Genetic Improvement of Livestock and Poultry

The book aims to present conventional and modern breeding technologies in the essential areas of animal breeding, with the intention of stimulating further research and expediting the dissemination of such modern techniques within the scientific community. The conventional breeding technologies that have been employed for the selection and multiplication of superior cattle and buffalo germplasm have significantly contributed to the increase in milk production. These methods were primarily developed through advancements in quantitative genetics and reproductive biology. The selection of females based on their expected productive capacity and the selection of young males based on the performance of their progeny are among the methodologies that have been utilized. The most recent developments in the fields of molecular marker systems in animals, genome maps, QTL linkage detection methods, and Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) are the latest tools to be employed in breeding programs for enhancing the rate of genetic progress. These modern techniques can be extremely beneficial for traits for which conventional methods have limitations. Therefore, the integration of molecular markers with conventional breeding techniques that involve pedigree and phenotypic information is likely to be a future breeding tool for the genetic improvement of livestock and poultry.