ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES DATA BANKS

ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES DATA BANKS I, CONCEPT, OBJECTIVES,
RESOURCES AND USES

Jan Rendel ¹

1.   BACKGROUND

The importance of maintaining genetic variability within and between farm animal populations, at the same time as these are subjected to improvement and change to suit the needs of man, has been amply stressed and discussed in earlier meetings and publications (e.g. FAO/UNEP 1981; Rendel 1975) and will not be further elaborated here. The action which needs to be taken in order to maintain variability or to utilize specific genetic traits such as adaptability to particular environments, e.g. high trypanosomiasis risk or exposure to high altitudes, requires precise information on a number of matters. In general, information is needed on the producti­vity of breeds or strains in a variety of environments, their breeding structure and population size as well as on specific characteristics of the environment where production is going to take place. Often the wanted information is incomplete, insufficient or even totally missing.

For obvious reasons the information systems vary considerably between countries and are often weak in the developing countries. This particular session will be devoted to reports on existing information systems and data banks and to discus­sions on how these may be further developed and strengthened. 1 think it would be useful if we could focus our discussions on the kind of information which is of particular importance to breeding programmes and genetic conservation in the develop­ing countries and on how collection and dissemination of such information and data may be best organized taking full cognisance of existing data banks and remembering that it may prove very difficult to find funds for financing additions to existing international or regional data and information handling programmes.

It is also important to define the term "data bank" from the very beginning. What type of data and information should a unit collect, keep and disseminate in order to classify as a data bank. Opinions may vary. Personally I would like to keep a wide definition and include the whole gamut of information from unprocessed data on individual animals and herds to abstracts of published reports as well as listings of breed associations, breed distributions, and use of artificial insemination, etc.

2.    WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION AND DATA ARE NEEDED?

It should be recognized that data banks and information centres will have to serve many purposes and different types of clients. The level of detail at which a centre will be able to work depends to a large extent on the geographical area it serves, i.e. whether it is national, regional or international in scope. The national data banks may keep unprocessed data on individual animals and herds, while regional and international units, for reasons of economy, will need to limit themselves to processed and summarized data and published and unpublished reports.

For animal genetic resources work one may largely distinguish between four broad groups of data:

1. Information on the number and distribution of breeds/strains of a given livestock species within countries or regions.
2. Information on breeding activities, e.g. breed societies, recording schemes, selection programmes, artificial insemination services, etc.
3. Data on the productivity and adaptability of animal strains in specified environments, preferably in comparison to one or several other strains used in the same environment.
4. Information on breeds in need of conservation and their specific "virtues".

3.    PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF DATA BANKS

The national activities for data collection, processing and use are of particular importance to breeding improvement. In the industrialized countries fairly large resources are devoted to livestock recording schemes and the processing and evaluation of data. The data centres have become cornerstones in elaborate breeding improvement programmes. These developments have largely taken place during the last three decades.

In the developing countries there are but a few examples of national production recording schemes. Information on individual animal productivity and adaptability is therefore very incomplete in these areas. This meeting will need to give considerable thought to how data recording, processing and evaluation can be improved in the developing countries.

In order to improve the situation and to collect and make available what information (published and unpublished) there is available on animal genetic resources, praiseworthy stop gap operations have been undertaken by regional organizations such as IBAR, ILCA, ALPA and SABRAO¹. We will hear details on these activities later on today. ILCA has for instance built up a computerized reference centre from which interested clients may receive reports and summaries on microfiche. A similar data bank dealing with information on the water buffalo is being built up in Bangkok with funds from the International Development Research Centre (Ottawa) (IDRC).

The question as to how regional bodies may realistically be able to collect detailed information on national animal strains has come up in several discussions recently. IBAR has tried to collect detailed information on livestock productivity through Ministries of Agriculture in member countries by sending out/?/ questionnaires. The results were, however, rather disappointing. SABRAO, which is a society for gene­ticists and breeders in Asia and Oceania, is currently involved in the collection of breed data by use of a rather elaborate questionnaire. Personally I am somewhat sceptical about placing high hopes on getting information by questionnaires. However, lacking better means one may have to rely on them to some extent. In the end it will be necessary to develop some kind of national data base in every country wanting to be involved in breeding improvement.

Internationally there are several data and reference systems. By tradition animal geneticists are utilizing the excellent services provided by the Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics and its Animal Breeding Abstracts. On request, and for a relatively modest fee, clients may purchase tailormade bibliographies and abstracts on specified subjects. We will hear more about this in the contribution by Dr. Turton.

4.    FUTURE NEEDS

The crucial problem with regard to animal genetic resources data banks, as 1 see it, is how to obtain the very much needed information on animal productivity and related data in the developing countries where there is so little organized production recording. Obviously one has to collect what little information there is and try to apply or extrapolate that information to other locations in the developing countries with similar conditions. However, action will also have to be taken to tackle the root of the problem, i.e. to improve the data recording. FAO has taken a number of initiatives in this regard and I think a part of our discussion will have to be devoted to this basic question. FAO has also employed two consultants to review the data bank systems in Africa and Latin America. Dr. Plasse will report on the latter region at this meeting and Dr. Philipsson's report on Africa has been distributed to you. We will hopefully get comments from the two main parties involved in data banks in Africa, IBAR and ILCA.

The future animal genetic' resources data bank sytems in the developing countries could most profitably be built up around existing national and regional organizations. The obvious place for national units will in most cases be in livestock production divisions of Ministries of Agriculture or Livestock Development where genetic resources information may be collected and kept together with other types of information on livestock production. It is, however, important to connect such national units to existing regional data and information centres and through them to develop uniform reporting routines. The regional data banks may thus have a key role in the future build-up of information systems in the developing regions. One question of considerable importance is to identify and strengthen existing and potential regional information centres so that they may play the role which is called for.

In the title of my little contribution given to me by the organizers of this consultation the word "uses" of the data banks comes last. Perhaps it should have come first as the utilization and usefulness of the data banks must be of prime concern. The participants in this meeting probably take for granted that information on animal genetic resources is useful and will be used. The major international information centre on animal genetic resources, the Commonwealth Bureau on Animal Breeding and Genetics, ha no doubt proved itself indispensable in the minds of many animal geneticists. But how is the situation for the regional units which are in existence or are being built up? What "niches" should they occupy? How much are they now being used by clients from the respective regions? There may be a need for a more precise definition of their roles and perhaps slightly more aggressive information about their existence so that they are more widely used by potential clients.

REFERENCES

THE CURRENT PROJECTS FOR CREATION OF DATA BANKS BY FAO/UNEP

John Hodges¹

1.    BACKGROUND

The idea of data banks on Animal Genetic Resources was proposed, among other items, at the 1980 FAO/UNEP Technical Consultation. Since then most of the recommendations from that Consultation have been funded by the joint FAO/UNEP Project on the Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources Phase II. This includes provision for the establishment of pilot data banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America in cooperation with existing regional/sub-regional/national institutions. FAO has also included funding for data banks in its Regular Programme.

This paper outline the steps taken by FAO to date. The work is at an early stage. We do not have a comprehensive or infallible method. In fact, we really only have a concept and a list of ways in which it could contribute to animal genetic conservation and management. We have to build up our own experiences in this field, although others have developed data banks in other disciplines. My contacts with them, over the last 12 months, however, have indicated that the style of the data bank depends very much upon the subject matter. We are therefore in need of experience. Consequently, the work of FAO and UNEP in the last 12 months has been in the direction of setting up pilot trials of methodology, which will reveal difficulties and problems as well as, hopefully, successes. Rather than attempt to draw up one large-scale pilot trial for the different regions of the world, we have established different approaches in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Unquetionably people in each country and region will have insights and suggestions to contribute.

Another very important aspect of the work which we in FAO have investigated is the existing system of research and production data which is offered by such institu­tions as the Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics. We do not want simply to duplicate what they are doing, especially as they are now computerized.

2.    OBJECTIVES

The purpose of data banks is to provide a comprehensive, and accessible decription of the characteristics of each breed and established crossbred population of livestock and birds, together with characterization of the environments to which the breed or cross are adapted. The characteristics to be described include all the production traits for the food, fibre or work products of the animals concerned, in addition to the distinguishing physical features of the breed. Separate values for genetic and phenotypic traits should be given. Reproductive performance should also be characterized. Estimates of the numbers of animals and their distribution should be given. Facility should be provided for the data banks to include information on newly investigated characteristics, such as blood and biochemical traits, karyotyping, and immunological characteristics. The data banks should provide the opportunity to record the suitability of breeds for crossing and the known performances of the crosses. It is essential that they remain open ended for the addition of later information, and for updating.

