The study was conducted in Gamo Goffa Zone of Southern Ethiopia to characterize traditional cattle breeding practices and cattle trait preferences of the Gamo Highland and Gamo Lowland cattle types. Data collected through group discussions and individual interviews were synthesized and summarized using descriptive statistics. Indigenous cattle in the study area provide multiple functions, are well adapted to their production environments, and managed under traditional and subsistent modes of production. Farmers' cattle trait preferences slightly differ across highland and lowland sites. Whereas lowland farmers prefer carcass yield and traction capacity, cattle farmers in highland areas give more weight to adaptation, milk production and manure contributions. Common breeding system in all sites was pure breeding, although very few farmers residing in mid and highland areas exercise crossbreeding with introduced Holstein Friesian bulls for dairy improvement. The main reported selection criteria of farmers for breeding their animals were body size and conformation, milk production, fertility and breeding history of animals. Cattle breeding and management practices of the study area are traditional and low input.

The phenotypic correlations between selected body conformation traits and milk off-take of three indigenous cattle breeds were evaluated against a backdrop of widespread traditional practice of identifying better milking cows and heifers using these traits. It was conducted in Fogera, Dembia and Wogera districts of northern-western Ethiopia. One-shot exploratory field visits were used to randomly identify sample cattle herds. Data were collected on eight quantitative and six qualitative body conformation traits as well as milk off-take from 126 sample cows. Pearson's correlation coefficients were determined between these traits and milk off-take for large, medium and small categories of navel flap-size categories. Results show that the average daily milk off-take varies significantly between categories of udder size, size of milk vein and neck length mainly not only in Fogera but also in Dembia and Wogera cows. Statistically significant phenotypic correlations exist between all the quantitative conformation traits and milk off-take in the three breeds but the type and strength of these associations are variable, indicating breed specificity of these associations. The significant correlations between width and length of navel flap with milk off-take are consistent with traditional knowledge of farmers of using navel flap size as an indicator of better milk production in these indigenous cows. The negative correlations of milk off-take with dewlap width in both Fogera and Wogera cattle, especially under the large navel flap category, are in agreement with the indigenous knowledge of these communities about these associations. It was therefore concluded that these traditional subjective practices can be improved by introducing convenient ways of objectively measuring these traits and using them in more conclusive and predictable ways.

A way of making local breeds more sustainable is to promote their products through individual or collective initiatives. Those initiatives can induce new points of view on the breed and lead to discussions or even tensions between stakeholders. We illustrate this statement with examples of French cattle breeds. Several kinds of changes in breeding goals are described in this paper, with the appearance of new challenges and/or new stakeholders linked to the development of strategies to add value to the breed. Then the several ways in which those changes occurred are explained. The situations analysed show configurations with easy consensus to build as well as situations of conflicts. Those case studies highlight the importance of the existence of arenas where the diverse points of view can be expressed. The role of the breed associations is then essential, but remains complex as, in some cases, breeding goals are strongly discussed. The question of the orientation of the breed then becomes a key question when initiatives to add value to local breeds are taken. New choices of add value generally have important consequences on the definition of breeding goals.

This paper reviews experiences with cross-breeding for milk production in the tropics. Data were compiled from 23 different studies evaluating the performance of different grades of cross-bred animals as well as local breeds. Relative performance of indigenous breeds compared with different grades of cross-breeds was calculated for three climatic zones. Traits considered were milk yield per lactation, age at first calving, services per conception, lifetime milk yield and total number of lactations completed. At 50 percent Bos taurus blood, lactation milk yields were 2.6, 2.4 and 2.2 times higher than those of local cattle in the highland, tropical wet and dry, and semi-arid climatic zones, respectively; lactation lengths increased by 1.2, 1.2 and 1.9 months in the above-mentioned climatic zones, respectively; there was a reduction in calving interval by 0.8 times and in age at first calving by 0.9 times. Similarly, cross-breds with 50 percent B. taurus genes had 1.8 times higher lifetime milk yields and a 1.2 times higher number of total lactations. Although cross-breeding faces a number of challenges such as better infrastructure, higher demand for health care, there are many advantages of using it. These are higher production per animal, higher income for the families and provision of high-value food. It is therefore likely to continue to be an important livestock improvement tool in the tropics in the future, where farmers can provide sufficient management for maintaining animals with higher input requirements and access to the milk market can be secured.

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue estimar la variabilidad y las relaciones filogenéticas entre 6 razas de ganado criollo colombiano, cebú Brahman y la española Pirenaica, mediante el uso de 12 marcadores moleculares tipo microsatélite. El número promedio de alelos fue de 11.58 con los valores más altos para los marcadores HEL 13 y ETH 10. La heterocigocidad promedio de todas las razas fue de 0.7 y el coeficiente de endogamia fue de 0.097, con los valores más altos para la raza Romosinuano. Los mayores valores de diversidad se presentaron en la raza Casanareño. La distancia genética entre las razas criollas colombianas y la raza española Pirenaica fue amplia (0.7–1.7) indicando posiblemente poca intervención de esta raza en el origen de las razas criollas. En general, las mayores distancias genéticas se presentaron entre las razas de origen Bos taurus (razas criollas colombianas y Pirenaica) con respecto a la Bos indicus (Brahman).