Evaluation of production and reproduction of sheep, goat and alpaca genotypes in the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program.

Research has been conducted as part of the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program (SR-CRSP) on evaluation of genetic resources and methods of effecting genetic improvement of small ruminants in the participating countries. In Kenya, the focus has been on development of a dual-purpose goat for milk and meat production in farming areas, utilizing two locally adapted breeds, Galla and East African, and two imported dairy breeds, Anglo-Nubian and Toggenburg, into a single stock. That research now has reached the stage of field testing. In Morocco, the performance of a highly prolific breed of sheep, the D'Man, and of a less prolific but larger breed, commonly raised under extensive management, the Sardi, and of their F1, F2 and backcross progeny has been evaluated for several reproduction and growth traits. Prolificacy of the D'Man was transmitted additively, but there was favorable heterosis for age at puberty, fertility and growth rate, resulting in substantial heterosis in total performance. In Indonesia, a high degree of variability in prolificacy in sheep appears to be due to segregation of a gene with large effect on ovulation rate, similar in some respects to the Booroola gene. In Peru, work has involved evaluation of effectiveness of current selection programs and estimation of phenotypic and genetic parameters, in unimproved and improved types of sheep, with a limited amount of work also on alpacas. Fiber production is the principal economic trait in alpacas. There also has been work on evaluation of hair sheep in Brazil, Kenya and Indonesia.