# Development of genomic selection in dairy cattle in two emerging countries: South Africa and India

Vincent Ducrocq

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Vincent Ducrocq. Development of genomic selection in dairy cattle in two emerging countries: South Africa and India. 68. Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP), Aug 2017, Tallinn, Estonia. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, 2017, 68th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science. hal-01583794

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Submitted on 2 Jun 2020

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Development of genomic selection in dairy cattle in two emerging countries: South Africa and India

V. Ducrocq¹, L. Chavinskaia², M. Swaminathan³, A. Pande³, M. Van Niekerk⁴ and F.W.C. Neser⁴

¹GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France, ²Lisis, INRA, Université Paris-Est, Marne la Vallée, France, ³BAIF, Central Research Station, Uruli Kanchan, Maharashtra, India, ⁴Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; vincent.ducrocq@inra.fr

In large developed countries, genomic selection has radically transformed dairy cattle breeding, with collateral impact on the international semen market. Emerging countries are often strong semen importers. Few of them are Interbull members. However, if they are a member, MACE evaluations of progeny tested bulls give them access to EBV on their own scale. At least in theory, this allows for a rational choice of semen to import. This is no longer the case with genomic evaluations, for which the constitution of a proper reference population is complex. As a consequence, the gap between countries with expertise in genomic selection and the others is widening fast. However, genomic selection also offers new opportunities in emerging countries, because it does not require sophisticated national performance recording systems and it more easily leads to selection adapted to local environments. The project ‘GENOSOUTH2’ of the INRA SELGEN metaprogramme aims at promoting the local implementation of genomic selection of dairy cattle, with 2 countries as case study: in South Africa, the objective is to develop a prototype for national genomic evaluation in Holstein cattle, exploiting the participation of the country to Interbull MACE evaluations, in order to enlarge the reference population while accommodating two very contrasted feeding systems. In India, BAIF, the largest Indian NGO in agriculture, is developing a female reference population of crossbred *Bos taurus* × *Bos Indicus* animals, facing a number of challenges such as very small average herd sizes, scarce identification and limited performance recording. We will describe the motivations, the current constraints and the expected benefits of these two initiatives. Local genomic evaluations are fundamental for sustainable genetic progress of dairy cattle in harsh environments.