Category Archives: Central Asia

‘Drylands and Rangelands: Harnessing Change’ at Global Landscapes Forum in New York
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‘Drylands and Rangelands: Harnessing Change’ at Global Landscapes Forum in New York

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The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is delighted to announce that a session devoted to drylands and rangelands is being incorporated in the agenda of a big event of the estimable Global Landscapes Forum, which is taking place all day tomorrow, in New York City. The theme of this forum, which led by ILRI’s sister CGIAR centre, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), is ‘Restore the Earth: Opportunities and Partnerships’. Continue reading →

New DNA analysis of Asian sheep reveals unique diversity crucial to contemporary food and climate concerns
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New DNA analysis of Asian sheep reveals unique diversity crucial to contemporary food and climate concerns

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At a time when the price of mutton is climbing and wool crashing, a groundbreaking new study has used advanced genetic sequencing technology to rewrite the history of sheep breeding and trading along the ancient Silk Road—insights that can help contemporary herders in developing countries preserve or recover valuable traits crucial to their food and economic security. The new findings regarding one of the first animals ever domesticated will be published in the October print edition of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. They are the product of an unprecedented collaboration involving scientists in China, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The team analysed the complete mitochondrial DNA of 42 domesticated native sheep breeds from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Finland, China and the United Kingdom, along with two wild sheep species from Kazakhstan. Continue reading →