Forming Superior Seeds for Sheep and Goats

Improving the genetic quality of local sheep can be done through selection or cross-breeding technology.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Breeding high-quality goat seed to produce milk and meat in Umbul Sidomukti, Sidomukti Jimbaran Village, Bandungan District, Semarang Regency, Central Java, on Saturday (17/2/2024). The area is being developed as a sheep farming and educational tourism area.

Sheep are one of the ruminant mammals that can be used for their meat or wool. These livestock are also prolific, meaning they can give birth to more than two offspring at once. This is very advantageous because they reproduce quickly and rarely experience pregnancy failures.

In Indonesia, there is a type of local sheep that can generally be distinguished based on the type of tail, namely thin-tailed sheep and fat-tailed sheep. Thin-tailed sheep are widely developed in West Java, known as Garut sheep and Periangan sheep. Meanwhile, fat-tailed sheep are developed in East Java.

Garut sheep can give birth to five lambs at once. However, managing a large number of twin sheep requires attention from farmers. Poor livestock management can increase lamb mortality rates.

Discipline is needed to obtain a successful level of artificial insemination.

Despite that, Garut sheep also have several advantages, including reaching puberty at an earlier age and being resistant to internal parasite attacks. This type of sheep also does not have a seasonal mating behavior, which allows them to give birth throughout the year and quickly become pregnant again, potentially shortening the birth interval.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), sourced from the Directorate General of Animal Husbandry and Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that the population of sheep spread throughout all provinces in Indonesia reached 14 million in 2022. This is a decrease from the previous year which reached 15.6 million in 2021.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Sheep eating inside their enclosure at Umbul Sidomukti in Sidomukti Jimbaran Village, Bandungan District, Semarang Regency, Central Java on Saturday (17/2/2024).

In addition to sheep, the population of other ruminant animals such as goats in Indonesia is also decreasing. According to data from BPS, the population of goats in Indonesia in 2022 is 18.5 million. Meanwhile, in 2021, the goat population reached 18.9 million.

On the other hand, the demand for sheep and goats continues to increase every year, both domestically and abroad, such as in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam. In Indonesia, the availability of these animals is also crucial for the implementation of religious ceremonies such as Akikah and Qurban.

The high demand for sheep and goats can be an opportunity for development. However, in order to compete with suppliers from other countries, Indonesian sheep and goats need to meet several requirements requested by the importing countries, including being healthy, having a certain body weight, and being young.

Also read: Prevent Imports, Sheep and Goat Farming Ecosystems Need to be Strengthened

Sheep over 2.5 years old are less preferred by consumers in other countries because their meat is tough and fat content is high. Meanwhile, sheep that are one year old have already reached optimum growth with high quality meat. Consumers in demand for this livestock due to its tender meat and low fat content.

Researcher of the National Research and Innovation Agency's Livestock Research Center, Ismeth Inounu, stated that in order to meet this high demand, sustainable development of sheep and goats is needed.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Karsih watering her sheep in a dried-up field in Sirnajati Village, Cibarusah District, Bekasi Regency, West Java, in August 2023.

"A program of restocking of broodstock and at the same time genetic upgrading of local sheep is needed. "This can be done through the support of livestock breeding technology and appropriate development strategies," he said in a webinar entitled "Small Ruminant Breeding in Indonesia", Tuesday (30/4/2024).

Increased genetic quality

Ismeth explained that improving the genetic quality of local sheep can be done through selection technology or crossbreeding. After that, this stage is continued with selection to form a composite nation.

Crossbreeding in Indonesia is often done with imported superior studs from overseas. However, this crossbreeding method is facing obstacles due to its high cost, which can reach up to Rp 40 million per head.

"To overcome the high price of superior males, crossbreeding can be carried out using artificial insemination technology. "The Lembang Artificial Insemination Center (BIB) has prepared frozen sperm from superior males which can be distributed throughout Indonesia," he said.

Based on the BIB Lembang report, the artificial insemination process was carried out using an insemination gun on broodstock that had synchronized oestrus. However, pregnancy results are still very low so in the future it is planned to use the intrauterine artificial insemination technique using laparoscopy.

Several research results have shown that artificial insemination using the intrauterine method has a higher pregnancy rate for sheep and goats. The pregnancy rate for sheep can reach 78.90 percent and goats 64.70 percent. Meanwhile, the pregnancy rate with the intracervix method is no more than 50 percent.

According to Ismeth, discipline is crucial to achieve a successful artificial insemination rate. This discipline is related to a very tight schedule that includes selecting female livestock, synchronization, and heat detection, implementing fasting from feed and water for female livestock, as well as top-quality semen or sperm.

"The implementation of artificial insemination on the first day requires an examination of the female and she must be in good condition. It is also necessary to check her reproductive records to see if she has a good estrus cycle. Afterwards, other notes should be given for additional feed to enhance the quality of the selected female’s egg cells," said Ismeth.

Results of artificial insemination

Ismeth explained that the intrauterine artificial insemination process conducted by researchers aims to support breeding activities for the formation of composite sheep and goats. From the conducted activities, Sumatran composite sheep, Bahtera sheep (from Barbados), Garut composite sheep, and Galaksi goats (Boerka) have been produced.

Ismeth mentioned that the daily weight gain (PBBH) from crossbreeding is still much higher compared to local breeds even though they have been given additional feed with a new formula. Therefore, future research can be directed towards crossbreeding between exotic and local livestock supported by the latest technology.

ALBERDI DITTO PERMADI

Agus Wibowo's Wonosobo sheep pen in Wonosobo Regency, Central Java.

"Farmers hope that their livestock can give birth to twins with a large body condition. Then, they also want livestock to have high milk production to raise twin children. Ultimately, all of this supports high meat production and prime quality that is preferred by consumers," he said.

Also read: Caring for the Advantages of Tough Bulls through Artificial Insemination

Head of the BRIN Livestock Research Center, Tri Puji Priyatno, added that breeding technology is developing very rapidly, including for ruminant livestock. Currently the breeding technology that is trending is molecular-based, especially whole genome sequencing.

"We need to look at the status of ruminant animal breeding research and become a baseline in determining steps or breakthroughs to produce livestock that have the potential to become superior commodities in Indonesia in the future," he said.