In the city of Irauçuba, one of the most affected by desertification in Ceará, the producer Francisco de Assis Sousa maintains a herd of 30 sheep, which he asserts to be a good bet for the local context, especially after three years of erratic rainfall in the North Zone of the state – which is a reality also in several other regions of the Brazilian semiarid region in this period. "This context is better than the one found for bovine. To produce, the sheep eat and drink less. A bovine uses more food than five sheep together. Inputs spent to grow ten cows are enough to grow 50 sheep", says the producer who works at Fazenda Aroeira. Features like these make these animals of interest in regions that suffer from arid climate. Researches seek to adapt the breeding to the challenges of climate change. According to the veterinarian Olivardo Facó, researcher at the Animal Genetic Improvement area of Embrapa Goats & Sheep (CE), the improved adaptation of goats and sheep in arid or semi-arid regions is a global phenomenon, "in general, these species are smaller and, because of this, they also have less demands to be kept in extreme environments". Facó warns, however, that comparisons with other species cannot be generalized, because even within each species there are specificities. "There are bovine very well adapted to semiarid, as the so-called Curraleiros pé-duros. An animal like this will adapt better than a goat or sheep of European origin, for example. Even among the small ruminants there are marked differences", he says. According to Facó, the important factors that should be noted are the effects that climate change will bring to livestock production. "We already can see a rise in the global temperature and climate instabilities table. A consequence of this is the worsening of droughts as well as its occurrence in regions where there was not this scenario. In a situation like this, the search for animal species able to keep viable and resilient to temperature fluctuations will be very important", he explains. As the Brazilian semiarid is one of the regions most affected by climate change, even with good adaptation, the sustainable production of sheep and goats will depend on the adoption of methods that reduce the impacts of global warming, using biodiversity and water resources, even due to the progressive water deficit perspective in the region. This context creates new demands for research as the genetic improvement of adapted breeds, recovery of degraded soils, and improvement of vegetal species for food and food efficiency, areas in which Embrapa has invested in researches focused to minimize or anticipate the consequences of climate change. New demands for research The researcher Olivardo Facó assesses that the search for animals adapted to semi-arid conditions, for example, can increase in new regions where perspectives of desertification and drought may arise in the future, both in terms of use of these breeds such as in crossings that allow more resistant offspring. Hence the relevance of research in genetic improvement focusing on breeds of goats and sheep locally adapted, which currently gathers five Embrapa research units and conservation centers under the Genetic Resources Platform. "The specialized breeding programs may need genetic variations present in the adapted breeds, aiming to have herds more resistant to thermal stress, diseases, rainfall fluctuations and food offerings", said Facó. He also quotes the crossover possibilities between animal breeds adapted and others considered "exotic" but comprising good production of milk or meat to generate offspring with a tendency to be productive and adapted to the environment. The researcher warns, however, that these matings should be guided by specialized staff, as indiscriminately crosses may result in a third or fourth generation of more fragile animals without good conditions of adaptation. "These demands are a reality and there is plenty to Embrapa study for future use". Consolidate goats and sheep as productive option in a climate change context requires, however, concerns about the viability of production systems such as food supply for the animals. As a result, Embrapa has stimulated the research and the development of technologies which integrate animal nutrition areas, forage production, plant breeding and soils. There is ongoing research focusing on food efficiency, reduction of gas emissions and soil fertility for planting forages. The latter has been tested on experiments in partnership with the producer Francisco Sousa, from Aroeira Farm, which has helped in the implementation of land parcels where materials like ‘bagana', manure and crushed leguminous from Caatinga are used in the attempt to improve the soil fertility in regions marked by desertification. The goal is to recover degraded areas for planting, in 2015, a variety of maize and millet which may serve to feed the herd of sheep of the property. According to the researcher on Environment and Pastures of Embrapa Goats & Sheep Henrique Souza, in areas such as this, there is a concern with the called overgrazing – situation wherein the amount of animals is above the food production capacity of the area – factor which enhances the degradation and may make certain areas impractical for production. "We see some areas like this and ask: what these animals will eat? Hence, it is crucial to try to replace the nutrients for soil enrichment", he says. Fernando Guedes, also an Embrapa Goats & Sheep researcher, adds that in low rainfall areas, the resilience of vegetation tends to become slower. "Here, in Irauçuba, there is a historical rainfall average from 300 to 400 mm in rainy season. Sobral, a city also part of the Sertão, the average of rain in the winter ranges from 700 to 800 mm. In regions of low averages, it is possible that, with the same allotment of animals, the areas get even more degraded than in others showing higher average rainfall", says Guedes. The seeds which will be taken to planting at Aroeira Farm are being tested in a Greenhouse of Embrapa Goats & Sheep, in Sobral (CE), simulating temperature conditions approximate to the local reality, in soil samples and water slides collected in terrain of rural property. The varieties are part of Embrapa strategy to test forage plants capable of being productive in environmental conditions of semiarid regions. Food efficiency Along with research on forage plants, there are experiments that will serve in the future to evaluate the food efficiency of goats and sheep, or in other words to know which animals can get the same weight gain that other animals eating less or eating the same amount as others and still gain weight. For this purpose, Embrapa has invested in Grow Safe equipment for goats and sheep, which will allow the individual analysis of animal feeding behavior to provide information for performance tests of breeding programs. In Grow Safe, each animal is identified with an electronic tag and a sensor that shows when and how much he eats, by calculating the difference in weight of food at the feeder before and after. Tests will be performed with standardized diets in order to determine which animals show better feed performance. "The idea is to reach an equation that can predict weight gain and consumption starting this individual monitoring. However, the future prospect is to identify molecular markers which recognize genes for better efficiency in these animals with best performance and, perhaps, to identify the most efficient from the blood samples", explains the researcher Diego Galvani, from Embrapa Goats & Sheep. The identification of animals in herds which make better use of nutrients can contribute to more sustainable production systems, including ecologically: a better nutrition can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste arising from urine and faeces and may even contaminate the water table. Embrapa also works for balancing diets with compounds that reduce methane emissions and maximize feed efficiency. "Previously, in order to reduce production costs related to food, the ingredients were replaced by those cheaper ones. This reduces cost, but does not always contribute to the system efficiency because the nutritional value of the diet may worsen", says Galvani. The intention is to find in Caatinga biodiversity plants rich in secondary compounds containing nutrients which can balance the diet and reduce the fermentation methane and greenhouse gas emissions by the animal. Goats in Brazil In the Brazilian Northeast, some of the largest herds of goats and sheep in the country are concentrated. Considering the entire national territory, this region concentrates 90% of the population of goats, about 8.4 million head, and 57% of sheep, approximately 9.8 million animals. In the case of goats, Bahia, Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará are the only Brazilian states to have herds with more than one million head. The same four states added to the Rio Grande form the five largest sheep flocks in Brazil. In general these animals comprise good adaptation, producing milk, meat and skin, even in extreme conditions of temperature, rainfall and irregular supply of food. These weather events are checked not only in Brazil but in many other regions of the world with similar climatic conditions. Center of goats and sheep breeds locally adapted – Platform for Animal Genetic Resources Embrapa Goats & Sheep – breeds Morada Nova, Santa Inês and Somalis (sheep); Moxotó and Canindé (goats) Embrapa Mid-North – breeds Santa Inês (sheep); Marota and Azul (goats) Embrapa Roraima – Barriga Negra breed (sheep) Embrapa Coastal Tablelands – Santa Inês breed (sheep) Embrapa South Livestock – Crioula Lanada breed (sheep)