3.    USES

The data banks will be used for providing easy access to all the known information on a breed or cross, and thus avoid the user having to make an individual search and analysis. The information will then be used to identify breeds which are at risk of extinction, so that preventative action may be taken; and breeds known to make or be capable of making valuable contributions to human welfare in present circumstances, will be identified and genetic improvement programmes formulated. If appropriate these could be on an intercountry cooperative basis, so that the sub-populations of a breed are managed and improved with knowledge of what others are doing with other sub-populations of the same breed. The data banks will also be suitable for research into genetic characteristics, for extension and for the promotion of breeds and crosses to other parts of the region and world to which they may be adapted, but where they are unknown.

An important feature of data banks is that they should not be simply repositories of all the existing reports and research findings on a breed. For the latter, such repositories already exist in the Animal Breeding Abstracts of the Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics, which are held in the Lockheed data base in California. Output from that data base consists simply of the abstract of the research publication. The data bank for animal genetic resources is rather visualized as a comprehensive statement of the characteristic of the breed under specific conditions of management and of the environment, arranged in such an orderly format within the data bank using uniform Descriptors for each species, so that comparisons can be made relatively easily between different breeds, and genetic analyses carried out. It would be possible for example to seek those breeds which are adapted to a certain climate, with specific disease tolerance and to obtain full descriptive characterizations of the breeds fitting these categories.

4.    METHODOLOGY

The critical point in the creation of the data bank, is the compiling of the data. In our view, this should be done by a compiler, who will be a competent animal scientist, with administrative assistance to help him collect the reports and papers and documents from which the compiling is done. The compiler will seek to characterize the breed he is working with, by studying all the known information on the breed, and compressing it into a valid formal comprehensive record of facts about the breed. The compiler will have to be able to discern between valid and invalid information and give appropriate emphasis to the results from them. Indicator keys may well be used to show the authenticity of the characterization, which may be improved later when more information is published. The compiler will seek to enter as much of the data as possible in numeric form, but where this is clearly impossible, it will be entered in word form. An important stage of the proces will be the design of the format, which will be sufficiently standard to permit exchange of information to other parts of the world at a later stage, and yet be flexible enough to encompass all the facts about a species.

The compiler will thus write compilations of the breed. These will later be entered into suitable data/word processor, which needs to be simply a minicomputer serving a whole region or part of a region. It is not visualized at this stage that each country will need its own minicomputer, but rather that the compilations should be sent to a regional minicomputing centre where they will be entered and checked for errors.

In the early days of gaining experience in this work with pilot data banks in selected countries, it may be an advantage to send all the compilations to a global minicomputing location, where we shall be able to gain experience with the type of machine most suited to the work, as well as to share experiences of compilers.

5.    SUB-CONTRACTS

FAO has entered into contracts for local one year pilot projects as follows:

The representatives from each region will describe what they are doing in detail at this meeting.

At the end of the year, we visualize the need to bring together the findings on methodology and Descriptors which are being documented in each case, to sieve through, to learn collectively, and to move to the next stage of a recommended procedure, which will be more widely applied in each Region. We are also in the process of making initial proposals for a data bank study in the Middle East Region.

PROSPECTS AND PLANS FOR DATA BANKS ON ANIMAL
GENETIC RESOURCES

K.O. Adeniji¹

1.    INTRODUCTION

The Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR), of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), is the overall organ responsible for coordinating the activities of the 50 member states on animal resources. IBAR, through the Scientific, Technical Research Commission (STRC) of the OAU organizes scientific meetings for the Directors of Livestock Resources in Africa every two years. It was during such meetings that the animal production section of IBAR identified some Indigenous Breeds of High Productive Potential which are in great demand and introduced the concept of Conservation and Preservation of Endangered Indigenous Breeds which might currently seem uneconomic but might have potential for use in future breeding programmes. The discussions that followed revealed that there are several other breeds unknown to IBAR worth investigation with proper documentation. Thus the idea of a data bank for Africa had already been gradually formulated.

2. THE PROSPECTS FOR A DATA BANK ON ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES IN AFRICA

In IBAR, there is an established documentation centre which serves as a reference library for all livestock activities in Africa. This library started to function in the early fifties when the office was still called Interafrican Bureau for Epizootic Diseases (IBED). As the functions of the bureau were expanded, so did the library. When finally in 1969 the meeting of the Directors of livestock services of all OAU Member States recommended, amongst others, that the activities of the office be further expanded to include livestock production and marketing, an Animal Production Section was further developed in the library. Since than all efforts continued to be made to achieve the objective of making IBAR library the reference centre on Animal Resources in Africa.

2.1    Livestock Statistics and Distribution Maps

During the OAU/STRC Meeting on Animal Health and Production in Khartoum in 1973, it was discovered that the available data on the livestock industry in Africa was so inadequate and scanty that a reasonable assessment of the existing trends in development could not be made. It was emphasized that any meaningful livestock development programme would require accurate figures of the livestock numbers in individual countries. Since only rough estimates were available, which in most cases were outdated, the animal production section of IBAR was given the mandate to produce reliable figures on livestock numbers in Africa. Thus, an appeal was made by the section to the governments of member states to launch surveys in this field and endeavour to gather more accurate and up-to-date information on a sustained basis. It was agreed that such information should be forwarded to I BAR. As a result data collection, mainly on a desk basis, continues to be received in IBAR.

IBAR in 1976 produced the first ever distribution maps of cattle and in 1981 sheep and goats showing the numbers and producing areas in Africa. The aim is to be able to monitor livestock numbers in various parts of Africa and also to identify areas where developmental efforts should be directed in the region. It was discovered from the cattle distribution map that there is an inverse relationship between tsetse infestation and absence of cattle in a given area. These maps, it was recommended, should be updated every five years. The second edition for cattle that was produced in 1980/81 indicated there was a 10 percent increase in population numbers.

2.2    Breed Distribution and Characteristics

With the successful completion of livestock distribution maps an attempt was made albeit through a questionnaire to estimate the population numbers of indigenous breeds of cattle, sheep and goats. The results have not been very encouraging. The only one available to-date was the feasibility study carried out by the America's Development Foundation on trypanotolerant cattle in West Africa. As a result, it was concluded that member states would require financial assistance among others to undertake estimation of population numbers of indigenous breeds in their countries. Alternatively, specific projects could be set up to gather such information. However, the population numbers of endangered breeds are available because of their small numbers and the attention they are presently receiving.

At the various meetings of the OAU/STRC on Animal Health and Production, IBAR was asked to produce a standard format for collecting information on cattle breed characteristics. An important consideration was that it must be simple and straight to the point. Consequently, in 1977, a simple questionnaire was sent to member countries in order to identify indigenous cattle breeds and their characteris­tics. The replies were very encouraging and it was concluded that for a quick res­ponse from member states questionnaires must not be complicated to fill in. The information gathered was summarized and read to the first OAU expert committee on animal genetic resources in Africa held in Nairobi in 1981.

2.3    Livestock Breeding Policies

The development of animal genetic resources in any country will require systematic and well coordinated breeding programmes based on thoroughly evaluated national breeding policies. In order to document the breeding policies of member states in IBAR, enquiries were made in 1978 and if possible the extent to which such policies have been successful in furthering the national goal in increasing animal production. The few replies were summarized for the Expert Committee Meeting. This was further supplemented by reports produced by committee members on livestock breeding policies or programmes adopted in their countries. Since it was realized that a number of member states do not have breeding policies, the expert committee proposed breeding programmes for the different ecological zones of Africa which have received wide circulation. IBAR has followed this up by liaison visits to some countries. It is hoped that member states will make use of this to develop their own policies and where they encounter difficulties IBAR could be approached.

2.4    Expert Committee on Animal Genetic Resources in Africa

At the OAU/STRC Meeting on Animal Health and Production in Algiers in 1976, the animal production section of 1BAR read a paper on the conservation, preservation and utilization of indigenous breeds. The discussion that followed recommended that I BAR should set up an OAU Expert Committee on Animal Genetic Resources in Africa. The first meeting of this committee was held in Nairobi in 1976 and the agenda included the following:

The report and recommendations of the meeting have received wide circulation in and outside Africa.

3.    PLANS FOR DATA BANK ON ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES IN AFRICA

An important agenda for the first OAU expert committee meeting was to further identify, document and evaluate the indigenous breeds. At the conclusion of discussion the committee made the following recommendations:

to Member States to:

to OAU/IBAR to:

At the FAO/UNEP technical consultation on Animal Genetic Resources Conservation and Management held in June 1980 in Rome, these two organizations were also called upon to assist member countries in the development of a data bank for livestock resources in member countries and in its coordination at regional level.

