Category Archives: Sheep

Climate-smart livestock farming in developing countries is boosted by a £10-million research award
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Climate-smart livestock farming in developing countries is boosted by a £10-million research award

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Researchers at the Roslin Institute will be using funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates, which is a proven approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health is an alliance between the Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Africa-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The partner institutions are making additional contributions with a value of £10 million to support the initiative over the next five years. Continue reading →

New DNA analysis of Asian sheep reveals unique diversity crucial to contemporary food and climate concerns
Animal Breeding / Article / Asia / Breeds / Central Asia / China / Genetics / Geodata / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / LiveGene / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Middle East / Sheep / Small Ruminants / Spotlight

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 →

Kenya’s native goats and sheep, expertly crossbred, are key to helping farmers cope with climate change
Agriculture / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / Article / Breeds / CCAFS / Climate Change / East Africa / Genetics / Goats / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / LiveGene / Livestock / Sheep / Small Ruminants

Kenya’s native goats and sheep, expertly crossbred, are key to helping farmers cope with climate change

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Smallholder farmers and pastoral herders in East Africa are the target of an ongoing joint project of ILRI, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Continue reading →

Celebrating the ‘Year of the Goat’ (or ‘Sheep’, or ‘Ram’) today–with one-sixth of the world
Asia / China / Event / Goats / ILRI / Livestock / Sheep / Southeast Asia / Spotlight / Vietnam

Celebrating the ‘Year of the Goat’ (or ‘Sheep’, or ‘Ram’) today–with one-sixth of the world

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On the occasion of Vietnamese lunar New Year 2015, we wish you a New Year of the Goat good health, prosperity and happiness.—Hung Nguyen and the rest of the staff in the Hanoi office of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Continue reading →