than the imported ones (1.8 vs 2.2). (4) Seminar and release of research results. National seminar on beef and dairy cattle breeding research and development was held during October 15-16, 1998 at Maruay Garden Hotel in Bangkok. More than 150 scientists and related persons from government organization and private sectors joined the meeting. Press release by radio stations and television. Reports of activities during the 10 years study (1989-1998) was published and distributed to more than 100 organizations concerned.