In tropical regions, bovine infestation by ticks causes a drastic reduction in milk and meat yield, leading in some cases, to the death of animals. Chemicals have been typically used to combat ticks, however, this strategy leads to the contamination of milk and meat products in addition to the environment. The genetic variability between Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds for tick resistance and the currently available molecular genetics tools make it possible to use this information in breeding

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008

Cattle farming is one of the most important activities of Brazilian agribusiness. Brazil is the world's largest beef exporter, holds the world's largest commercial herd, and is the world's third largest producer and consumer of beef and the world's seventh largest milk producer, with about 4% of the world's total. In spite of its large overall production, Brazilian cattle farming remains low in productivity, indicating a great potential for improvement and expansion of this sector of the economy

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008