In the light of the two recommendations, a consultant was appointed to assist the Africa region to design a data bank system. The consultant visited a few selected African countries, the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) and the IBAR office in Nairobi. The consultant report has already been widely distributed. IBAR has been recommended by the consultant to be responsible for the future development and utilization of the data bank system.

The consultant was able to collect a lot of information from ILCA's computerized documentation centre which supplemented that already available in IBAR's library. The advantage of ILCA's computerized system was that the information is retrievable by breeds, ecozones and production systems. In view of this, ILCA will serve as the major source of information for the data bank.

The second OAU expert committee meeting to be held in Zimbabwe in November 1983 will discuss reviews on different breeds, using references retrieved from ILCA's computerized information system which is now available in IBAR. Furthermore, the experts will also indicate which of the references should be retained in the Data Bank for the breeds and strains. This meeting at the regional level will be held every two or three years. In 1984, subregional workshops on specific breeds will be held as well, starting with the Eastern and Northern African states in Ethiopia. All the resulting information will be fed into the data bank which in turn will be disseminated to member states and all other interested parties all over the world.

The expert committee is presently composed of 10 members from the five subregions of Africa. It is hoped that at the second meeting in Zimbabwe, there will be 13 members. As and when experts on Animal Genetic Resources are known to us it is planned to increase the number to fifteen. This does not include ILCA and FAO staff who will be permanent members of the committee. Thus, the expert committee will advise on the documentation, operation and use of the data bank.

ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES DATA BANKS

J.C.M. Trail¹

There are two main areas in which ILCA is active that are of relevance to this subject.

1. Information and documentation,
2. Analysis and interpretation of livestock production data at the request of national research organizations.

1.    INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION

ILCA has placed considerable emphasis on its documentation and information services at its headquarters in Addis Ababa. A great deal of livestock research has taken place in Africa, particularly during the last 40 years, that very little is known about. National programme annual reports lie unread for want of being printed, consultants' reports get no further than the institute that commissioned them, and information on location specific research tends to remain very location specific. Successful livestock research relies heavily on data generated by earlier work. If these are not available then research gets duplicated. ILCA was aware of this state of affairs when it began its operations in 1976. Not only did the centre want to help African researchers in their need for more information, but ILCA's own staff had to be well informed about previous work in the continent if research projects were to make an impact.

ILCA therefore began by sending documentation staff to countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa to seek out those documents on livestock research and production that might otherwise become lost or go unnoticed. Growing awareness of the value of the information collected in this way led ILCA to seek additional funding for its documentation activities. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa has generously financed a significant portion of ILCA's expanded documenta-tion programme since 1978. Documents selected are microfiched on site in the countries visited. Having visited 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 5 years and microfiched more than 10 000 documents, ILCA now has a unique collection of information on livestock research across the continent. Titles, descriptors and abstracts of the entire collection have been entered into a computerized data base and are accessible online. Any researcher in Africa wanting information on a particular subject can simply send a request to the Documentation Centre, who will search the data base and send back a list of references. The researcher selects those references of most interest, and ILCA then sends him or her photocopies of the full documents free of charge.

In 1983 a further service unique in Africa was launched. This service provides personalized information on world agriculture on a monthly basis to any African livestock researcher who requests it. ILCA has formed close links with two of the world's leading agricultural data bases, the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux (CAB) and FAO's AGRIS service. Each month CAB and AGRIS send the new additions to their abstract collections on magnetic tape. These tapes are loaded onto ILCA's computer, and the Documentation Centre makes searches of the tapes based on the individual search profiles drawn up for each scientist receiving the service. Titles, abstracts and key words of any relevant articles are then printed and sent free of charge to the scientist. In this way any African researcher who wishes can be kept up to date with the world literature by simply sending details of his or her research interests to ILCA's Documentation Centre. This selective dissemination of information (SD1) service is appealing to growing numbers of scientists in African national programmes.

2.    ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION DATA AT THE REQUEST OF NATIONAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

As was reported in the first issue of "Animal Genetic Resources Information", ILCA has been, and is, involved in a considerable number of comparative breed studies, invariably in cooperation with national organizations or private producers, and sometimes with other international organizations. The initial aim is to build up comparative production information on important livestock groups in Africa so that decisions can more easily be made when breed has been shown to be a bottleneck in a particular production system; and so that the many questions directed to ILCA on the value of alternative genotypes for specific production sytems in various ecological zones can be better answered.

Examples of important breed groups are as follows:

i.    Trypanotolerant indigenous Bos taurus cattle and trypanotolerant sheep and goats

1. Considerable general information has been pulled together in the ILCA/FAO/UNEP report on trypanotolerant livestock in West and Central Africa (Report 1 in Appendix). In the network oftrypanotolerant livestock situations, quantitative data are currently being built up especially in Gabon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Zaire.
2. Two Senegalese research scientists completed fellowships of 5 months each. One analysed the productivity of N'Dama cattle and the other the productivity of Djallonke sheep from records collected at the Centre de Recherches Zootechniques, Kolda, Senegal, between 1973 and 1981 (Report 2 in Appendix).
3. A research scientist from Sierra Leone completed a 5-month fellowship on analysis of the productivity of N'Dama cattle at Teko Station, Sierra Leone, and the initial effect of introduction of Sahiwal genes (Report 3 in Appendix).

ii. Bos indicus cattle

4. In Mali, joint analyses were carried out on ten years' data on the Maure and Peul breeds at the Sahelian Station, Niono (Report 4 in Appendix).
5. In Ethiopia results of dairy crossbreeding work at the Arsi Rural Development Unit have been analysed by a visiting scientist in cooperation with ILCA's Highlands Programme (Report 5 in Appendix).
6. In Kenya analyses are continuing of data on the Boran and its crosses with several different breeds under a range of management systems and ecological zones. These data were collected on 11 commercial herds, over a considerable number of years (Report 6 in Appendix).
7. In Kenya, the Sahiwal and Ayrshire x Sahiwal crosses were studied under a range of production systems, the Sahiwal being the outstanding source of Bos indicus genes for milk production and let-down capacity available in Africa (Report 7 in Appendix).

iii. Sanga cattle

8. A research scientist from Zimbabwe is currently on a 4-month fellowship, analysing data from Matopos Station of Africander, Mashona, Nkone and Tuli and their croses within several different breeds (Report 8 in Appendix).

APPENDIX

MAJOR RESERACH REPORTS ON BREED PRODUCTIVITY¹

¹ International Livestock Centre for Africa, P.O. Box 5609, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

SOME ASPECTS OF ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
OF DATA BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA

Dieter Plasse^{1 2}

1.    INTRODUCTION

Animal genetic resources conservation and management is a subject of considerable concern among people related to animal production in Latin America. Although, to a certain degree, it refers to all species used in animal production, at present interest is mainly focused on Criollo cattle, sheep and camelidae.

In 1978 an FAO/UNEP Expert Consultation was held in Bogota, Colombia, where the present status of genetic resources of Criollo cattle, sheep, goats, camelidae and guinea pigs was discussed and an inventory was presented of countries and experiment stations, which are carrying out research with each of them (Müller Haye and Gelman 1981).

In the following paper, a brief summary of the present situation is given by species, together with a discussion of the work which has been started on the formation of data banks.

2.    PRESENT STATUS OF ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION IN LATIN AMERICA

2.1    Camelidae

In the Andes of South America, four populations of camelidae exist: Llama, alpaca, vicuña and guanaco. The former two are domesticated, the latter two are not.

Of the 9.8 million head existing today (Novoa 1980), the great majority are found in Bolivia and Peru and only a small number in Argentina and Chile.

These animals which live between 3000 and 5000 m altitude guarantee the subsistence of man in these areas, serving him with meat, fibre and skin. Even their excrements are used and the llama is also an important means of transportation. Llamas and alpacas were very important in the Inca empire, where their numbers reached maximum values. After the Spanish invasion in 1532, however, their number decreased considerably (Flores Ochoa 1977) and, especially the guanaco and vicuña were in danger of extinction during the 1960s (Cardozo 198la). However, after the treaty of La Paz was signed in 1969 by Peru and Bolivia and later by Argentina and Chile, the population increased considerably as consequence of policies which protected these groups and guaranteed increase of their numbers. This treaty has recently been renewed for another 10 years.

Bolivia and Peru have been especially successful in protecting the remaining camelidae populations and stimulating their increase by adequate legislation and policies (Cardozo 1981a; 1981b; Novoa 1981). This constitutes a good example of what can be done in genetic conservation.

