Olivardo Facó

Análise do desempenho produtivo de diversos grupos genéticos Holandês x Gir no Brasil.

Total milk yield per lactation (PL), milk yield in 305 days (PL305) and lactation length (DL) were estimated based on records of the Brazilian Association of Girolando Breeders (3,574 lactations). Milk production was recorded monthly and 10.8% of the herds were raised under an extensive feeding system, 67.9% under a semi-intensive feeding system and 21.3% under an intensive feeding system. Data were analyzed through the least square method by GLM procedure (SAS, 1996). Preliminary analysis indicated a high interaction between genetic group and feeding system. Thus, the performance of genetic groups was evaluated within each feeding system. Genetic effects of additive difference between (g) Holstein and Gir breeds, dominance (d) and additive x additive epistatic interactions (gg) were also studied. It was observed that, in some cases, the effects of epistatic interactions should be taken into account. Moreover, increasing the proportion of Holstein-Friesian genes did not have any significant effect on milk yield when herds were raised under poor management conditions. However, as such conditions improved, crosses with higher proportion of Holstein tended to show better performance.

Efeitos genéticos aditivos e não-aditivos para características produtivas e reprodutivas em vacas mestiças Holandês × Gir

A partir de registros de genealogia e controle leiteiro e reprodutivo fornecidos pela Associacao Brasileira dos Criadores de Girolando, foram estimados os efeitos de diferenca genetica aditiva entres as racas Holandesa e Gir, de dominância e de recombinacao, alem das herdabilidades e repetibilidades, para as caracteristicas producao de leite por lactacao (PL), producao de leite ate os 305 dias de lactacao (PL305), duracao da lactacao (DL), intervalo de partos (IDP), idade ao primeiro parto (IPP) e producao de leite por dia de intervalo de partos (PL/IDP). Foram utilizados 4.805 registros de PL, PL305 e DL e 2.222, 1.408 e 2.363 registros de IDP, IPP e PL/IDP, respectivamente. Analises unicaracteristicas foram realizadas considerando os efeitos de diferenca genetica aditiva entre as racas, de dominância e de recombinacao como covariaveis. As estimativas para a diferenca genetica aditiva entre as duas racas foram significativas para todas as caracteristicas, exceto para o IDP, e foram estimadas em 3.115 ± 273 kg, 2.574 ± 226 kg, 98 ± 13 dias, -236 ± 67 dias e 7,5 ± 0,9 kg/dia para PL, PL305, DL, IPP e PL/IDP, respectivamente. Os efeitos de dominância (heterose) tambem foram significativos para todas as caracteristicas, exceto para a DL. Foi verificada significativa perda por recombinacao para PL e PL305. As estimativas de herdabilidade foram de 0,25 ± 0,05, 0,21 ± 0,04, 0,12 ± 0,04, 0,05 ± 0,05, 0,33 ± 0,09 e 0,21 ± 0,07 para PL, PL305, DL, IDP, IPP e PL/IDP, respectivamente, enquanto as estimativas de repetibilidade foram de 0,49 ± 0,05; 0,47 ± 0,04; 0,18 ± 0,04; 0,09 ± 0,06; e 0,37 ± 0,07 para PL, PL305, DL, IDP e PL/IDP, respectivamente.

Fluxo de biomassa em capim-tanzânia pastejado por ovinos sob três períodos de descanso

The biomass flow in Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia pasture grazed by sheep under three resting periods (PD), defined by the expansion of 1.5; 2.5 and 3.5 new leaves per tiller (1.5F; 2.5F and 3.5F, respectively) was evaluated in a randomized completely design with two replicates (paddocks). It was determined the leaf elongation rate (TAlF), the residual leaf senescence rate (TSFA), the post-grazing leaf senescence rate (TSFP) and the total leaf senescence rate (TSFT), the stem elongation rate (TAlH), the TAlF of leaves 1 and 2 ratio (TALF1/2), the tiller population density (DPP), the phylochron and the crop growth (TCC) and accumulation (TAC) rates. The TAlF1/2 ratio was not affected by the PD, however, it decreased over the cycles at the 3.5F PD pasture. The TAlF was not affected by the PD. The TAlH was inferior at the 1.5F PD pasture, as well as the TSFA and the TSFT. There was TSFP only at the 3.5F PD pasture. The phylochron of the 1.5F PD pasture was superior to the others. The DPP of the 2.5F PD pasture was similar to that of the 1.5F PD pasture, and it was superior to the 3.5F PD pasture. There was reduction of the DPP following the cycles at the 3.5F PD pasture. The TCC and the TAC of the 2.5F PD pasture were superior than the others. The extension of the PD raised the TAlH and the TSFT and reduced the DPP and the TAC. As a conclusion, the resting period should not exceed the time necessary to the expansion of 2.5 leaves on the tiller for tanzaniagrass pastures grazed by sheep.

