Environmental Genetics vs Economic Genetics
UK - A recently announced Defra research project project may give pig producers cause for unease.The British pig industry has put up arguments that the way to reduce environmental impacts of pig production is to improve production efficiency.
But Defra is asking researchers to find out how livestock breeding goals would change “if carbon and nitrogen efficiency rather than economic efficiency were the priority objectives.“
The work should determine at the outset the extent to which current economic selection criteria are matched to environmental goals, says the Defra brief.