Project topics and materials
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
The South African Angora goat industry
The Angora goat was domesticated in Turkey, in the region of Angora (now the city of Ankara), from where they were exported to Europe during the sixteenth century in an attempt to establish a wider mohair industry. The European climate was however not suited to these goats and South Africa (a British colony at the time) was identified as a favourable region for Angora goat production. During 1838 the first Angora goats were imported to South Africa, with more that 3000 animals following these between 1856 and 1896 (Friedrich, 2009). The Karoo (meaning “thirsty land”) and harsh, semi-arid Eastern Cape region proved to be well-suited to the Angora goats, and a flourishing industry evolved from this humble beginning. Today the mohair industry in South Africa consist of approximately 870 000 Angora goats, most of which are still farmed in the Eastern Cape.
The Angora ram Breeders’ Association consist of 59 stud breeders who supply high quality genetic material to the almost 1000 commercial producers (The Angora Goat & Mohair Journal, 2009).
South Africa is widely considered as the most reliable producer of a good quality clip of mohair worldwide, and produces in excess of 50% of the world product annually (NDAFF, 2009). Early processing (e.g. scouring and combing) of the mohair is occasionally performed in South Africa and then sold as “tops”, while raw (unprocessed) mohair is also sold. Mohair in either of these forms are mainly sold at orderly “open-cry” auctions, although branding also account for limited trading (Van der Westhuysen, 2005). Mohair production in South Africa has decreased by 21.6% from 3.7 million kg in 2004 to 2.9 million kg in 2008. This decrease has been attributed to a continuing drought in large parts of the production area, while the global financial crises also contributed to a large extent.
Despite the troubling economic times, the South African National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ (NDAFF) mohair outlook for the 2009 / 2010 season remained positive. While the demand for kid mohair was expected to remain low, young goats’ hair was recovering. The first two auctions of the 2010 season fared better than expected, with an increase in market indicators (http://www.cmw.co.za/market_reports/files/CMWMOHREP_2010S-01.pdf). There is a continuing fashion trend in Europe which favours animal fibres and the demand for mohair (especially young goat and adult hair) is expected to remain stable (http://www.mohair.co.za/index.php/news/39-mohairmarket- indicator-up-more-than-10).
A number of companies play major roles in the South African industry. Mohair South Africa is responsible for the advancement of a sustainable local industry through the creation of international partnerships. Cape Mohair and Wool is the largest mohair brokerage firm in South Africa.
Approximately 50% of all mohair produced globally passes through this firm’s handling and warehouse facilities. Producers in the Camdeboo region decided to establish an exclusive high-quality brand (“Camdeboo”) which is now recognised globally as an authoritative mohair trademark. Mohair producers are supported by the South African Mohair Growers’ Association, which is responsible for promoting and guiding its members through their 33 branches in the Eastern Cape (The Angora Goat & Mohair Journal, 2009).
In the past selection of South African Angora goats have focussed on three main traits, namely body weight, fleece weight and fibre diameter. Fibre diameter is the most economically important of these, determining both the price and the processing of the fibre (Qi et al., 1994). Staple length and the general appearance of the fleece (including style, character and evenness of the fleece) also influence the price (refer to Addendum A for the detailed Mohair Classing Standards of Mohair South Africa). During the mid 1980s, the South African clip became stronger, possibly due to selection for increased fleece weight, while disregarding fibre diameter (Snyman, 2002). Since then, selection in the national herd has been performed based on a selection index including body weight, fleece weight and fibre diameter. Body weight is included, as selection for decreased fibre diameter results in a corresponding body weight decrease, resulting in lowered robustness and increased mortalities. The unfavourable positive genetic correlation between fleece weight and fibre diameter also necessitates emphasis to be put on both these traits.
Aim of the study
Although animal biotechnology has developed rapidly during the past three decades, it is still a relatively unexploited field in the South African livestock industry. Dairy and beef cattle producers are starting to make use of available technologies (parentage verification, limited use of MAS and genomic EBV calculation), but this is limited to a very small number of farmers. Most species, including the South African Angora goats, still largely select animals based on either mass selection or BLUP. The application of Estimated Breeding Values is limited by poor breeder participation in official animal recording in South Africa. Although progress has been made with the use of quantitative selection, it has several limitations which has been well documented (Andersson, 2001; Dodds et al., 2007). The mohair industry of South Africa acknowledged both the limitations of quantitative selection and the opportunity that DNA technology poses for livestock improvement. Discussions between Mohair South Africa, the NDAFF (mainly the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute) and the University of Pretoria resulted in the initiation of a DNA Bio-bank for small-stock in 2005, with the further intent of molecular research. All the goats at the Jansenville experimental farm of the NDAFF were sampled as a base population and to increase the size of this population, breeders from the stud industry were selected to participate. These animals formed the Angora goat reference population and any findings from this study will therefore be applicable to the whole Angora goat population in South Africa. This project was initiated to evaluate how molecular information could contribute to the genetic improvement of the South African Angora goat.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The South African Angora goat industry
1.2 The current status of Angora goat research
1.3 Aim of the study
2. GENETIC VARIATION OF THE REFERENCE POPULATION FOR QTL RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICAN ANGORA GOATS
3. A GENETIC LINKAGE MAP FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN ANGORA GOAT
3.1 Improved alignment between the sheep and goat linkage maps
4. GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR PHYSICAL AND QUALITY TRAITS OF MOHAIR IN SOUTH AFRICAN ANGORA GOATS
5. QTL FOR MOHAIR TRAITS IN SOUTH AFRICAN ANGORA GOATS
6. CRITICAL REVIEW AND CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Critical Review
6.2 Conclusions
ADENDUMS
