Genetic improvement for alpaca fibre production in the Peruvian Altiplano: the Pacomarca experience

Pacomarca is an experimental ranch founded by the INCA group to act as a selection nucleus from which basic genetic improvement of alpaca fibre can spread throughout the rural communities in the Peruvian Altiplano. State-of-art techniques in animal science, such as performance recording or assisted reproduction including embryo transfer, are applied to demonstrate their usefulness in the Altiplano conditions. Pacomarca has developed useful software (Paco Pro) to carry out the integral processing of production and reproduction data. Mating is carried out individually, and gestation is diagnosed via ultrasound. Breeding values estimated from a modern genetic evaluation are used for selection, and embryo transfer is applied to increase the selection intensity. However, the objective of Pacomarca goes beyond, extending its advances to the small rural communities. Training courses for farmers are organised while searching for new ways of improving the performance of alpacas both technically and scientifically.