Tendências genéticas para características relacionadas à velocidade de crescimento em bovinos Nelore na região nordeste do Brasil

The objectives of this work were to estimate the genetic parameters and the genetic trends of the direct and maternal effects for the trait days to gain 160 kg (D160) in the pre-weaning period, and of the direct effect for the trait days to gain 240 kg (D240) in the post-weaning period, of animals of Nellore breed, born from 1965 to 2001 in the Northeast region of Brazil. The analyses were carried out using the MTDFREML software. For D160 the model included the direct and maternal genetic random effects and maternal permanent environmental effect, besides the fixed effects of contemporary group and the covariate age of dam at calving, assuming the covariance between maternal and direct effect equal to zero (sam=0). For D240, the same fixed effects were considered, however, just the direct genetic effect as random. The genetic trends were estimated by linear regression of the breeding values on year of birth of the animals. The direct and maternal heritabilities for D160, respectively, were 0.12 ± 0.01 and 0.07 ± 0.02. The direct heritability for D240 was 0.16 ± 0.02. The genetic trends of the direct effects were significant, with estimated values of -0.14 and -0.41 days/year for D160 and D240, respectively. The genetic trend of the maternal effect for D160 was significant and equal to -0.0037 days/year. The genetic trends were favorable, however, inferiors the potential gain.

Genetic parameters for growth, reproductive and maternal traits in a multibreed meat sheep population

The genetic parameters for growth, reproductive and maternal traits in a multibreed meat sheep population were estimated by applying the Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood method to an animal model. Data from a flock supported by the Programa de Melhoramento Genético de Caprinos e Ovinos de Corte (GENECOC) were used. The traits studied included birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), slaughter weight (SW), yearling weight (YW), weight gain from birth to weaning (GBW), weight gain from weaning to slaughter (GWS), weight gain from weaning to yearling (GWY), age at first lambing (AFL), lambing interval (LI), gestation length (GL), lambing date (LD - number of days between the start of breeding season and lambing), litter weight at birth (LWB) and litter weight at weaning (LWW). The direct heritabilities were 0.35, 0.81, 0.65, 0.49, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.39 for BW, WW, SW, YW, GBW, GWS and GWY, respectively, and 0.04, 0.06, 0.10, 0.05, 0.15 and 0.11 for AFL, LI, GL, LD, LWB and LWW, respectively. Positive genetic correlations were observed among body weights. In contrast, there was a negative genetic correlation between GBW and GWS (-0.49) and GBW and GWY (-0.56). Positive genetic correlations were observed between AFL and LI, LI and GL, and LWB and LWW. These results indicate a strong maternal influence in this herd and the presence of sufficient genetic variation to allow mass selection for growth traits. Additive effects were of little importance for reproductive traits, and other strategies are necessary to improve the performance of these animals.

Idade ao Primeiro Parto e Intervalo de Partos de Cinco Grupos Genéticos Holandês x Gir no Brasil

Reproduction efficiency of Holstein x Gir crossbred animals in Brazilian dairy farms were evaluated using data provided by the Brazilian Association of Girolando. A total of 2,600 records of age at first calving (IPP) and 3,763 records of calving intervals (IDP) were analyzed using the SAS® GLM procedure. Estimates of genetics effects: additive difference between Holstein and Gir breeds, dominance and additive x additive epistatic effects were obtained by regression models including genetic groups to model the performance of crossbred groups. The genetic group 1/2 showed better performance: lower averages for IPP and IDP than the other groups. It was observed a trend of increasing IDP as the proportion of Holstein genes increased. The dominance effect influenced significantly both traits, while the additive x additive epistatic effects significantly influenced only IPP. The results indicated that loss of favorable epistatic interactions contributed to high IPP average in the 5/8 group.

Spatialization of climate, physical and socioeconomic factors that affect the dairy goat production in Brazil and their impact on animal breeding decisions

Brazil has high climate, soil and environmental diversity, as well as distinct socioeconomic and political realities, what results in differences among the political administrative regions of the country. The objective of this study was to determine spatial distribution of the physical, climatic and socioeconomic aspects that best characterize the production of dairy goats in Brazil. Production indices of milk per goat, goat production, milk production, as well as temperature range, mean temperature, precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index, relative humidity, altitude, agricultural farms; farms with native pasture, farms with good quality pasture, farms with water resources, farms that receive technical guidance, family farming properties, non-familiar farms and the human development index were evaluated. The multivariate analyses were carried out to spatialize climatic, physical and socioeconomic variables and so differenciate the Brazilian States and Regions. The highest yields of milk and goat production were observed in the Northeast. The Southeast Region had the second highest production of milk, followed by the South, Midwest and North. Multivariate analysis revealed distinctions between clusters of political-administrative regions of Brazil. The climatic variables were most important to discriminate between regions of Brazil. Therefore, it is necessary to implement animal breeding programs to meet the needs of each region.

