Abstract

The breeding and rearing of the South Amercian Camelid (SAC) is the main productive and economic activity of the peasant communities of the high Andes who manage over 95% of the domestic SAC population. The wellbeing of the communities and small holders depends fundamentally on the farming of SAC . In order to improve their income and improve their quality of life, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of production and the quality of their products from SAC , and to develop the value chains so they can add value to their products on farm or at community level.

The main products obtained from the alpaca are fiber and meat. Llamas are farmed as pack animals and for meat production. Efficient animal production systems can only be achieved when the nutrition, health, management and genetic improvement are optimized.

I will focus mostly on the genetic component. The development of reproductive technologies specifically for SAC , such as artificial insemination, in vivo and in vitro embryo production and transfer, cloning of embryos and of individuals, embryo sexing, sperm sorting etc. will allow the dissemination of genes for high productivity and quality of product, as well as the development of highly productive hybrids (Paco-Vicuña), and the rescue and enlargement of herds and domestication of currently wild SAC species.