Using a combination of short-read sequencing, single-molecule long-read sequencing and Hi-C chromosome conformation capture technologies scientists were able to assemble a chromosome scale genome of elephant grass and found an abundance of information. Continue reading
Category Archives: Livestock Productivity
International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists: A Mongolian proposal to the UN for 2026
On 2 Oct 2020, the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), after more than 50 governments and 150 organizations from every continent expressed their support, endorsed the Mongolian Government’s proposal to declare an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) 2026. Continue reading
A 1,000-year-old ‘Evolutionary Jolt’ helped African cattle adapt to the continent’s multiple challenges
A new study in Nature Genetics retraced 1,000 years of African pastoralist cattle breeding, identifying how cattle acquired the traits that enabled them to spread throughout the continent NAIROBI, Kenya (30 Sep 2020)— Scientists sifting through the DNA of indigenous African cattle breeds announced today the discovery of a thousand-year-old ‘admixture event’ between the world’s … Continue reading
ILRI Forage Genebank supports development of improved forage varieties to increase livestock productivity in Ethiopia
The recent release of the CGIAR Genebank Platform 2019 annual report highlights that, for the third year in a row, germplasm distribution to requesters outside of the CGIAR exceeded that to those inside the CGIAR. Ethiopia ranked as one of the top 10 countries receiving germplasm from the CGIAR. Nearly 60% of these, representing a … Continue reading