Challenges and opportunities for beef production in developing countries of the southern hemisphere.

Abstract

Livestock production faces specific challenges due to a rise in population numbers, urbanization and economic development in the developing world. A substantial increase in demand for meat in these countries will offer larger market opportunities for livestock producers. Developing countries from the southern hemisphere are characterized by a highly dualistic beef cattle sector with communal, subsistence or small scale farmers and large commercial farmers co-existing. Whereas the off-take from the commercial sector is high, the off-take from the other sectors is still low in certain regions. Global warming is expected to have a negative effect on the beef production environments of these countries. By describing production environments it will be possible to identify genotypes that are adapted to the environment. Tools are needed to overlay geo-referenced data sets onto the different environments in order to quantify them. Gene or marker assisted selection may play an important role in selection for disease and parasite resistance or tolerance, since it is difficult to measure these traits directly. Strategies that utilize EBVs derived from genomic analyses (genomic EBVs), together with conventional mixed model methodology, may speed up the process of breeding animals with higher and more efficient production. Research into methane production will also have to be stimulated. Up to 27 more results found for "MWAI O"