Resistant breeds Disease resistance is the reduction of pathogen growth in or in a plant or animal; denoting less disease development in a particular breed than that which is relatively susceptible and is specific to a particular strain of disease or attribute. Breeding resistant breeds . Resistance” means the animal actively fights infection by various means. Building resistant breeds can be done through selection. Selective breeding, sometimes called artificial selection, where different breeds of animals with desired characteristics or attributes like resistance to. drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests can be developed by selective breeding and thus able to relatively thrive in some conditions which would otherwise not be able to, e.g. This assists in the reduction of diseases, results in healthier productive animals and reduces risk of secondary infections in livestock. These breeds create a potential for more efficient conversion of feed into meat or diary, and thus a climate smart attribute since by reducing emissions per unit of production (proportionately less faeces are dropped per unit consumption of feed) as well as contributing to food security.,. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, local breeds are more resistant to many of the pests and diseases and may be the best option for some farmers in the Arid and semi-arid areas of the region.
To effectively implement resistant breeds:
- Step 1: Breed livestock with increased resistance against pathogens or other environmental stressors (heat stress).
- Step 2: Select animals of higher general disease resistance (resistance to several diseases) using a heritable indicator such as natural antibodies.
- Step 3: Keep record of good performing animals; unhealthy or easily prone of weak animals should not be used for mating; males should be castrated leaving best specimen to breed in subsequent seasons.
- Step 4: Breed or inseminate the selected cows with desired or selected bulls or semen of the desired traits.
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 2005. Animal genetic resources and resistance to diseases. Rome, Italy.
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 2015. Selecting and breeding for insect and disease resistance. Rome, Italy.
Benefits
- With resistant breeds, selecting of male breeds is a long-term climate smart adaptation because they are likely the most resistant.
- Farmers should identify females in heat and isolate them with selected male animals. This results in productivity increase, higher resilience and cost effectiveness.
Drawbacks
- Breeding should be controlled to achieve best practice results and farmers should be able to detect when female animals are on heat.
- Parental performance records should be kept at all times.
