Search

A breeding program to improve income from Raeini cashmere herds run by nomads in Southern Iran was implemented. Eight nomads agreed on improving fleece weight, body weight and down yield while reducing cashmere fibre diameter of white coated goats. Economic weights were calculated to define a breeding objective. Each nomad established a breeding nucleus selecting visually his best 40 does and two bucks from about 250 goats. Nomads used different systems to ensure separate mating of nucleus and general herd animals. Nomads were also able to identify the progeny of each buck. Nucleus progenies were recorded for weaning weight and fleece weight. Fleece samples were collected for analyses of down yield and down fibre diameter. General herd male progeny was castrated. Formal selection indices were used to select nucleus male replacements. To construct the indices phenotypic and genetic parameters were taken from project data and published figures. Accuracy of indices ranged 0.47 to 0.66 depending on the traits included. The inferior buck based on progeny index average was replaced by the best young buck available. Other high ranked young bucks were used in the general herd. The breeding program is in its fourth cycle and favourable selection differentials were confirmed for selected bucks in all traits of interests, in particular for down weight and down diameter, 62 g and −0.5 μm, respectively. The expected benefit of the program is about 4.0 USD accumulating per goat and per year. Fleece testing is an issue since the region lacks a fleece testing service. If fleece sampling is discontinued the expected benefit reduces to about 2.8 USD per goat and per year. Circular use of bucks to control inbreeding and participation of additional nomad families are planned for the future. This experience shows that a participatory breeding program can be successfully implemented under nomadic conditions through intensive collaboration of nomad herders, regional extension officers and scientists.

The effect of using small or large cashmere combs on cashmere harvest, cashmere quality and combing time was studied on Raeini cashmere goats in nomadic goat breeding systems of the Iranian province of Kerman. Two groups of 20 goats of different ages were combed with either a large or a small comb, three times with intervals of 2 weeks in early spring when natural fiber shedding has started. Combed cashmere weight, duration of combing, fiber diameter, and down yield were measured. A sample of combed cashmere was analyzed using a Laserscan instrument. A general linear model including type of comb, stage of combing and age of goat was fitted to analyze the data. Small combs collect more cashmere (31.0 vs. 21.7 g, P < 0.01) than large combs without affecting down yield or down fiber diameter (P > 0.05) but combing time is higher (3.75 vs. 2.79 min, P < 0.01). In the first two combing sessions much more cashmere was obtained than in the last (28.1, 32.0 and 19.0 g, respectively, P < 0.01), but the weight of total combed cashmere was much less than typical shorn fleece weights. Combing can be justified only if a considerable price premium can be obtained from selling combed cashmere instead of selling shorn cashmere, or if the combed cashmere is used to add value on-farm. If this is the case, small combs with short rods are preferable since more cashmere can be collected without affecting its quality Fil: Ansari-Renani, Hamid R. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán Fil: Mueller, Joaquin Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Rischkowsky, Barbara. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; Etiopía Fil: Seyed Momend, S.M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; Irán Fil: Ehsani, M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; Irán Fil: Moradi, Sepehr. University of Zanjan. Agriculture College. Animal Science Department; Irán