2.2    Cattle

The rapid decrease in the number of Criollo cattle in Latin America has been of general concern. These Bos taurus cattle were brought to the region by the invading Spaniards and Portuguese during the 16th century and during the last 60 years they have been increasingly crossed with bulls of different Bos indicus populations.

In 1977 FAO published a bibliography on Criollo cattle (Müller Haye 1977) giving evidence of a large volume of existing literature on these populations including valuable research reports. During the 1978 FAO/UNEP conference, reviews of research with Criollo cattle were given for milk production (Bodisco and Abreu 1981; Muñoz and Deaton 1981; De Alba 1981a), meat production (Hernandez 1981; Plasse 1981) and other aspects (Salazar and Cardozo 1981; De Alba 1981b; De la Torre 1981). Recommendations were made on how to conserve the small remaining populations (Müller Haye 1981). A recent review on crossbreeding for beef production in tropical Latin America includes all work done with Criollo cattle in this area (Plasse 1983).

Research on Criollo cattle is being carried out in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Mexico (Müller and Gelman 1981).

In several countries, official, semi-official or private efforts exist to conserve Criollo cattle. Results mainly from crossbreeding have recently encouraged certain scientists and producers to assume a positive attitude towards the necessity for conservation programmes in Criollo cattle.

Other cattle populations of presently local importance such as the Dominican Romana Red, Cuban Siboney, Jamaica Hope, Jamaica Red, Brazilian Pitangueira, Colombian Licerna, Venezuelan Carora and others, which have been selected under tropical conditions and seem to have certain adaptive and production traits which give them an advantage in certain production systems, should be looked upon when cattle genetic resources are evaluated in the future.

2.3    Sheep

There are native sheep populations in Latin America, which certainly deserve conservation programmes. They are adapted to a particular and difficult environment where imported improved breeds often cannot even survive. They are especially important for small producers.

Research with native sheep is being carried out in Argentina, Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela (Müller Haye and Gelman 1981). Mason (1980; 1981) has given a summary of the present knowledge of these populations in the tropical areas of Latin America, where they are used for meat, wool and natural fertilizer.

2.4    Goats

There are many areas in Latin America where man can only live because goats provide him with a base for subsistence. About 75 percent of all goats in Latin America are found in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The present situation of native goats as a genetic resource in Latin America was reviewed by Mason (1981). Research with goats is presently being carried out in Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela (Müller Haye 1981).

2.5    Swine

There is little known and published about native swine populations in Latin America, however, they do exist and should be evaluated. Such recommendation had also been included in the conclusion of the 1978 FAO/UNEP conference in Bogota (Müller Haye and Gelman 1981).

2.6    Poultry and Other Birds

Poultry are of increaing importance in Latin America and limited genetic work has been going on in a few countries. The conclusions of the 1978 FAO/UNEP conference in Bogota included a recommendation to FAO to organize a seminar on swine and poultry genetic resources in Latin America (Müller-Haye and Gelman 1981).

3.    PRESENT AND FUTURE WORK ON ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES AND DATA BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA

Two important recommendations, which resulted from the 1978 FAO/UNEP Expert Consultation on the Evaluation and Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources were that (i) FAO should promote and support respective activities in Latin America and (ii) the Latin American Association of Animal Production (ALPA) should set up a commission on Evaluation and Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources in Latin America (Müller Haye and Gelman 1981).

In October 1981, the Board of Directors of ALPA approved the establishment of such a committee and its members are expected to be formally nominated this year. Meanwhile, in April 1983, the author was designated coordinator ad honorem for FAO of the pilot project to establish data banks for animal genetic resources in Latin America. The intention remains to combine efforts of FAO and ALPA to work in this field on a cooperative basis starting in 1983.

The necessary contacts for the establishment of data banks have been made and it is intended to start the following pilot projects during 1983/84: for cattle in Venezuela, for swine and sheep in Mexico and for camelidae in Peru. The Mexican and Venezuelan groups have started to work and are presently awaiting the letters of agreement between FAO and their institutions to be signed during October 1983. It is hoped that work in Peru can start in 1984. FAO/UNEP are giving financial support for these pilot programmes.

The following preliminary objectives for the establishment of data banks in Latin America have been proposed:

1. Assemble all existing literature on species of importance in animal production in Latin America, classifying it according to the traits included and their parameters, to environmental conditions and production systems, as well as to the scientific reliability of the source of information.
2. Characterize species of importance in animal production in Latin America, with emphasis on those in danger of extinction, according to genotype, geographical distribution, objectives and type of production system, and priority for conservation. Provide quantitative information, derived from specific refer­ences, on important traits and their parameters together with information on the environmental conditions under which the data were obtained. Present a summary of the information included for each of the traits considered.
3. Offer the user various options for the retrieval of the information, according to the classification criteria described.

The information output will contain two options:

1. Programme A describes the publication in general terms and by trait included.
2. Programme B provides general information as well as specific data by trait for the population under consideration.

Programme A is for the classification of literature referring to the species in question in Latin America and will include:

Programme B gives the description of the species in question in Latin America and includes for each population:

It is felt that a classifiable bank of references is necessary since existing abstract services do not cover a large part of the Latin American literature. However, the central part of the data bank will be concerned with a description of the populations classifying and reporting the sources of information in each case.

For cattle, sheep and swine, the formats of these programmes are presently being finished and programming and data assembling will start when the letters of agreement are signed. The working programme of this first phase will include:

This work will serve to test the computer programmes and make the necessary adjustments.

Future work will include:

The realization of this plan will depend on the availability of financial support during the next years.

It is hoped that FAO and ALPA will work out the objectives and strategies of a long term cooperative programme for the evaluation, conservation and management of animal genetic resources in Latin America, which, apart from the establishment of data banks, must also include the following aspects:

1. publication of population descriptions with relation to environment and
2. production systems;
3. identification of populations which need to be protected by conservation programmes;
4. encouragement of governments and institutions to establish such conservation programmes and advice on their design and execution;
5. encouragement of research on genetic resources, identification of priorities and suggestions on national and international research programmes.

It is hoped that work will meet with the necessary intellectual and financial support, so that it may be carried out along these lines during the years to come and contribute to a more rational use of animal genetic resources in Latin America.

REFERENCES

ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES DATA BANK PROGRESS IN ASIA
WITH SABRAO

P.N. Bhat¹

SUMMARY

This paper discusses the history, origin and the progress so far of the Animal Genetic Resources Data Bank of SABRAO. The concept of a data bank was approved by SABRAO in 1979 and an inventory of personnel/institutions organizations connected with or interested in animal genetic resources was completed in 1981. This is being updated every year. The computer readable formats for collection of information on various species and breeds within species have been distributed for collection of the data. These are being sent to the Computer Centre of the National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Tsukuba, Japan, for processing and storage.

At the 3rd Congress of Society for Advancement of Breeding Researches in Asia and Oceania (SABRAO) held in Canberra, Australia, in February 1977. the Farm Animals Section recommended that the SABRAO Board should set up an Expert Committee on Animal Genetic Resources to investigate the problems connected with the collection and collation of data on breeds, strains and varieties of economically important /?/mestic animals of the SABRAO region. The SABRAO Board accepted this recommenda­tion and constituted an Expert Committee on Animal Genetic Resources for this purpose and for evaluation, conservation and utilization of animal genetic resources of the SABRAO region. As a result, the first workshop on animal genetic resources in Asia and Oceania was organized at the University of Tsukuba in September 1979. The objectives of the workshop were to examine (i) what were the animal genetic resources available in the SABRAO region; (ii) the status of information regarding these resources.

This workshop was primarily devoted to finding out the status of information about identification, documentation and evaluation of animal genetic resources in the SABRAO region and to identify the gaps in the knowledge which need to be filled, the actions which could be initiated by SABRAO in consultation with national governments of the region, or in association with international organizations with similar aims like FAO and UNEP. Major issues in regard to animal genetic resources in the region were discussed in detail and it was noted that already considerable information on livestock breeds, strains and varieties was available. It was, however, noted that in many cases data are inadequate, based on small numbers of animals. In many cases the definitions of traits were not clear. It was also realized that while the information on strain crosses with exotic breeds was available in great detail, the indigenous breeds and strains were often less well identified, documented or evalua­ted. The environments under which the indigenous strains reproduced, survived and produced were not defined properly. It was necessary that environments be standardized or at least defined.

