Genetic improvement of goats in Brazil: Experiences, challenges and needs

The challenges that Brazil faces to set down real genetic improvement programs for goats are enormous, due to the vast range of its territory, along with the peculiar characteristics of the Northeast Region, which concentrate 93% of the goat population. This is the most extensive semiarid region of the country, where environmental resources are limited, with poor and irregular rainfall, with direct implications on scarcity and quality of forage, lack of a supply chain structured. Adding to this, the most of the herds are small, without appropriate management, run by small producers with scarce financial resources, and little technical assistance. The objective of this paper is to present a view of policies and technical-scientific activities regarding genetic improvement programs for goats in developing countries, establishing a parallel with actions of improvement carried out in Brazil in recent years, centered on the production of meat and dairy. The major experiences, challenges, needs and priorities will also be discussed to make possible, in the shortest time the consolidation of solid improvement programs for goats in Brazil. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.