ld chroniclers and world travelers wrote captivating fantasies of the vastness of the steppes, endless rugged ranges, unthinkable creatures roaming the prairies of the ancient Silk Road of which the Central Asia and the Caucasus was an important part. This vast area, extending over 2,700-3,000 km between West Asia and China and Mongolia, links the Mediterranean with the Pacific coasts of Asia through a mosaic of ecosystems that harbor a wealth of plant and livestock diversity. The region itself is the center of origin and diversity of many domesticated species, sheep and goats among them.
     In the harsh and fluctuating climate of the region, specialized breeds of sheep and goats have emerged as a result of natural and artificial selection to serve the needs of pastoralists and populations. During the Soviet era, this wealth was supplemented with synthetic wool breeds that resulted from crossbreeding programs to suit the production of large state-owned farms.
     There are today about 39.8 million heads of sheep and goats, dispersed over nearly 254 million ha of rangelands, and at least 30 indigenous breeds of small ruminants, in addition to the various improved synthetic breeds.
     Following the breakdown of the Soviet Union (SU), the collapse of support services and disruption to markets, the livestock sector lay devastated. In Kazakstan, for example, nearly 97% of the national sheep flock, amounting to 36 million heads before the dissolution of the SU, was lost in less than a decade. Fragmentation of stocks has occurred as a result of the privatization and dissolution of large holdings. And the lack of organized breeding programs made it difficult for farmers to obtain improved stock.
     ICARDA and the NARS of CAC countries, with the financial support of USDA and IFAD, launched a research strategy in 1998/99 to help mitigate the problems confronted by the livestock sector, and improve management of the region's small-ruminant genetic diversity. The strategy follows a natural resource management approach and considers that markets are the driving force for improving small holder livelihoods.
     The strategy contemplates:
• Diversity characterization, assessing how diversity suits farmer livelihoods, and production strategies to cope with production constraints.
• The reorientation of production systems on the basis of potentials and market possibilities.
• Access of farmers to improved sources of germplasm.

Characterization of breeds
Documentation on the characterization of breeds of the Soviet Union period was the first task that ICARDA undertook. This information, compiled by senior scientists from the eight participating countries, will soon be published electronically on the Internet, in the form of a photograph-illustrated document containing information on breeds with potential for production under new emerging markets.

     ICARDA, in partnership with UW-Madison, will extend and test the suitability of this technology in appropriate regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The aim is to provide alternatives to wool production in traditional wool areas where production has stagnated due to lack of incentives--a reflection of extremely low wool prices.
     Production stagnation is also apparent in the Karakul sheep industry which used to supply pelts to the large Soviet Union market. Following the collapse of this market, a search for alternative outlets is underway. ICARDA and its collaborators at the Uzbek Research Institute of Karakul Sheep Breeding and Ecology of Deserts, together with the Agricultural University of Turkmenistan, are evaluating milk production in Karakul sheep. ICARDA, UW-Madison and local NARS are also testing improved dairy sheep germplasm that could add value and provide alternative income.
     In late 2000 ICARDA invited Dr Joaquin Mueller, a known specialist in fiber and wool production improvement from the National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) of Argentina, to assess the potential for cashmere and mohair production in Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan. Dr Mueller stressed the importance of quality

and competitiveness, as well as production, for products aimed at export markets.  He said that "despite favorable international prices for mohair, cashmere and fine wool, most farmers in Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan obtain only a fraction of international market values. Sometimes the achieved prices do not compensate for production and harvest costs. There are many factors impeding access to international prices, including unfavorable marketing procedures, excessive intermediation, and fiber quality deficiencies. A comprehensive and tedious but inevitable task is needed to adapt production and marketing procedures to competitive standards."
     Dr Mueller added: "The message for Central Asian fiber producers is that while during Soviet times emphasis was on bulk production, today and in the foreseeable future quality will determine market possibilities and price level." According to Dr Mueller's assessment, a well-structured plan involving adaptive research and the active participation of farmers is needed to develop sustainable and quality production protocols and a simple but continuous breeding program. This could provide an attractive alternative for specific ecoregions in both countries.

Access by farmers to improved germplasm
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the livestock production sector received minimal support in terms of research and technology transfer. Breeding programs virtually disappeared. A few elite flocks were rescued by concerned scientists and institutions, for example, the Uzbek Research Institute of Karakul Sheep Breeding and Ecology of Deserts.
     There is a tendency to consider that solutions will lie in reimplementing or revitalizing efforts to keep the elite flocks under the control of state organizations, and build expensive facilities for artificial insemination or introduce improved germplasm without a well-designed breeding strategy. ICARDA and its partners are exploring the possibility of integrating simple breeding programs into market-oriented production improvement strategies, focusing on flock management, nutrition and health, and with farmers having a leading role in the genetic improvement of the flocks.
     Based on the experience of INTA in Patagonia, Argentina, Dr Mueller suggests that a simple program, for instance for mohair improvement and marketing, integrating genetic improvement with improvement of on-farm shearing, skirting, classing and collective fiber auction is the way to establish a sustainable program that will allow small farmers to directly benefit from improved germplasm. Dr Mueller says that "these schemes will require initial investments in training of farmers and extension officers, but progressively become cheaper and independent."

Dr Luis Iñiguez is Small-Ruminant Scientist at ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.

     Among the breeds characterized are Gissar sheep from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan-- the largest of the region's breeds; the breeds of goats for cashmere and mohair production from Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan; the different Karakul strains from Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan; and sheep and goat breeds with milk production potential from the Caucasus.
     ICARDA also initiated a modest effort to characterize the genetic resources on-farm, in order to assess the suitability of breeds under current production scenarios. This work will be complemented by further actions in the Caucasus in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), led by Dr Ed Rege, with the support of the CGIAR's Systemwide Livestock Program. It involves a monthly production monitoring of breeds for at least two lambing/kidding seasons, and recording the production system types associated with those breeds.
     ICARDA's plan will also involve the study of genetic relationship among breeds. The focus will be on the genetic differences among different fat-tailed sheep and goats that serve farmers along the Silk Road, including their domestication and dispersion throughout this route.

Production orientation
In addition to recent market studies, the on-going characterization of breeds is providing key information for the reorientation of production systems in the region.  A University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) team, led by Dr Dave Thomas through the Global Livestock-Collaborative Research Support Program of USAID (GL-CRSP), recently introduced a new sheep genotype to the foothill environments of Kazakstan. This genotype could help to repopulate the regional flock and meet the demand for lamb in local markets.