The workshop was specially concerned about the position of buffaloes which was an important animal of the SABRAO region. Although there were several breeds, strains within breeds, little is known about their relative merits. It was also observed that some Indian breeds were in danger of losing genes for high production because high producing animals are withdrawn from breeding populations for use in units of high production and are subsequently slaughtered. Such breeds were identified.

The workshop in consideration of the financial limitations and voluntary nature of the organization decided that any action programme taken up by SABRAO has to depend on the initiative of its own members. It was, therefore, decided that each of these members should initially help in preparation of a national list of people/institu­tions/organizations involved with research, management and development of animal genetic resources in each country. Such a directory would make inter country contact for exchange of information easy and meaningful. This information has been compiled.

The second major decision was to establish an animal genetic resources data bank. This would have two parts. Part one would comprise of storing already available data on identification, evaluation, conservation and utilization of the animal genetic resources. A computer readable format for this has been developed for each species and breeds within each species. Part two involved actual collection of data in the data collection forms distributed to the scientists. Wherever information is already available this would be filled in and wherever information was not available this would be collected and recorded. So far the data collection forms have been standardized and distributed some of these are being received back by the National Institute for Animal Industry, Tsukuba, to be stored in the retrieval system with the objective of making this available to the cooperating members, and as soon as a breed, strain had reached a satisfactory information level the documentation would be undertaken. This is in process at their computer centre. The system has been so organized that the information pertaining to species and breeds within the species is being prepared in computer readable format which is directly fed to the process controller and the necessary information is stored in the system and is available to any member of SABRAO or other societies, organizations or individuals interested in animal genetic resources.

The Expert Committee on Animal Genetic Resources took stock of the progress made, in May 1981 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The urgent need for appropriate comparative evaluation studies was recognized at the first workshop, the second workshop considered the requirements for the second phase of evaluation studies. The evaluation of the breeds and collection of the data from evaluation studies has also been initiated. A committee has been set up which would develop designs and guidelines for the conduct of evaluation studies in field (village) populations. The committee has formulated various strategies for evaluation under village conditions and defined the environment and methods of monitoring the same.

REFERENCES

THE ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES OF CHINA AND THE POSSIBILITY OF
ESTABLISHING DATA BANKS

Peilieu Cheng¹

1.    ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES OF CHINA

China is rich in animal genetic resources, and may be considered as one of the huge "gene banks" in the world.

1. Swine breeds

1. Taihu (Great Lake) pigs are noted for their early sexual maturity and prolificacy; producing 15-16 piglets per litter; and possessing a very good mothering ability.
2. Jinhua pigs are famous for their fine bones and excellent meat quality; especially good in making Jinhua ham; a favourite in China.
3. "Fragrant" pigs are a miniature breed, especially good for roasting (barbecue pig). They have also been considered as experimental animals for biological and medical research.

2. Herbivores

1. Yaks are well adapted to the high, cold ecological zone in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
2. Bihumped camels are especially adapted to the arid desert in the North and Northwest.
3. Tibetan sheep are noted for their production of carpet wool.
4. Hu and Tan sheep, and Zhongwei goats are all famous for producing lamb pelts with attractive curls.
5. The famous yellow cattle breeds, Qinchuan, Nangyang, Jinnan and Luxi in North China, are noted for their large body size and fine beef quality.
6. Dulong, semi-wild cattle with four white feet have been discovered in West Yunnan Province recently; they are quite different from the indigenous yellow cattle.

3. Horse breeds

A dwarf (or miniature) breed, 85-100 cm high, was recently discovered in the northwest of Guangxi Province.

4. Poultry

1. Peking ducks are noted for their elegant conformation and fast growing rate. They are now raised in almost every part of the world. This is the breed famous for "roast duck".
2. Longshan fowls, with black plumage, are noted for their meat quality.
3. The silky fowl, with white feathers and black skin and bone, is a most important ingredient in making a well-known tonic bolus in Chinese medicine.
4. Shao ducks have a yearly egg production of over 280 eggs.
5. Jianchang ducks produce an extremely large liver (about 340 g) after 21 day forced feeding.

All these breeds, and others, are not only a wealth of China, but also of the world. For example:

2.    POSSIBILITIES FOR DEVELOPING A DATA BANK OF ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES

A nationwide survey on animal genetic resources has been carried out by a combined effort of personnel in research, education, production and administration of 29 provinces and autonomous regions during the past four years (1979-83). A uniform procedure has been worked out, and data have been collected on the history of breed formation, number and distribution, body measurements and biological and ecological characteristics of the breeds investigated.

Two hundred and forty-one livestock and poultry breeds or types were recorded in the inventory, mainly:

with a few minor breeds of other animals.

The preliminary survey gives a background for better understanding of animal genetic resources in China.

The urgent need for efficient management of the data of animal genetic resources has called for immediate attention in China. Although we have plenty of materials and data, we lack modern means for data handling, programming, registration, analysis and information retrieval. Electronic computing techniques are the best way for data processing, so that every recorded item in the data base can be retrieved and utilized most accurately and rapidly; the stored data can include all available information, and all the breed traits can be efficiently used in breeding and selection, crossbreeding and hybrid vigour utilization, to increase reproductivity and productivity, or even to develop a new breed. The importance and necessity of establishing a data bank for animal genetic resources are very evident in China.

China now has a solid foundation for establishing a data bank through the combined efforts of the two institutes of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS):

1. The Institute of Animal Sciences (CAAS)

The Institute has a research laboratory on animal genetic resources, which will provide a technical basis for taking up the responsibility for organizing investigations in animal genetic resources.

The Institute will decide how many breed characteristics will be involved in the inventory.

The Institute will be responsible for aggregating data from the provincial or regional institutes of animal husbandry, for data evaluation and for data recording.

2. The Electronic Computing Centre (CAAS)

The newly established Electronic Computing Centre will be responsible for establishing a separate section for animal genetic resources.

The Centre will be responsible for all technical measures such as hardware and software systems, magnetic tape storage, information retrieval, data interpreta­tion, etc.

The Centre will supply necessary information for research, education and extension units, as well as for production and administrative units.

Studies on breed evaluation including genetics, reproduction, breeding and ecology have been carried out recently.

In addition, frozen semen, conservation of embryos (in sheep and cattle) and long-distance transportation of embryos (from Bremen, West Germany, to Beijing, China, on 29 September 1980, one calf being born on 27 June 1981) were carried out, and some successes have been achieved.

Some stud farms have been established for conserving and improving different breeds, such as:

However, as it is impossible to conserve all the breeds of each species, there is a problem to secure sufficient financial support. Modern biological techniques seem to be one of the ways for conserving animal genetic resources.

3.    RESEARCH PROJECTS ON ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES

4.    PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED

Items necessary to carry on the above mentioned four important researches are:

It is hoped that these prerequisites for the advancement of animal genetic resources research could be considered and solved by FAO/UNEP. We are all aware of the importance of conservation and management of precious animal genetic resources, especially in China, and personally, I am expecting to obtain some assistance from FAO/UNEP.

I should admit that the proposed project is just a supposition or an opinion at the present time; it will take us much time and untiring efforts to become a reality. However, I have full confidence in future success.

I come here to learn.

Since this is the first time I have taken part in the FAO/UNEP Expert Panel, I have very little knowledge on what you have done and what you are going to do for the next step. I am very happy to have such an opportunity to learn from you, your views, methodology and also the results obtained.

If FAO/UNEP have any suggestions, I shall be very glad to ask our Government for further consideration. I am sure I would do my best to promote our work on animal genetic resources in China.

APPENDIX ON CHINA DATA BANK

THE COMMONWEALTH BUREAU OF ANIMAL BRREDING AND GENETICS
AND THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION FOR DATA BANKS ON
ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES

J.D. Turton¹

1.    INTRODUCTION

The Bureau has been in existence since 1929. It is one of ten Bureaux and four Institutes owned, administered and financed by member governments of the British Commonwealth. The units, which collectively constitute what is now generally referred to as the Information Service part of CAB (the Bureaux and the information sections of the three UK-based Institutes), are almost financially self-supporting, as they derive revenue from the sales of their abstract journals, books and on-line retrieval service. Some Bureaux make a profit, but others do not, and the financial position is complex, as publications are sold within Commonwealth countries at a lower price than elsewhere, and this 'subsidy' element is taken into consideration in the overall profit/loss account for the Information Service. The main agent by which the Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics (hereafter called the Bureau) disseminates information is Animal Breeding Abstracts (ABA), which is now in its 51st year. In addition, the Bureau carries out retrieval of information from its card indexes and from CAB's on-line database, which is known as "CAB Abstracts", produces Annotated Biblio­graphies (collections of abstracts on different topics), answers enquiries, and supplies photocopies of original papers.

