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This experiment was conducted to identify some aspects of follicle characteristics and the extent of follicle inactivity of cashmere goat breeds kept in different provinces of Iran. A total of 212 male and female cashmere goats of different age from five breeds of cashmere goats were studied. To determine follicle characteristics and the percentage of follicle inactivity, samples of skin were taken from the left midside of animals. The overall averages for males and females were 11.4 and 10.5 for secondary to primary follicle (S/P) ratio; 2.9 and 2.7 for primary follicle density; 31.1 and 30.3 for secondary follicle density; 34.1 and 33.0 for total primary plus secondary follicle density; 21.7 and 22.4 for percentage of inactive secondary follicles. Significant differences were found in S/P ratio, follicle density and activity between the goats. Large variations existed between individual goats in the percentage of inactive secondary follicles ranging from 8% to 70%.

The nomadic pastoralist system in Baft district in Kerman province is well known in Iran for producing cashmere from Raeini goats. However, there is little information regarding the organic sheep and goat production systems. Interviews and field observations were carried out with 30 Siahjel nomad families of Raen origin in proximity of Baft city to characterize the organic production system in terms of feeding, animal health and veterinary treatments, husbandry management practices, transport, slaughtering and housing. Unimproved rangeland was found to be the main source of sheep and goat nutrition belonging to nomads in southern Iran. Nomad livestock were not fed in stables or in restricted areas but moved and grazed freely in extensive open grazing areas. As a nomadic traditional feeding management practice, there were no minerals, vitamins, pro-vitamins or GMOs for animal feed. Nomad sheep and goat breeds were considered to be robust, adapted to the environment and disease-tolerant livestock. In the nomadic system, no animal cruelty practices such as tail ducking, dehorning and tethering were allowed. To keep ruminants in groups to meet their social needs, nomad families stayed and kept animals together to support each other in different livestock activities, including shepherding, feeding, milking and health care. Due to natural breeding in nomadic herds, the male breeding stock was kept and grazed separately from does during the breeding season. Nomadic livestock products, i.e. meat, milk, wool, could be labelled organic after making local studies, surveillance, regulation and certification.

Iran together with Afghanistan is the third largest producer and exporter of cashmere in the world, after China and Mongolia. Nomads have a big share in producing Iranian cashmere. This study reviews the status of cashmere production, harvesting, marketing and processing by nomads of Iran in order to evaluate sustainability and to identify some constraints limiting productivity. The quality of Iranian cashmere, being long and highly curved, ranks third after China and Mongolia. The principal centres for the gathering and rough sorting of raw cashmere produced by nomads are Baft, Sirjan, Mashad and Birjand, with Mashad continuing as the centre of the Iranian cashmere industry. Nearly all the cashmere produced is bought directly from the nomads by middlemen and is dehaired and exported to Europe and China without major value addition.

The nomadic pastoralist system in Baft district in Kerman province is well known in Iran for producing cashmere from Raeini goats. However, there is little information on the production system. Interviews were carried out with 30 Siahjel nomad families of Raen origin in proximity of about 20 km to Baft city in 2010 to characterise the production system in terms of family labour force, work sharing, livestock numbers, management and marketing practices, and diseases. The nomads move their livestock over large distances within the rangelands of the region from May to November, and the majority migrate south during autumn and winter. Of the nomad families, 87% live with and manage their animals together with one or more other related families. All household heads are males. All family members are involved in raising livestock; males and hired labourers dominate the physically harder jobs like shepherding and breeding, while women are involved in milking and caring. Of the animals, 80% are owned by adult or young unmarried males, none by daughters. Average proportion of goats and sheep per family flock are 89% and 8%, respectively, which indicates that Siahjel nomads mainly rely on goats. Adult breeding females constituted the largest group within the goat herds. The rationale for keeping a high number of male goats may be related to their greater production of cashmere. Diseases accounted for 57% of adult and 88% of young animal deaths. The most prevalent diseases were enterotoxaemia, foot-and-mouth disease, pneumonia, agalactia and diarrhoea. Animal sales, meat, cashmere and milk production are the major reasons for keeping goats. Rangeland is considered as the main source of feeding (85% of total annual feed intake); the remaining 15% is provided by stubble grazing. However, the herds do not produce enough meat, milk and cashmere to sustain the life of the nomad families, and thus, they often have to sell part of their stock which will further decrease their income. Fil: Ansari-Renani, Hamid R. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán Fil: Rischkowsky, Barbara. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; Etiopía Fil: Mueller, Joaquin Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Seyed Momend, S.M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; Irán Fil: Moradi, Sepehr. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán. University of Mashad. Agriculture College. Animal Science Department; Irán