[The cattle breeding program of the Republic of Cuba].

Abstract

The Cuban cattle breeding programme has remained unchanged over more than 20 years and aims at the genetic transformation of the indigenous population by means of crossbreeding within a high-performance cattle stock. Focus is on the breeds Holstein X Zebu in order to produce the crosses "Holstein Tropical" (7/8H 1/8Z), "Mambi" (3/4H 1/4Z), and "Siboney" (5/8H 3/8Z). Besides these, other new breeds are envisaged for milk and meat production. Representative parameters of the production and reproduction of the new genotypes are being reported and discussed.