All slides of the course available in Moodle platform (http://e-l.unifi.it/)
Phillips C.J.C. 2001. Principles of Cattle production. CABI Publishing.
MLA. 2011. Tropical beef production manual. Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd.
FAO. 2007. The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, edited by Barbara Rischkowsky & Dafydd Pilling. Rome.
FAO. 2011. Surveying and monitoring of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines. No. 7. Rome.
Learning Objectives
Knowledge acquired:
Knowledge on climatic stress physiology in livestock and on traditional and innovative rearing systems of cattle in the tropics. To give knowledge about small ruminants and poultry farming. Knowledge on pig production in tropical environments. Basic principles of animal genetic resources conservation.
Competence acquired
Understanding of the climatic, genetic and nutritional constraints to the optimization of the animal productions in tropical environment. Local and improved cattle breeds. Competence on physiological basis of beef production in tropical environments. Knowledge on small ruminants and poultry farming. Competence on management of pig breeding and on strategies to control animal biodiversity.
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
Ability to select the best cattle genotypes suited for tropical environments. Technical skill on rearing systems of cattle. Skills to act with technical decisions on rearing systems and feeding plans for productions improvement.
Technical skills on small ruminants and poultry rearing. Ability to manage pig farms and to monitor the state of the animal genetic resources.
Teaching Methods
Total hours of the course (including the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, private study, examinations, etc...): 150
Hours reserved to private study and other individual formative activities: 102
Hours for: Lectures (hours): 30
Hours for: Laboratory-field/practice (hours): 18
Further information
Frequency of lectures, practice and lab:
not compulsory but strongly encouraged
Teaching tools
unifiElearning: http://e-l.unifi.it/
Type of Assessment
Written exam with closed and open answers and 1 exercise. The exam consists of 10 questions plus 1 exercise. The questions will be formulated in order to verify the student's acquisition of specific knowledge and his / her ability to elaborate the topics dealt with during the course.
Course program
Introduction to Animal Husbandry. Global livestock trends. Cattle: taxonomy, historical and present population of the world, main cosmopolitan and local breeds. Reproduction. Beef and dairy production. Critical points in tropical productions. Swine: distribution, origins, breeds used in the Tropics, reproduction, feeds and feeding. Risk status of animal genetic resources (AnGR). Management of AnGR. Management of endangered populations. Sheep and goats: Diffusion, rearing systems, breeds.
Poultry: Diffusion, uses and rearing systems, breeds. Thermal regulation, acclimatization, heat tolerance.