2.    CAB'S ON-LINE DATABASE

The on-line database of CAB dates back to the beginning of 1972 (veterinary material) or 1973. It is the computer-stored version of the main abstract journals. The "main" here distinguishes these journals from certain other CAB abstract journals, such as Poultry Abstracts and Pig News and Information, which draw material from several main journals, and republish it in a 'repackage' convenient to certain groups of reader. The database thus comprises subfiles which correspond to each main journal, such as ABA and Nutritional Abstracts and Reviews, and can be searched as a whole or by individual subfiles or groups of subfiles. It now contains about 1.6 million records, including 75 000 on animal breeding. The database is mounted in California, USA, by Lockheed, in Italy at Frascati, by the European Space Agency, and in the Federal Republic of Germany, at Cologne, by the Deutsches Institut fur Medizinische Dokumentation und Information (DIMDI). These databases are searchable by private individuals or the staff of institutions, over the public telephone lines, using some form of hard-copy terminal or visual display unit. The would-be searcher makes prior contact with the contractor mounting the database in order to obtain a password, and thereafter is billed for on-line time and the number of items of information retrieved. The addresses of the contractors are given in Appendix 1. The Bureau will carry out searches for those not wishing to do their own. CAB publishes an On-line Manual which gives details of the database and information and how to search it. All the contractors produce user manuals which explain how to access their systems and carry out a search.

The databases are updated every month from tapes sent to the contractors. Tapes corresponding to all CAB's main journals can be leased from CAB, and the lessee can process these to create special outputs matched to his needs. Details are given in Appendix 2.

Not only can one-off searches be carried out, but users of the system can have "profiles" automatically run against the database monthly updates to provide output on specific topics as each new tape is processed. A profile is an appropriately formatted collection of search terms which will retrieve material on a specific topic. The process is known as "selective dissemination of information" - SD1 for short.

3.    COVERAGE OF ANIMAL BREEDING ABSTRACTS

3.1    Literature

The following types are covered:

1. Serials - journals, numbered bulletins and reports, irregularly issued numbered publications, and numbered conference proceedings.
2. Non-serial publications - books, monographs, unnumbered bulletins, unnumbered conferences, theses, seminars, workshops, reports, etc.
3. Audiovisual material.

In general, any paper or publication which can be regarded as being of scientific interest to readers of ABA is abstracted, provided it can be cited bibliographically, is available in multiple copies (i.e. at least a small print run), and can be purchased or borrowed by individuals and/or institutes.

3.2    Subject Scope

Broadly, ABA covers the reproduction and genetics (including immunogenetics) of farm livestock, poultry, farmed game, elephants, Camelidae, fur bearers, dogs, cats, laboratory mammals, and certain other mammals either of direct economic importance (e.g. reindeer) or closely related to farmed species of livestock (e.g. bison). Non-nutritional, environmental effects on traits of economic importance are covered, as are nutritional effects on reproduction. Breeds and their performance are a subject to which close attention is paid. Papers on theoretical genetics and evolutionary aspects of genetic theory are abstracted.

Thus, virtually everything of relevance to the conservation of genetic resources, and which is found in the categories of literature specified above, will appear in ABA, provided it comes to the notice of the Bureau.

4.    RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION ON GENETIC RESOURCES

Material which has appeared in ABA since the beginning of 1973. and that which will appear in future, is best retrieved from the on-line database. Most of the material required will be that on specific breeds or on certain species, for example South American Camelidae. Sometimes, the requirements will be for material on specific countries. To minimize retrieval problems arising from diverse breed nomenclature, the breed names used by the authors of papers appear in the abstracts, along with the names given in the Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, by I.L. Mason, published by CAB. The subject indexes of ABA use standardized terminology, which makes for accuracy of retrieval.

When the tapes corresponding to the various main abstract journals of CAB are received by the database contractors, they are processed into a form which makes them suitable for adding to the database. In doing so, several on-line indexes are produced, and it is these that the searcher interrogates. Every significant word in an ABA abstract entry, including names of authors, words in the abstract itself, the senior author's address, indexing terms, the title of the publication and year of publication are accessible to the searcher. The searcher is able to specify whether he wants to search the whole record or only certain fields, such as the index terms. Not only is the searcher able to specify terms, but he can also specify whether these terms should lie adjacent to each other in the original abstract (e.g. preweaning mortality) or in the same sentence or field. Another useful facility is the ability to search on codes corresponding to the broad section headings of ABA, such as "Cattle, genetics" or "Sheep, breeds".

Much of the interest in genetic resources relates to specific breeds in specific countries. The country name is generally given in the author's address of a paper, or if not, is mentioned somewhere else in the abstract record. The searcher, in formulating his search profile, is in essence looking for the co-existence in a record of certain terms or groups of terms. Thus, he might 'ask' the computer whether the word "Sahiwal (or Sahiwals)" co-occurred along with "India" in any records. The computer would respond to the effect that there were, say, 70 such records, and it is likely that the majority of these records would refer to the performance of Sahiwals in India. Of course, there is sometimes the "false drop", as might occur if there was a paper on Sahiwals in Pakistan written by an author resident in India. Nevertheless, our experience at the Bureau indicates that one can retrieve material on work done in specific countries with a high degree of accuracy using the country in the author's address.

For material abstracted prior to 1972/73, access can be obtained through the printed annual subject indexes, or through the Bureau's subject and author indexes on cards.

5.    DATABASE OR DATA BANK

The Bureau produces a database comprising indexed abstracts. Subsets of this database, containing abstracts on breeds and species of relevance to a genetic resources programme, can easily be assembled, initially by carrying out retrospective searches on the Bureau's on-line or card indexes. These can then be kept "topped up" by the use of on-line SD1 profiles.

The information in these records can, if desired, be entered by searchers onto a standard form designed to meet the requirements of a genetic resources programme, and these forms can be the material on which a microcomputer-based information system on genetic resources is constructed. Record format and hardware would be standardized, so that tapes or disks could be exchanged physically between the computer installations in different continents, or, where the telecommunications facilities exist, records could be transmitted from one computer to another via a telephone or satellite link. The CAB database in California is accessed from Europe via a satellite and the local telephone lines.

An alternative way of reformatting the information would be to lease CAB tapes and write programmes to reformat the output of profiles to the requirements of the genetic resources programme.

The above options are more properly considered as databases rather than data banks, although the distinction between the two can become blurred. Data banks generally hold numerical, rather than a mixture of numerical and bibliographical data. If, for example, it was decided to store under each breed, the means, standard errors, genetic parameter values etc. derived from studies on the breeds, then that would constitute a data bank, as would information on chemical constants or the normal ranges of biochemical substances in different species. It is, however, always useful to be able to get back from a data value to the original source, and this of course means that bibliographical details must be stored, so that one would have a hybrid base or bank, with both bibliographical and reformatted or recalculated numerical data.

Comparative costings could be easily derived for a genetic resources data bank (or base) produced (a) by on-line retrieval from CAB Abstracts, followed by entry of information in a standardized form into the chosen microcomputer system, or (b) from leased tapes using a specially written programme. The on-line search and leasing costs are known, and the cost of keyboarding the data would be based on local rates of pay. The Bureau has information on the number of records or keystrokes that keyboarders can be expected to achieve. With either system, the facility would have to exist for inputting data additional to that derived from on-line databases.

For the genetic resources system, the records would be held on disk, and retrieval and editing software would be needed to allow updating of records for a particular breed or country, and immediate retrieval of any desired record, or records, containing particular keywords or combinations of keywords. For cheapness and speed of implementation, 'off the shelf software would be required, and so it would be necessary to find the best combination of hardware and software for the job, bearing in mind that rapid, reliable servicing of hardware is essential.

Finally, one should keep in the forefront of one's thinking during the design of a system the notion that an attribute of prime importance is the quality of information within the system, so that those responsible for selecting and entering material must have clear guidelines as to the criteria for inclusion.

APPENDIX 1

DIALOG Information Services Inc.
3460 Hillview Avenue
Palo Alto
California 94304
USA

ESA Information Retrieval Service
ESRIN
Via Galileo Galilei
00044 Frascati (Rome)
ITALY

Deutsche Institut fur Medizinische Dokumentation und Information
Postfach 42 05 80
5000 Köln 41
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

APPENDIX 2

LEASING OF CAB TAPES - 1983

he lease fee covers the supply of the tapes by CAB and the running of up to 100 profiles per year by the user. If more than 100 profiles are run, usage charges become payable. These range from £10 to £15 per profile per year, depending on the number of profiles run.

