Promoting Sustainable Utilization and Genetic Improvement of Indonesian Local Beef Cattle Breeds: A Review

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature relevant to the breeding of cattle grazed in tropical environments and particularly Indonesia. The aim is to identify new breeding opportunities for cattle owned by Indonesia’s smallholder farmers, whilst also conserving unique local cattle beef breeds. Crossbreeding has been practiced extensively in Indonesia, but to date there have been no well-designed programs, resulting in many mixed-breed animals and no ability to determine their genetic composition, productive capabilities or adaptation to environmental stressors. An example of within-breed selection of Bali cattle based on measured live weight has similarly disregarded other productive and adaptive traits. It is unlikely that smallholder farmers could manage effective crossbreeding programs due to the complexities of management required. However, a tropically adapted composite breed(s) could perhaps be developed and improved using within-breed selection. Establishing reference population(s) of local breeds or composites and using within-breed selection to genetically improve those herds may be feasible, particularly if international collaborations can be established to allow data-pooling across countries. The use of genomic information and a strong focus on all economically important traits in practical breeding objectives is critical to enable genetic improvement and conservation of unique Indonesian cattle breeds. Keywords: beef cattle; tropical environments; crossbreeding; within-breed selection; genomic selection; productive traits; resistance to environmental stressors; reference populations; breed conservation