2004-5-24
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report.
Farm animals supply an estimated thirty percent of all food and
agricultural needs. They provide products like milk, meat and eggs.
They provide fertilizer to help crops grow. And they help farmers
work the land.
But there is concern about the loss of many kinds of farm animals
as a result of efforts to create new ones. People began to breed
livestock at least twelve thousand years ago. Animals not only
provided food and labor. Their skin and bones also provided clothes
and tools. But people also bred animals to survive local conditions.
Breeders look for farm animals with desirable qualities. Such
animals are then used to reproduce, so they pass along these
qualities for the future. Competition becomes difficult for animals
with qualities that are seen as less desirable. The United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization says more than eight hundred
breeds are in danger.
Big farms and modern agriculture often depend on only a few kinds
of livestock. These animals have been bred to meet the needs of new
technology and production methods.
But older kinds of farm animals can be useful too. They may not
be as productive as newer kinds of livestock. Yet, they may remain
productive even under severe conditions. The Jamunapari goat of
India, for example, produces good milk and meat. But its ability to
survive in dry conditions with little food makes it highly valuable
in parts of India.
The Taihu pig of China is another example. It does not produce as
much meat as some breeds of pig. But, it is able to eat many kinds
of food and reproduce more than Western breeds.
The Food and Agriculture Organization publishes a list of farm
animals that are in danger of disappearing. The agency calls it the
World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity. The F.A.O. is
leading an effort to collect genetic information from breeds of farm
animals around the world. In the United States, the American
Livestock Breeds Conservancy gathers information on rare farm
animals and seeks to protect them.
Breeding over thousands of years has created genetic diversity
among farm animals. Different genes can give animals the ability to
survive under more conditions. It can also give them better
resistance to disease. But now experts warn that we are losing that
genetic diversity. At least four thousand breeds of farm animals
have been developed. But some experts say hundreds of breeds have
disappeared.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario
Ritter. This is Steve Ember.