Back volumes of Animal Breeding Abstracts are available on magnetic tape for 1973-82. The lease fee ranges from £290 for the 1973 volume to £485 for the 1982 volume. The fee for the current year's tapes for ABA is £500.

Further details can be obtained from:

Training Officer
Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux
Farnham House
Farnham Royal
Slough SL23BN
UK

GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SWAMP BUFFALO

Charan Chantalakhana¹

1.    INTRODUCTION

Very little is known about the genetics of the swamp buffalo, as compared to those in cattle or the river buffalo. Although the swamp buffalo is economically very important to most Asian countries they have been neglected by animal scientists around the world. These animals appear to be well adapted to climatic and farming conditions in Asia, especially in the tropical region. Their superiority in draught power and meat production utilizing low quality feeds, as well as longevity, has been well recognized by Asian farmers and animal scientists. It has been only during the past decade that animal scientists in Asia and other parts of the world have turned their attention to research investigation of the swamp buffalo. This paper is intended to present the present knowledge of swamp buffalo genetic characteristics.

2.    CHARACTERISTICS OF SWAMP BUFFALO

Like other farm animals the swamp buffaloes, from genetic standpoints, possess two types of characteristics: (i) qualitative characteristics, and (ii) quantitative characteristics.

2.1    Qualitative Characteristics

The qualitative traits in the swamp buffaloes are numerous. Horns, skin and hair colours, body markings, and hair whirls are some of the more significant characteristics since these are related to certain cultural and traditional beliefs among farmers in some Asian countries.

2.1.1    Skin and coat colour markings

Most of the swamp buffaloes are dark grey in colour, only some of them are white. The frequencies of white buffaloes vary from country to country, as well as from province to province. According to Amano et al. (1982) the white colour gene frequencies in Indonesian buffaloes could be as high as 0.2 to 0.5. While the report by Nozawa and Ratanadilok NaPhuket (1974) showed that the frequencies of the white buffaloes in Thailand ranged from 0 to 15 percent based on provincial estimates, Rife and Buranamanas (1959) who examined field data on colours of buffalo cow-and-calf and tested the Mendelian ratios, employing the chi-square technique, inicated that the white gene could be dominant to the grey allele. However, there has been no breeding test so far to identify actual inheritance of the coat colour in swamp buffalo.

Black and white buffaloes (piebald) can be found in South Sulawesi, Sumba and Sumbawa Islands of Indonesia, but their frequencies are lower as compared to that of the grey or the white buffaloes. Inheritance of piebald in buffalo is also unknown. Amano et al. (1981) reported that the most frequent occurrence of spotted buffaloes (19.4 percent) were found in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi.

As far as colour markings are concerned, white chevron, one or two, below the neck of the grey buffaloes is commonly found. White stockings on the feet of buffalo can be found, but this trait is not too common. Traditionally, the Thai farmers regard the animal with white stockings en four feet as good luck. No study has been conducted on the inheritance of these traits.

2.2.2    Horns

In general, the swamp buffaloes have much bigger and longer horn that cattle. However, a few polled buffaloes were also reported in Thailand (Tungtrakarnpong 1980). Variation in horn size and setting is often observed. Most of the swamp buffaloes are with horns which extend outward and then curl backward into semi-circles, but remain on the same plane as the forehead. A few buffaloes have loose horns or drooping horns. Buffalo horns are usually long, flat but thick; however, in some cases they may be short and thick. The nature of inheritance of buffalo horns is not known at present.

2.1.3     Hair whirls

Hair whirls are commonly found on various parts of the buffalo's body. They usually appear on both sides of the shoulder, both sides of the hip, the face and the forehead. The number of hair whirls and a combination of their positions seem to be unique for each animal. In certain countries such as Thailand hair whirls have been used as a means of animal registration identification. The exact knowledge of the inheritance of this trait in the buffalo, however, is not available.

2.1.4    Blood groups and blood protein polymorphisms

Amano et al. (1981) found 6 blood antigenic factors in the swamp buffaloes in Indonesia. These are Wh₁ , Wh₂ , Wh₃, Wh₄, W₅ and Wbj at the frequencies of 1.5, 13.0, 23.2, 21.7, 0.0 and 15.9 percent, respectively. In this study, they also detected some of these blood groups in the crossbred (swamp x river) buffaloes, but none in the river or Indian buffaloes. This evidence suggested that the swamp and the river buffaloes are immunogenetically different.

Amano et al.(198l) also examined 22 electrophoretic loci and found only 6 loci showed polymorphism; these are Alb (albumin), Tf (transferrin), AmI (serum amylase I), Hb (haemoglobin a), CA (cell carbonic anhydrase), and PepB (cell peptidase B). From the analysis of genetic distance they also found a distinct biochemical genetic differences between the swamp and the river buffaloes. For example, at the Alb locus for which the Alb^A , Alb^B and Alb alleles were found, only the Alb and Alb alleles were detected with the frequencies of 0.57 and 0.43 respectively, and none of the Alb allele in the swamp buffaloes, while in the river buffaloes the Alb was 0.55, the Alb^A 0.05, and the Alb^A 0.40.

2.2    Quantitative Characteristics

The quantitative characteristics are influenced by genetic and environmental factors; it is therefore necessary to describe some salient aspects of environmental, management, and feeding conditions under which animal performance is generally measured.

Most of the swamp buffaloes are in China and Southeast Asian countries and they serve as an integral part of the integrated farming system, with rice as a common basic crop, by providing draught power, manure, and utilizing non-market­able crop wastes and other by-products. Buffaloes are most prevalent in paddy areas and they are managed according to seasonal conditions. In most of these countries, after rice and other crops have been harvested, buffaloes are herded on to croplands where they graze on rice stubbles, corn stovers, grases and indigenous weeds, plant regrowths, and other crop wastes as well as rice straw. During the summer and rainy seasons, rice straw becomes a basic feedstuff, supplemented with some green grases collected from nearby uncultivated areas or marginal land. Some grazing areas such as upland communal grazing areas, forest land, roadsides, fallow fields, etc. are also available for the animals. Buffaloes gain their prime condition during the post-harvest time until the early dry season, during which time breeding takes place most frequently and freely. Therefore, calving season in buffaloes in certain countries can be observed accordingly.

It is reemphasized that the quantitative traits recorded in the following section were mostly from the buffaloes which were raised primarily for draught purposes with a low level of feeding and management as compared to conventional beef production in some developed countries. Five major groups of quantitative traits in buffalo are presented: these are (i) size and growth; (ii) reproductive traits; (iii) carcass traits; (iv) milk and its constitutents; and (v) working ability.

2.2.1    Size and growth

The weight at birth in swamp buffaloes averaged from 26 to 38 kg and male calves averaged heavier than females in every report. The weight at 8-months of age ranged from an average of 125 to 150 kg. In general, weaning of calves in swamp buffaloes is not practised by farmers, and the calf stays with its dam until the age of one year or more, at which time the cow has ceased to produce milk. The weight at 8 months of age may be taken as equivalent to weaning weight. The pre-weaning average daily gain in swamp buffalo averaged 0.34 to 0.41 kg (Table 1).

Table 1 RANGES OF MEANS FOR SIZE AND GROWTH OF SWAMP BUFFALOES
(Chantalakhana 1981)

The yearling weight in swamp buffaloes averaged 135 to 205 kg. Under rather poor feeding and management conditions the yearling weight was reported to be as low as 119 kg, as compared to the heavy breed (Pin hu) in China which averaged 250 kg at one year of age. The post-weaning average daily gain of the swamp buffalo was reported to range from 0.34 to 0.75. This variation, however, is expected to be due largely to feeding and management conditions.

Generally, swamp buffaloes reach mature weight at about 4-5 years of age. But most research reports on weight at maturity gave the weight of animals at slaughter. The mature weights of swamp buffaloes given in Table 1 vary from 450-650 in the male, and 350-450 in the female; males were heavier than females.

In Table 2, mature weight and body measurements of swamp buffaloes in some Asian countries are given. Considerable variation in mature weight of buffaloes within each country can be observed, but there are no distinctive differences in mature weight and size among countries. Some further comparative data on body weights and measurements are given in Table 3 and Table 4.

2.2.2    Reproductive traits

1. Age at puberty and at first calving and gestation period

Age at puberty is generally defined as the average age at which female animals show their first oestrus. However, most reports gave the average age of female buffaloes when successful matings were obtained for the first time (age at sexual maturity). This age was between 1.6 and 3 years (Table 5).

