Animal welfare and product quality, in the genetic reproduction centres, through new management and technological methods
The project aims at testing new technologies, both in the farm and in the laboratory, to improve the quality of the seminal material obtained by cattle reproducers, in order to make it more competitive on the market. In the farm, animal welfare is an important factor to improve the semen quality and the reproduction characteristics of the animal. On the other hand, the laboratory activity aims at ensuring the procedural quality connected with the semen; by defining the standardized procedures and practices of productive processes, the market can rely on further quality and health standards thanks to the traceability of the product. All cross-border livestock farmers share the need to invest on technology and innovation in order to improve the semen quality, to limit or reduce production costs and to ensure a suitable working environment as far hygiene and safety are concerned. The structures that are currently available in the proponents’ centres are characterized by outdated technologies and even their management techniques must be innovated, especially from the technical point of view and in the field of computeraided techniques. The need arises to detect and test new techniques at several productive levels of the semen collecting and processing activity, in the process operational management, in the information provided to the zootechnical firms and in the requalification of staff. The training part concerns in particular the internal staff of the partners’ centres. Finally, as far as regional zootechnical firms are concerned, they are the ones that use the product and enjoy the economic benefits derived from the productive and reproductive performance of the animals put on the market.