RRREEEPPPUUUBBBLLLIIICCC OOOFFF CCCRRROOOAAATTTIIIAAA MMMIIINNNIIISSSTTTRRRYYY OOOFFF AAAGGGRRRIIICCCUUULLLTTTUUURRREEE AAANNNDDD FFFOOORRREEESSSTTTRRRYYY NNNAAATTTIIIOOONNNAAALLL RRREEEPPPOOORRRTTT OOONNN TTTHHHEEE AAANNNIIIMMMAAALLL GGGEEENNNEEETTTIIICCC RRREEESSSOOOUUURRRCCCEEESSS OOOFFF CCCRRROOOAAATTTIIIAAA ZZZAAAGGGRRREEEBBB,,, JJJUUULLLYYY 222000000333 CCCooonnnttteeennntttsss EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................... 4 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 7 111...111... GGGeeennneeerrraaalll IIInnnfffooorrrmmmaaatttiiiooonnn ooonnn ttthhheee RRReeepppuuubbbllliiiccc ooofff CCCrrroooaaatttiiiaaa..........................................777 Size and Position ................................................................................................... 7 Natural-Geographic Surface.................................................................................. 7 Climate .................................................................................................................. 9 Population and Territorial Structure...................................................................... 9 111...222... CCChhhaaarrraaacccttteeerrriiissstttiiicccsss ooofff AAAgggrrriiicccuuullltttuuurrraaalll PPPrrroooddduuuccctttiiiooonnn............................................................111000 2. ASSESING THE STATE OF THE AGROBIODIVERSITY IN ANIMAL PRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 12 222...111 PPPrrriiimmmaaarrryyy AAAnnniiimmmaaalll PPPrrroooddduuuccctttiiiooonnn SSSyyysssttteeemmmsss..........................................................................................111222 Low-Input System............................................................................................... 12 Medium-Input System......................................................................................... 13 High-Input System – Intensive Production ......................................................... 13 Organizational Characteristics of Production Systems ....................................... 13 Input Dependence................................................................................................ 14 Risk Factor Impact .............................................................................................. 14 222...222... TTThhheee MMMooosssttt IIImmmpppooorrrtttaaannnttt AAAnnniiimmmaaalll PPPrrroooddduuuccctttsss....................................................................................111555 222...333... MMMaaajjjooorrr TTTrrreeennndddsss aaannnddd SSSiiigggnnniiifffiiicccaaannnttt CCChhhaaannngggeeesss iiinnn ttthhheee UUUssseee aaannnddd MMMaaannnaaagggeeemmmeeennnttt ooofff AAAnnniiimmmaaalllsss........................................................................................................................................................................111666 222...444... TTThhheee SSStttaaattteee ooofff KKKnnnooowwwllleeedddgggeee ooofff AAAnnniiimmmaaalll GGGeeennneeetttiiiccc RRReeesssooouuurrrccceeesss 111777 222...555... AAAsssssseeessssssmmmeeennnttt ooofff AAAnnnGGGRRR GGGeeennneeetttiiiccc DDDiiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy...........................................................................111999 222...666... TTThhheee SSStttaaattteee ooofff UUUssseee ooofff AAAnnnGGGRRR..........................................................................................................................................222111 3. THE STATE OF NATIONAL CAPACITIES.......................................... 27 333...111... PPPooollliiicccyyy aaannnddd LLLeeegggaaalll IIInnnssstttrrruuummmeeennntttsss RRReeegggaaarrrdddiiinnnggg ttthhheee UUUtttiiillliiizzzaaatttiiiooonnn ooofff AAAnnnGGGRRR..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................222777 333...222... TTThhheee ssstttaaattteee ooofff cccaaapppaaaccciiitttiiieeesss tttooo uuussseee AAAnnnGGGRRR.......................................................................................222777 333...333... DDDeeevvveeelllooopppmmmeeennnttt ooofff AAAnnnGGGRRR.........................................................................................................................................................222999 333...444... OOObbbssstttaaacccllleeesss,,, OOOppppppooorrrtttuuunnniiitttiiieeesss,,, aaannnddd NNNeeeeeedddsss fffooorrr UUUssseee aaannnddd DDDeeevvveeelllooopppmmmeeennnttt ooofff AAAnnnGGGrrr 333222 4. NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN THE CONSERVATION OF AnGR .. 34 5. POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR AnGR .............................................................................................................. 