Review of sheep crossbreeding based on exotic sires and among indigenous breeds in the tropics: An Ethiopian perspective

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen_US
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationAmhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopiaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areasen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Viennaen_US
cg.contributor.crpLivestock and Fishen_US
cg.contributor.donorAustrian Development Agencyen_US
cg.coverage.countryEthiopiaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ETen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierAynalem: 0000-0001-5914-0487en_US
cg.creator.identifierMaria Wurzinger: 0000-0001-9391-014Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierBarbara Rischkowsky: 0000-0002-0035-471Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierSolomon Gizaw: 0000-0002-0600-7188en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.5897/ajar2013.10626en_US
cg.issn1991-637Xen_US
cg.issue11en_US
cg.journalAfrican Journal of Agricultural Researchen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.ilriANIMAL BREEDINGen_US
cg.subject.ilriBREEDSen_US
cg.subject.ilriINDIGENOUS BREEDSen_US
cg.subject.ilriSHEEPen_US
cg.subject.ilriSMALL RUMINANTSen_US
cg.volume11en_US
dc.contributor.authorGetachew, T.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHaile, Aynalemen_US
dc.contributor.authorWurzinger, Mariaen_US
dc.contributor.authorRischkowsky, Barbara A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGizaw, Solomonen_US
dc.contributor.authorAbebe, A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSölkner, Johannen_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-18T08:09:41Zen_US
dc.date.available2016-04-18T08:09:41Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/72937en_US
dc.titleReview of sheep crossbreeding based on exotic sires and among indigenous breeds in the tropics: An Ethiopian perspectiveen_US
dcterms.abstractThe objective of this review paper is to examine whether or not sheep crossbreeding is a feasible option to improve indigenous sheep breeds in developing countries using Ethiopian case as example. The paper reviewed and discussed the history of exotic breed introduction, research, and development efforts in crossbreeding and performance of crossbreds under on-station and on-farm management. Earlier, the choice of breed for crossbreeding overlooked interests and preferences of farmers mainly for physical appearance. More recently the introduction of Awassi sheep considered their preference. Performance evaluation results from the on-station and on-farm (mainly based on Awassi pilot crossbreeding villages) showed that crossbreds often outperformed their local contemporaries. Thus comparisons of pure local sheep and crossbreds among those breeds produced in some areas indicated a good outcome of this type of crossbreeding. However, the performance of crossbred sheep varied by location and depended on management and exotic inheritance levels. For most programs, no comprehensive data were available to do on-farm comparisons of herd productivity and cost-benefits or to evaluate the sustainability of the programs. Regardless of location, farmers participating in crossbreeding often showed keen interest in crossbreeding, mainly due to the fast growth, larger body size of crossbreds resulting in higher market prices as compared to their local sheep breeds. Ram multiplication and dissemination from the government farms were found inefficient. The predominant practice of a ubiquitous dissemination and selling of breeding rams to individual farmer dilute the efforts of crossbreeding and prevents generating the benefits expected from crossbreeding programs. Furthermore, indiscriminate crossbreeding without prior analysis of suitability of crossbreds for a given production environment and without clear breeding objectives presents a potential threat to better adapted indigenous breeds. Crossbreeding programs require strong research and development support from public service and non-governmental institutions for sustainable design, optimization, and implementation in clearly defined production environments.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2016-03-17en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationGetachew, T., Haile, A., Wurzinger, M., Rischkowsky, B., Gizaw, S., Abebe, A. and Sölkner, J. 2016. Review of sheep crossbreeding based on exotic sires and among indigenous breeds in the tropics: An Ethiopian perspective. African Journal of Agricultural Research 11(11):901-911.en_US
dcterms.extentp. 901-911en_US
dcterms.issued2016-03-15en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.publisherAcademic Journalsen_US
dcterms.subjectsheepen_US
dcterms.subjectanimal breedingen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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