PRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIGENOUS IRAQI SHEEP BREEDS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Keywords:
Indigenous Iraqi sheep, Awassi sheep, Hamdani sheep, Karadi sheep, Arabi sheep, Production characteristics, Genetic resources, Phenotypic diversityAbstract
Indigenous Iraqi sheep are a valuable part of the country's livestock genetic resources and provide a significant contribution for meat, milk and wool production, rural livelihoods and food security. The knowledge available is summarized on the major indigenous Iraqi sheep breeds Awassi, Hamdani, Karadi, Arabi and Guraishi focusing on their production traits, phenotypic diversity, adaptive capacity, and their genetic potential for improvement. There is considerable differences between these breeds in their size, growth rate, carcass characteristics, milk yield and quality, and wool quality. The northern breeds, such as Hamdani and Karadi are in general relatively large, and have desirable meat production qualities, while the Awassi breeds are especially valuable for milk production and their adaptability to the semi-arid environment. The Arabi sheep are highly adapted to hot environments of southern Iraq and yet they have good reproductive and milk productivity. There is also significant variation among individuals within breeds (within-breed variation) which has been documented in available studies and can be exploited through selection without loss of valuable indigenous genetic resources. The Iraqi sheep are mostly fat-tailed and have adaptive traits that enable them to withstand the variability of feed availability, climatic stress and extensive production systems. Yet, the productivity is still held back due to poor nutrition, degradation of forage resources, lack of organized breeding programs, disease pressures and the lack of contemporary characterization of some populations, namely Guraishi sheep. Moreover, wool of some breeds remains completely poorly characterized and the potential in the field of traditional and value-added products is not exploited. Future improvement programmes should incorporate standardisation of phenotyping, molecular and genomic tools, reproductive and production data, and conservation. This method would not only improve the productivity of sheep but also maintain the indigenous adaptability and genetic diversity in Iraqi sheep.
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