CURRENT STATE OF THE GENE FUND OF BEEF BREEDS IN UKRAINE
Authors: Kryvoruchko Y. I. , Nahornyi S. A. , Prudnikov V. H. , Korkh І. V. 
Published: July 2023

Introduction. Preservation of the gene pool of domestic meat breeds is an extremely urgent task in the field of meat cattle breeding. Today, those meat breeds of cattle that were created during the years of Ukraine's independence are on the verge of complete extinction - Ukrainian meat, Volynska meat, and Znamyan types of Poliska meat breed. Livestock of the gray Ukrainian breed - a valuable national treasure that was bred for three centuries and has valuable productive properties that are absent in animals of modern breeds - there is also a small amount left.

Materials and methods of research. The loss of domestic breeds is a significant decrease in the unique genetic diversity of livestock, which leads to a significant dependence of the meat and livestock industry on foreign breeding resources. In this sense, the determination of the current state and further prospects of their breeding acquires the significance of the state level. The research was conducted on the basis of the analysis of the materials of the state register of breeding subjects in animal husbandry for the years 2017–2021, data from reports on the certification of meat cattle in the farms of Ukraine, and methods of systematic generalization and graphic, analytical, and comparative statistical methods were used.Research results. Research has established that the situation with beef livestock in Ukraine is extremely difficult. The total number of meat breeds in 2021 was 24.393 heads, including 10.549 cows. Compared to 2017, the total number of these livestock decreased by 18.3% (5.482 heads), including cows – by 4.5% (500 heads). Instead, in 2021, the herd decreased sharply. Thus, as of January 1, 2022, the total number of meat breeds was 20.364, i.e., compared to last year, it decreased by 4.029 (16.6%).Compared to 2017, the total number of these livestock decreased by 18.3% (5.482 heads), including cows – by 4.5% (500 heads). Among breeds of foreign selection, an increase in the population was noted for Aberdeen Angus by 14.4% (995 heads), Limousins ​​- by 116.9% (1197 heads), Charolais - by 67.5% (689 heads), Herefords - by 56.6% (112 heads).Only the number of meat Simmentals and Aquitaine breed decreased by 32.0 and 20.5%, respectively. A sharp decrease in the number of Ukrainian meat breed from 1.918 heads to 630 heads or by 67.2% was established; Poliska meat breed - from 5.784 heads to 2.463 heads or by 57.4%; Volynska meat breed - from 6.553 heads to 2.971 heads or by 54.7%. Despite this, a significant positive increase in the population of Ukrainian gray cattle was observed during the studied period. A breed that was practically lost has hope for revival. If in 2017 its number was 919 heads, then in 2021 it increased by 14.0% and is 1048 heads. However, the number of cows decreased by 2.3% and reached 346 cows in 2021. If in 2017, 48.4% of enterprises were engaged in the breeding of breeding cattle of foreign selection, and 51.8% of domestic ones, then in 2021 farms breeding imported breeds prevailed - 61.2% against 38.8%. It is quite clear that domestic meat breeds cannot compete with European high-performance ones.An analysis of the breeding of pedigree beef cattle in different regions of Ukraine shows that certain regional differences have been revealed over the past five years. Volyn, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv regions are the leaders in the number of livestock, but the total number of livestock in all regions has decreased significantly. The Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Poltava, and Donetsk regions were marked by a gradual increase in livestock during this period. The highest value of this indicator was noted in the Odesa region - from 1.960 heads to 2.521 heads.The Aberdeen-Angus breed had the largest specific weight among meat breeds in Ukraine in 2021 and was 32.4%. Along with this, if among domestic meat breeds in 2017 the first place was occupied by the Volyn beef, then in 2021 - the southern meat by 13.5%. For five years, it was Aberdeen-Angus that had the greatest popularity among all other meat breeds.Conclusions. The inevitable consequences of the further reduction of the livestock population in Ukraine, the decline of meat cattle breeding, the lack of modern breeding methods for improving domestic meat breeds, as well as state support - a direct path to the loss of the domestic irreplaceable gene pool of meat cattle and the industry as a whole. Effective solutions to this urgent problem are possible only at the expense of state support, development and implementation of selection and breeding programs for improving the breeding qualities of breeds, preventing a further decrease in the population of endangered meat breeds by granting personal status to farms and sufficient funding.