Genotype effect on carcass and meat quality of lambs finished in irrigated pastures in the semiarid Northeastern Brazil

The aim of this study was to compare four genetic groups of sheep on the carcass and meat quality traits. Thirty-three contemporary and unrelated male lambs, all of single birth were used in the experiment, being thirteen from the Santa Ines (SI) breed, seven from the Brazilian Somali breed (BS), six from the Morada Nova (MN) breed and seven from the ½ Dorper - ½ Morada Nova (F1) crossbreed. The genotypes SI, BS and F1 presented similar performances in relation to hot and cold carcass weights, which values were 10.76±0.53kg and 10.46±0.52kg for SI, 9.20±0.73kg and 8.99±0.71kg for BS, and 9.35±0.73kg and 9.13±0.71kg for F1, respectively. The BS had a better hot carcass yield (47.10±0.88%) and cold carcass yield (46.00±0.87%). Better carcass conformation was observed in SI and F1 (2.73±0.12 and 2.50±0.17, respectively) while the BS presented a better finishing (3.29±0.20). The average for the rib eye area (REA) was 9.94±0.49cm2, 8.66±0.67cm2, 7.18±0.72cm2 and 9.8±0.67cm2, and for the carcass compactness index (CCI) it was 0.17±0.01kg/cm, 0.17±0.01kg/cm, 0.11±0.01kg/cm and 0.16±0,01kg/cm, for SI, SB, MN and F1, respectively. There were no significant differences between SI, BS and F1 regarding REA and CCI. Although, in general, the MN presented a relatively lower performance than the other genotypes, this breed had similar carcass yields and fat thickness when compared to SI and F1 and similar conformation and REA in comparison to the BS. Regarding meat quality, no differences were observed between genotypes, except for redness and cooking losses. It is concluded that no one group had a higher or lower performance in all traits analyzed. Moreover, for the management conditions employed in this study, there was evidence of greater specialization in meat production for genotypes SI, BS and F1 when compared to MN, although there are no substantial differences between the four groups regarding meat quality.

Genetic evaluation of partial growth trajectory of Santa Inês breed using random regression models

Foram utilizados 19.303 registros de peso de ovinos da raca Santa Ines com os objetivos de avaliar funcoes polinomiais com diferentes ordens para melhor ajuste das regressoes fixas e aleatorias da trajetoria de crescimento e estimar os componentes de covariância e os parâmetros geneticos desta trajetoria. Os efeitos fixos utilizados nas analises foram grupo de contemporâneos, sexo e tipo de nascimento. Para ajuste da regressao fixa da trajetoria media de crescimento, foram avaliados polinomios ordinarios e de Legendre com ordens variando de 2 a 4. Para as regressoes aleatorias, foram avaliadas as funcoes de Legendre e β-spline quadratica, com ordens variando de 3 a 4. As funcoes com polinomios de Legendre de quarta ordem foram adequadas para ajustar a parte aleatoria, enquanto os polinomios ordinarios de terceira ordem foram melhores para ajustar a parte fixa. As herdabilidades diretas nos dias 1, 50, 150, 250 e 411 foram de 0,24; 0,12; 0,44; 0,84; e 0,96, respectivamente, enquanto as herdabilidades maternas nessas idades foram de 0,24; 0,19; 0,09; 0,02 e 0,01. As correlacoes geneticas entre pesos em idades subsequentes foram elevadas, tendendo a unidade, e houve correlacoes negativas entre pesos tomados em idades mais jovens e aqueles tomados em idades mais avancadas. A variabilidade genetica observada permite alterar a trajetoria de crescimento por meio de selecao. O controle genetico dos pesos nas fases iniciais do crescimento nao e o mesmo que atua em idades mais tardias. Assim, a selecao de animais para abate em idade jovem deve ser diferente daquela para animais de reposicao no rebanho.

Efeitos genéticos aditivos e não-aditivos em características de crescimento, reprodutivas e habilidade materna em ovinos das raças Santa Inês, Somalis Brasileira, Dorper e Poll Dorset

Additive genetic, dominance and recombination effects in breedings among Santa Ines (SI), Brazilian Somali (So), Dorper (Do) and Poll Dorset (Po) breeds were estimated for growth, reproductive and maternal hability traits. Data were obtained from Gaasa e Alimentos LTDA, a company that participates on the Programa de Melhoramento Genetico de Caprinos e Ovinos (GENECOC) coordinated by Embrapa Caprinos. Initially, 3,573 records were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of the statistical package SAS (1999). The analyses were carried out considering the effects of additive genetic difference among breeds, dominance and recombination effects. Birth weight was mainly influenced by additive genetic effects, while weaning weight and pre-weaning weight gain were influenced by non-additive genetic effects. Direct heritability estimates for birth weight was moderate indicating that there is genetic variability believable to be exploited by individual selection. In the same way, heritability estimates for the traits age at first lambing and litter total weight at birth indicated the existence of genetic variability to obtain genetic gains through selection. Genes of the Poll Dorset and Dorper breeds had an important role for a better growth performance, therefore, these breeds can be indicated as sires in the terminal breeds. The use of F1 Santa Ines x Brazilian Somali females on crossbreeding with Poll Dorset rams can lead to a better reproductive efficiency.