The income of the nomads in Kerman Province depends mainly on Raeini goats that produce meat, milk and cashmere. This paper assesses the cashmere quality and its variation in Raeini herds to determine the scope for improvement. In April 2010 fleece weights (FW) and midside fleece samples were taken from a total of 686 male and female cashmere goats of 1, 2 and 3 years of age belonging to 29 herds. The herds were randomly chosen in the summer grazing area of nomads within 20 km of the city of Baft, province of Kerman, South of Iran, the main cashmere producing area in Iran. Cashmere yield (CY) was determined from the weight of dehaired cashmere to weight of shorn fiber. Cashmere fibers were analyzed using an OFDA instrument. A general mixed linear model including sex, age and sex by age interaction as fixed effects and herd as random effect was used to analyze the data and measure the relationships between different cashmere characteristics and fleece attributes. The overall means ± standard deviations were for fleece weights (FW) 507 ± 183 g, cashmere yield (CY) 56.5 ± 12.2%, mean fiber diameter (MFD) 19.7 ± 1.5 μm, fiber diameter standard deviation (FDSD) 4.5 ± 0.6 μm, fiber curvature (FC) 62.9 ± 8.5°/mm and staple length (SL) 54.2 ± 7.0 mm, respectively. Herd effect was significant for all traits except for SL and sex by age effect was only significant for MFD. One year old males and females had finer cashmere than older goats. FW and FDSD were higher in males and CY and FC was higher in young animals. Pearson correlation between MFD and FC, FDSD and MFD, MFD and FW was −0.647, 0.399 and 0.211 respectively. Raeini cashmere is white, has an excellent SL and FC but is relatively coarse. Given the differences between and within herds there seems to be substantial scope to improve the commercial value of Raeini cashmere. Fil: Ansari-Renani, Hamid R. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán Fil: Mueller, Joaquin Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Rischkowsky, Barbara. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; Siria Fil: Seyed Momend, S.M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; Irán Fil: Alipour, O. Livestock Office of Agriculture Department of Baft; Irán Fil: Ehsani, M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; Irán Fil: Moradi, Sepehr. University of Zanjan. Agriculture College. Animal Science Department; Irán. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán.

In this study wool follicle characteristics of Iranian sheep breeds were investigated. A total of 242 male and female sheep of different age from 5 breeds were studied. Samples of skin were taken from the right midside to determine follicle characteristics. Overall averages for males and females were 3.7±0.1 and 3.5±0.1 for S/P ratio; 3.2±0.1 and 3.6±0.1 for primary follicle density; 12.1±0.7 and 13.8±0.4 for secondary follicle density; 15.3±0.7 and 17.4±0.4 for total primary plus secondary follicle density; 2.3±0.2 and 3.5±0.3 for percentage of inactive secondary follicles. Significant differences were found in some follicle characteristics between sheep breeds. Results of this study showed that sheep breeds raised in different parts of Iran characterized by a low S/P ratio

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%.

This experiment was conducted to identify some aspects of follicle characteristics and the extent of follicle inactivity of dromedarius and bactrianus camels kept in different provinces of Iran. A total of 190 dromedarian and 11 bactrian male and female camels were grouped into different age classes. To determine follicle characteristics and the percentage of follicle inactivity, samples of skin were taken from the right midside of animals. The overall average S/P ratio, primary follicle density, secondary follicle density, total primary plus secondary follicle density and percentage of inactive secondary follicles of dromedarian camels were 6.3 ± 0.1, 4.2 ± 0.1, 26.0 ± 0.4, 30.1 ± 0.4 and 29.2 ± 1.2 and of bactrian camels were 8.5 ± 0.4, 3.8 ± 0.2, 29.1 ± 1.4, 32.8 ± 1.3 and 31.2 ± 4.7 respectively. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference was found in some follicle characteristics between the camels. Large variations existed between individual camels in the percentage of inactive secondary follicles ranging from 7% to 74%. © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.

This experiment was conducted to determine the extent to which follicle shutdown and fibre shedding are related to staple strength, and to characterise the histological changes in the wool follicles and fibres of sheep after exposure to elevated cortisol levels. Twenty one South Australian, Strongwool Merino rams (mean fibre diameter 21.6±0.8 μm) were allocated to one of 5 groups with similar mean staple strength and clean wool production. Groups 1 to 5 were injected with 2.86, 1.42, 0.56, 0.19 and 0 mg of cortisol/day/kg liveweight respectively for 4 weeks. Wool growth rate was estimated by clipping a tattooed patch on the midside of the animal at 4-weekly intervals. Fibre diameter was measured on these samples. Staple length was measured every 4 weeks by the dyebanding method. Follicle activity was gauged by histological changes in skin biopsies taken weekly. Blood samples were collected every 2 weeks and plasma cortisol measured. At the end of experiment, wool staples were taken from the shoulder, midside and rump sites for measurement of staple strength. Increased plasma cortisol concentration significantly (P

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