37 555...111... OOOrrrgggaaannniiizzzaaatttiiiooonnn ooofff FFFaaarrrmmm AAAnnniiimmmaaalll BBBrrreeeeeedddiiinnnggg..............................................................................333777 555...222... GGGeeennneeetttiiiccc RRReeesssooouuurrrccceeesss iiinnn ttthhheee RRReeepppuuubbbllliiiccc ooofff CCCrrroooaaatttiiiaaa..........................................333888 555...333... OOOrrrgggaaannniiizzzaaatttiiiooonnnaaalll RRReeelllaaattteeedddnnneeessssss iiinnn ttthhheee FFFaaarrrmmm---AAAnnniiimmmaaalll BBBrrreeeeeedddiiinnnggg.................................................................................................................................................................................333888 555...444... RRReeeppprrroooddduuuccctttiiiooonnn ooofff FFFaaarrrmmm AAAnnniiimmmaaalll........................................................................................................................333999 555...555... LLLeeegggiiissslllaaatttiiivvveee FFFooouuunnndddaaatttiiiooonnn ooofff FFFaaarrrmmm AAAnnniiimmmaaalll---BBBrrreeeeeedddiiinnnggg ...........................333999 555...666... CCCoooooopppeeerrraaatttiiiooonnn ooofff ttthhheee RRReeepppuuubbbllliiiccc ooofff CCCrrroooaaatttiiiaaa wwwiiittthhh ooottthhheeerrr CCCooouuunnntttrrriiieeesss aaannnddd OOOrrrgggaaannniiizzzaaatttiiiooonnnsss iiinnn FFFaaarrrmmm AAAnnniiimmmaaalll---BBBrrreeeeeedddiiinnnggg........................................................................333999 555...777... RRReeessseeeaaarrrccchhh aaannnddd EEEddduuucccaaatttiiiooonnn iiinnn FFFaaarrrmmm AAAnnniiimmmaaalll BBBrrreeeeeedddiiinnnggg.....................444000 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes the current state of Croatian Animal Genetic Resources. In the last ten years there have been significant changes in the use and management of animals. The changes resulted from the changes in the ownership structure, application of new Agriculture Acts, Agricultural land Act, Ecological Production Act and Subsidy Act. Objectives and measures of the politics of changes in the ownership structure are: an increase in the size of family farms, i.e. property enlargement through privatization of sale or lease of agricultural land in the state ownership. In livestock production it implies an increase in the farm size, modernization in production capacities in order to improve product quality and provide population with food security as much as possible by competitive domestic agricultural products. The following species are utilized in primary livestock production: cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, poultry, fish and bees. Cow milk is predominant in milk production, while pork, beef and poultry are equally represented in meat production. Modern imported breeds have far greater significance in all livestock production than native locally adapted breeds. The most important primary livestock products are meat, milk, eggs, fish and poultry. In the last ten years there has been a significant decline in livestock product export, owing to their import. Since Croatia is not self-sufficient in livestock production, everything produced is mostly for the domestic market. War destruction, social difficulties, privatization processes and social turmoils have substantially contributed to the decline in the livestock production for the domestic market and export. In the last 50 years, 7 locally adapted and 5 exotic breeds have disappeared, and consequently, today there are 68 breeds utilized in agriculture (excluding pigeons and dogs), out of which 27 are locally adapted, 37 exotic (continually imported and recently introduced) breeds and the last 4 are breeds in status nascendi. According to FAO criteria, only 10 locally adapted breeds develop actively, while 17 are endangered. The livestock production strategy in Croatia in the last 50 years has been established on the intensive development of several “exotic” breeds (high input-high output). Consequently, the total number of farm animals has decreased considerably, causing locally adapted breeds to suffer. Despite comparative advantages for agricultural production and all enacted strategies and acts as well as financial incentives, Croatia still has low self-sufficiency for majority of agricultural products. In the last ten years Croatia has imported a lot of breeding animals (mostly from EU countries) in order to stimulate the production decline primarily caused by war destructions. Apart from breeding cattle, breeding sheep and pigs, as well as beef cattle have been imported. In the