The gestation period as shown in Table 5 averages between 308 and 332 days. The gestation period of the swamp buffalo was found to average as low as 308-309 days in one report from Sri Lanka (Jalatge 1980), while a high estimate of 330-340 days was reported in Malaysia (Camoens 1976)). A gestation period of 320 days was recommended the standard estimate in the Philippines (Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research 1978). The lengths of gestation period for buffaloes in Southeastern Asian countries are more or less similar to those reviewed by Pant and Roy (1972). It should be noted that the variation in this trait could be contributed to various factors such as sex of calves, age of dam, size of dam, parity number, etc.

Age at first calving generally was between 3.5 and 4.7 years of age (see Table 5). The swamp buffalo in Malaysia averaged 4.3 years, while those in Sri Lanka averaged 3.7 years. The age at first calving of the buffalo in Southeast Asia is considerably longer than those reviewed by Pant and Roy (1972) since this trait as well as the age at puberty depends very much on the level of feeding and management.

Comparative data for age at puberty, age at first service, and gestation period for local swamp buffalo, Murrah, and their crossbreds in China are given in Table 6.

2. Oestrus cycle and heat period

It has been generally accepted that heat expression in swamp buffalo is not as obvious as that in cattle. Some farmers may be accurate in detecting heat in their own buffaloes since they tend their buffaloes personally. However, for extension workers and scientists in the Southeast Asian countries heat detection in swamp buffaloes is still a problem.

Table 2 MATURE WEIGHT AND SIZE OF SWAMP BUFFALOES¹

¹Modified from Camoens (1976) with additional references as noted:
^*Liu (1978);
^**Hardjosubroto and Astuti (1980);
^***Ma (1980);
^****NaPhuket (1980)

²M - Male; F = Female

Table 3 WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF CHINESE SWAMP BUFFALO ADULTS (Liu 1978)

Table 4 WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE THAI SWAMP BUFFALOES (Chantalakhana et al. 1978)

¹ Number of animals in parentheses

Reports on the length of oestrus cycle in swamp buffaloes ranged from 20 days to 34days, but part of this variation could be attributed to the problem of heat detection. Pant and Roy (1972) estimated the oestrus cycle in buffaloes at 21 days, and noted more variability than that in cattle.

The duration of oestrus or heat period in swamp buffaloes was reported to range from 12-36 hours up to 3-5 days. However, most reports indicated a period somewhere between 24 and 36 hours (Table 5 and Table 6).

Pant and Roy (1972) stated that the buffalo was more a nocturnal breeder than cattle, but from several studies reviewed in this paper no such evidence was reported. In some reports the belief was expressed that breeding activities in buffaloes were more or less random with regard to time of day. The author has obtained data on this question from a field station where a herd of swamp buffalo cows (about 150 head) was divided into two groups: one with bulls only in the day, another with bulls in both day and night; and the calf crops obtained from these two groups were not different.

3. Calving rate, calving interval and twinning

Calving rates of 50 to 65 percent were common in swamp buffalo. Table 5 gives the range of estimates between 23 and 82 percent.

Calving intervals were widely different from one report to another (Table 5). Camoens (1976) examined this trait in the swamp buffalo of Malaysia and found the intervals ranging from 480 days up to 912 days. However, most estimates fall between 1.5 and 2 years.

The calving interval in the Murrahs is expected to be much shorter, since their feeding and management would be more intensive. It was found that the calving intervals for the Murrahs in Burma, Philippines and Thailand were 420, 435 and 503 days respectively. Considerable variation, however, was observed.

The rates of twinning in buffaloes were found to be very low, viz. 0.001 to 0.015.

2.2.3    Carcass traits

In Table 7 various carcass traits of swamp buffaloes from different studies are shown. The dressing percentage was found to be 43 to 51, for animals with slaughter weight ranging between 300 and 600 kg. Rib-eye area averaged 33 to 49 sq. cm. The dressing percentage and rib-eye areas reported are generally inferior to those of cattle.

The percent boneless meat from buffalo carcasses averaged around 75 (less than 25 percent bone). The weight of animal hide was around 11-13 percent of body weight. The carcass shrinkage due to cold storage was approximately 3 to 4-5 percent.

Table 5 RANGES OF MEANS FOR REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS IN SWAMP BUFFALOES (Chantalakhana 1981)

Table 6 COMPARISONS OF THE REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF LOCAL SWAMP BUFFALO BREEDS, MURRAH AND THEIR GRADES (Liu 1978)

¹Range of estimates

Table 7 RANGES OF MEANS FOR CARCASS TRAITS IN SWAMP BUFFALOES (Chantalakhana 1981)

2.2.4    Milk yield and constitutents

Table 8 shows milk yield and certain milk constituents in swamp buffaloes. As previously indicated, the swamp buffaloes are not good milkers, only a small quantity of milk is produced by a buffalo cow to suffice the requirement of the calf. From most studies reviewed, it was found that milk yield from one milking a day was only 1 to 2 kg, plus a certain amount of milk suckled by the calf for the rest of the day. In reports from Malaysia and Thailand, milk yield was shown to average 250 kg during 210 day lactation period, and 333 during 330 days lactation, respectively. A high milk yield of 828 kg per lactation was obtained in China.

Table 8 RANGES OF MEANS FOR MILK YIELD AND OTHER RELATED TRAITS IN SWAMP BUFFALOES (Chantalakhana 1981)

The butterfat percentage was reported to range from 8 to 10, with an average of 9 in the Philippines, while Murrah buffalo in Thailand showed a range of 4.9 to 12.3 with an average of 7.9.

The total solids in swamp buffalo averaged 18.1 and 20.4 percent and the percent protein 5.0 in the studies in Thailand and the Philippines.

2.2.5    Working ability

It is rather obvious that the pattern and type of work for buffaloes would vary from one country to the other, although the paddy field is certainly the common place to find buffaloes at work. Even in one country, the intensity of work for buffaloes varies from one location to the other. From a nationwide survey by Buranamanas (1963), it was found that buffaloes were used to work on average 66 to 146 days a year, with an overall average of 122 days. But in other studies the estimates were only 50-60 days in Central and 20-78 days in North Thailand, and 53 days in Taiwan.

The age at first work of swamp buffaloes in Thailand was estimated to be 4.2 years, and they would work for 12-20 years. The number of hours per day for buffaloes in the cropping season averaged around 5. The area which a buffalo could plough over per hour was estimated to be 0.05 and 0.06 acre in Thailand, and 0.08 acre in Taiwan (Table 9).

3.   RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BREEDING IMPROVEMENT

It is clearly evident that in many countries where the swamp buffaloes are being raised, the number of animals has been decreasing at alarming rates due to increasing demand for meat of the fast-expanding human population. In certain countries such as Thailand, not only the buffalo population number that tended to go down but also the average body size of mature buffalo had decreased during the last two decades due to traditional castration of the larger buffaloes for draught. In order to maintain the quality and number of the swamp buffaloes, the following recommendations for breeding improvement are suggested:

Table 9 WORKING ABILITY OF SWAMP BUFFALOES (Chantalakhana 1981)

1. In the countries where the swamp buffaloes are of economic importance, a genetic evaluation scheme to identify superior breeding stocks under well-defined environments for further multiplication and improvement should be carried out as soon as possible.
2. It is recommended that the national breeding herds and performance testing scheme for buffaloes in order to make breeding selection of superior genetic stock should be organized.
3. Exchange of swamp buffalo germplasm resources for comparative evaluation among interested countries should be organized and supported by regional or international organizations.
4. In the light of on-going interest in crossbreeding of the swamp buffalo to improve milk production, especially in the Southeast Asian countries, it is recommended that crossbreeding trials and testing of the crossbreds under various farm production systems for their suitability should be conducted and confirmed before carrying out any extensive scheme of swamp buffalo crossbreeding.

REFERENCES

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES OF VALUE

¹ Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.

¹ Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources, Nairobi (IBAR); International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa (ILCA); Asociacion Latinoamericana de Produccion Animal, Maracay (ALPA); Society for the Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania, Kuala Lumpur (SABRAO).

¹Animal Production Officer (Animal Breeding and Genetic Resources), FAO, Rome.

¹Chief, Animal Production Section, OAU/IBAR, P.O. Box 30786, Nairobi, Kenya.

¹ International Livestock Centre for Africa, P.O. Box 46847, Nairobi, Kenya.

¹Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Maracay, Venezuela.

²In cooperation with the Latin American Association of Animal Production (ALPA).

¹ Director, Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom, P.O. Farah 281122, Mathura, U.P., India.

¹Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Malianwa, Hai-Dian, Beijing, China.

¹Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JX, Scotland.

¹Professor, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.