Facts:
Project is financed by: ERA-NET SUSAN
Project Duration: 2017-2020
Project Leader: DJ de Koning
Other collaborators Toine Roozen, Hossein Jorjani
ReDiverse
Last changed: 09 May 2019
Animal genetic resources are an irreplaceable heritage and the key to future adaptation. European Red Dairy Breeds harbour unique genetic variation, are well adapted to diverse environments, and are robust in terms of functional and health traits. European Red Dairy Breeds are found in several countries but are increasingly replaced by Holstein cattle. Thus genetic diversity unique to European Red Dairy Breeds is endangered.
ReDiverse supports sustainable use of European Red Dairy Breeds by identifying and conserving specific alleles, exploring farmers' preferences for traits, extending existing collaborations and creating new international networks, and developing economically efficient future breeding programs. ReDiverse ensures that breeding programs can quickly adapt to future needs.
ReDiverse develops flexible breeding programs, resilient to market fluctuations by combining results from economic analysis of farmers' preferences with investigations on future breeding goals, assessing the impact of governmental rules and regulations, and helps to develop policies delivering economic benefits. The competitiveness of European Red Dairy Breeds can be strengthened by highlighting and enhancing their economic and social value.
ReDiverse develops a customized SNP chip for the European Red Dairy Breeds and deploy it to create reference populations for genomic selection. Breeding programs can be designed to sustainably assure economic viability and maintenance of genetic diversity.
Contact
Dirk-Jan De Koning, Professor
Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Quantitative genetics
Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Quantitative genetics
dj.de-koning@slu.se, +4618672039