Improvement programmes for small ruminants in the tropics face several constraints that have hampered the establishment and sustainability of such programmes. One major shortfall has been weak planning, particularly poor involvement of livestock owners and other stakeholders in the design and implementation of the programmes. In sub-Saharan Africa, low productivity, high density of animals in r...

The Creole goat is a local meat breed well adapted to the tropical environment of Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean. A survey of 47 goat farmers was conducted in May 2008 to describe the Guadeloupean goat farming systems. It was the preliminary step for the implementation of a breeding programme for Creole goats. Farmers had 31 does on average. A small number (4%) kept only Creole go...

Knowledge reuse has long been an issue for organisations. The management, reuse and transfer of knowledge can improve project management capabilities (i.e., learning, memory, cycle time) resulting in continuous learning. Although knowledge management has been recognised as a critical success factor in programme management very little research has been conducted to date (Lycett, Rassau, & Danson...

Breeding for improved resistance and tolerance to the clover root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne trifoliophila, and the clover cyst nematode, Heterodera trifolii , has been successful in white c lover, Trifolium repens. White clover lines developed from three independent breeding programmes were established in field trials at Lincoln, Palmerston North, Cambridge and Kerikeri. Plants were establishe...

308 The variability in the breeding material is extremely important in the selection of superior type plant, where selection is based not only on yield but also on its component traits. Such information on segregating population, where selection is actually practiced, will be more meaningful and of immediate practical utility. Moreover, most of the yield component traits are quantitative in nat...