Livestock breeds

The table below lists the number of cattle, pig, sheep, and goat breeds registered in Swiss herdbooks.

	Number of herdbook-registered breeds										Notes
	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Cattle	19	20	21	21	21	22	22	25	25	29	Salers as of 2000, Luing as of 2001, Pinzgauer as of 2004, Yellow Cattle, Zebu Cattle and Shorthorn as of 2006, Bazadaise, Texas Longhorn, Vosges and Normande as of 2008
Pigs	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	Large White Sire Line as of 2002, Piétrain as of 2008
Sheep	14	14	14	14	15	17	17	17	17	18	Dorper as of 2003, Ile de France and Suffolk as of 2004, Texel as of 2008
Goats	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	12	Anglo-Nubian as of 2003, Capra Grigia as of 2006
Total	48	49	50	51	53	56	56	60	60	66

Interpretation example
In 2001, there were five herdbook-registered pig breeds in Switzerland. In 2002, they were complemented by the Large White Sire Line breed.

Comment
• As a result of the new Swiss Ordinance on Livestock Breeding taking effect in 1999 and import restrictions being lifted in 1995, the number of livestock breeds has been increasing since 1999. The Federal government subsidizes breeders’ services supplied by recognized breeders’ associations regardless of breed. Breeding objectives are determined by individual breeders’ organizations.
• It is mainly beef breeds that caused the number of cattle breeds to increase from 19 to 29.

Crop plant varieties

	Number of varieties
Year	2009
Potatoes	97
Apples	1174
Pears	911
Vines	141
Rye	14
Barley	731

Interpretation example
In 2009, the potato positive list in the Swiss National Database contained 97 varieties deemed worthy of preservation.

Comment
• The table above is a summary based on positive lists established as part of the FOAG’s National Action Plan for the Preservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Nutrition and Agriculture PGRNA and downloaded from the website of the Swiss National Database BDN (www.bdn.ch, data status: June 2009). These BDN positive lists include all varieties meant to be preserved by the PGRNA program, provided their identity has been verified and at least one accession—i.e. concrete specimen—of each is available in primary plant collections. Data are restricted to varieties of species which are also covered by the Z2 indicator. At this time, the Swiss National Database is still under construction.
• While the number of varieties is immense, only a few varieties are cultivated on large crop areas (cf. Z2 indicator).

Conserving livestock breeds and crop plant varieties saves the genetic diversity of the organisms we depend on for food production. This genetic diversity harbors an important potential for responding to parasite infestations, infectious diseases, or epidemics.

As opposed to the past, when the Federal government only subsidized 18 official Swiss livestock breeds, it now supports all breeds since the new Ordinance on Livestock Breeding took effect in 1999. Furthermore, the new Ordinance also allows breeders’ associations to determine breeding objectives themselves, which makes for much more diverse breeding activities. Since the Convention on Biological Diversity was ratified, rare and endangered livestock breeds are being monitored and subsidized by specific programs. For all of these reasons, it is at present unlikely for any of the livestock breeds listed by the Z1 indicator to go extinct in Switzerland.

Looking at crop plants, the situation is completely different insofar as the number of varieties surpasses the number of breeds by far, making it all the more challenging to identify, describe, and conserve them. Very aware of the importance of this task, the Federal Office for Agriculture has established the National Action Plan for the Preservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Nutrition and Agriculture (PGRNA) for precisely that purpose.

Responsible for Z1
Meinrad Küttel, meinrad.kuettel@bafu.admin.ch, +41 (0)31 322 93 24

Expert FOAG contact
Christian Eigenmann, christian.eigenmann@blw.admin.ch, +41 (0)31 325 17 04
Marcel Zingg, marcel.zingg@blw.admin.ch, +41 (0)31 322 25 44

Expert CPC contact
Beate Schierscher, beate.schierscher-viret@acw.admin.ch, +41 (0)22 363 47 01

Additional sources of information
> http://www.blw.admin.ch/index.html?lang=en (website of the Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG)
> http://www.cpc-skek.ch/english/e_index.htm (website of the Swiss Commission for the Conservation of Cultivated Plants CPC)
> http://www.bdn.ch/?set_language=en&cl=en (National Database for the Preservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Nutrition and Agriculture PGRNA)
> http://www.mutterkuh.ch/en/ (Suckler Cow Switzerland, formerly Swiss Association of Keepers of Nurse and Suckler Cows)
> http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/916_310/index.html (Swiss Ordinance on Livestock Breeding; not available in English)
> http://www.blw.admin.ch/themen/00013/00082/00087/index.html?lang=de (list of recognized breeders’ associations in Switzerland; not available in English)
> http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/i9/0.910.6.de.pdf (International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture)

This information is based on the document 800 310.10 Z1_V4_en.doc dated November 03, 2009.
Updates are made on an annual basis after publication of the latest statistics by the Federal Office for Agriculture.