Dairy Genetic Improvement in Thailand By K. Borisutsawat Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Genetic Improvement DLD, Thailand

History of Dairy cattle in Thailand The dairy and milk production in Thailand began in 1926 by Indian immigrants. After World War II (1945), consumption of milk and other dairy products began to be promoted by the Thai government. In 1950s, Thai and European governments began to cooperate on commercial dairy production in Thailand. AI service centers and Dairy cattle farming project were established by government organization.

History of Dairy cattle in Thailand In 1961, The Danish government offered the dairy farming promotion project as a gift to His and Her Majesty to conduct in Thailand. King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit visited Denmark in 1960

History of Dairy cattle in Thailand In 1962, Thai government had established a Thai- Danish Dairy Farming Training Center in Muak Lek district, Saraburi province for promote and support Thai dairy business.

History of Dairy cattle in Thailand King Bhumibol vitsited his dairy farm at the “Chang Hua Man Royal Project”

Number of dairy cattle in Thailand (1989-2015)

Dairy Population in Thailand In 2015: 509,524 animals, of which 235,829 were milking cows Most of them (>95%) are crossbred with Holstein Friesian

Dairy Population in Thailand (2015)

Dairy Farming in Thailand In 2015,There were 16,248 dairy farms across the country. Most farmers (55%) were small holders (<10 milking cows per day) The vast majority of farmers had primary school or no school education (65%) Employed family members for dairy work (85%) The average farm size was 4 acres

Dairy Farming in Thailand The average number of dairy cattle per farm was 29 for all type, and 11 for milking cows In 2015, dairy farmers throughout the country produced 1,082,379 tons of raw milk (approximately 4,590 kg/cow or 15 kg/cow/day)

Dairy Farming in Thailand There are 98 milk processing plants. Most of them(76% ) are small plants. Ninety six percent of this total was used to produce ready-to-drink milk (34% for SMP, and 66% for commercial markets) Thailand also exports dairy products such as sweetened condensed milk, sterilized fresh milk and evaporated milk to several neighboring countries

Feeding and nutrition varies among seasons and locations Feeding and nutrition varies among seasons and locations. Grasses most commonly available in Thailand are Pennisetum purpureum (napier grass), Panicum maximum (guinea grass), Brachiaria mutica (para grass), and Brachiaria ruziziensis (ruzi grass). Most farmers (57%) cut-and-carry grass to feed their cattle and also have pastures for grazing, whereas others either only cut-and-carry grass (39%), or keep their cattle on pastures (4%).

Dairy Breed in Thailand Dairy cattle in Thailand are largely multibreed. Holstein, Brahman, Brown Swiss, Jersey, Red Dane, Red Sindhi, Sahiwal and Thai Native. 91% of cows are crossbred, the majority are composed of a large Holstein fraction and a small of Bos indicus or other Bos taurus breeds.

Breeding Strategy to Enhance Milk Production Increasing milk production in Thailand was initially done through crossbreeding and upgrading. Crossbreeding was used to combine the advantages of Holstein for milk yield and of local cattle or crossbreds for tropical adaptability and fertility. This system helped increase milk production in subsequent generations. However, when Holstein fraction is higher than 90%, cows require more intensive management and health care.

Breeding Strategy to Enhance Milk Production Strategy for genetic improvement changed from selection of breed groups to selection of individual animals Large-scale dairy genetic evaluation programs in Thailand have been conducted by the DLD and DPO. Annual Sire summary have been published.

Breeding Strategy to Enhance Milk Production Even EBV for milk yield and other economically important traits for sires and dams used in Thailand are published every year, many Thai farmers still do not know how to utilize EBV to select animal. Thai dairy farmers and inseminators have been trained on how to select individual animals based on their phenotype performance and estimated breeding value (EBV) to genetically improve dairy herds. DLD created a system to measure dairy type traits in Thai dairy cattle.

Dairy Genetic Improvement Objective of dairy genetic improvement To improve genetics of animals To improve characteristics of animals To increase milk production

On-farm Dairy Genetic Improvement The genetic predictions are useful for sire and dam selection under Thai environmental conditions. The low genetic trends observed in Thailand for milk yield and fat yield were likely not related to availability of genetic prediction information for sires, but to inadvisable choice of sires based on semen availability or suggestions by artificial inseminators. Increasing the level of training of artificial inseminators and dairy farmers on the use of EBV for sire selection would greatly help increase the utilization of superior sires for milk production.

On-farm Dairy Genetic Improvement Sire selection in Thailand - based on semen availability - due to their genetic ability for economically important traits. Farmers tried upgrading their cow herd to fractions close to HF. However, because of health and reproductive problems, farmers keep their own cattle at approximately 90% HF or lower

On-farm Dairy Genetic Improvement Most Thai dairy farmers (59%) lacked sufficient knowledge and understanding of genetic selection and mating strategies. When the farmers selected sires, most of them (96%) sought the advice of - artificial inseminators - semen sellers - consultants or other people Unfortunately, most farmer (90%) did not know how to used EBV. Among farmers who knew the benefit of EBV for selection, less than 5% of them frequently used it.

Molecular Biotechnology Molecular genetic techniques have been used to develop selection tools for genomic improvement of dairy cattle under Thai tropical environment conditions. Using molecular genetics to identify genes that influence milk production traits. If applied with use of molecular information in selection programs has the potential to increase productivity, enhance environmental adaptation.

Molecular Biotechnology To find out some point mutation on genomic DNA that is associated with economic traits such as Milk yield, fat content, SCC…….

List of the most promising candidate genes of milk production traits Genetic markers Milk production and composition Beta-casein Kappa-casein Beta-lactoglobulin Leptin Fertility FSHR LHR Mastitis resistance BoLA-DRB3 The use of genetic markers to enhance the efficiency of breeding improvement

Challenges and Opportunities for Improvement Increasing the efficiency of milk production of individual animals to increase profitability To fairly compare dairy cows of different ages and lactation stages within and among small size farms The prevalent small-farm size that limits herd size and the high cost of land to increase farm size prevents most dairy farmers from expanding their dairy operations.

Acknowledgement Koonawootrittriron, 2016. Thailand conference report, “Dairy Asia Launch Meeting” January 27-30, 2016

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