Conservational issues in local breeds – state of the art

Local pig breeds represent an important resource in the Mediterranean countries and a sustainable exploitation of them could greatly contribute to the income of the farmers. At present 34 local pig breeds are recognized and still raised in Mediterranean countries even if the level of information about them varies consistently. Some of these breeds are considered at risk even if for almost four-fifths the trend is positive (stable or increasing). Literature on these breeds constantly increases from the early 1990s’ but there is a clear gap between the Iberian breed and the other genotypes. Genetics and quality of products are the two most important aspects investigated and within the former functional genetics became a priority in recent years. Selection in local pig breeds seems feasible, providing that goals are different from those used for the improved breeds, and the maintenance of genetic diversity continues to be a must for these populations. The research and new approaches developed until now contribute greatly to the knowledge about Mediterranean local pig breeds and it is important to set up future initiatives for the exploitation of the distinctive features of these genotypes. In the future actions to carry out will be to maintain genetic diversity and select characteristics to match consumer demands and farmers expectative. The use of the genomic selection could greatly help to reach these goals.