Vietnam is known for having a variety of unique livestock genetic resources. In the case of pig breeds, the northern part of Vietnam is considered to be one of its domestication sites (Larson et al., 2010; Ramos-Onsins, Burgos-Paz, Manunza, & Amills, 2014). According to previous reports (Dang-Nguyen et al., 2016), there are around 26 indigenous domesticated pig breeds held in Vietnam. Generally, native pigs have been adapted to the environment from which they are originated (Mignon-Grasteaua et al., 2005). Vietnam's climate varies from a temperate climate with four seasons, which are in the northern mountain region, to tropical monsoon with two seasons (rainy and dry) (Nguyen, Renwick, & McGregor, 2014). Therefore, Vietnamese native pig (VNP) breeds also would have unique genes for adopting their habitations and have a potential for the rich genetic resources as future breeding materials. However, several breeds of VNPs have been threatened with extinction or already extinct. One of the reasons is that productivity of the VNP breeds is less than those of Western commercial breeds, like Landrace or Large White, and so the big farmers do not have interest in rearing the VNP breeds, leading to extensive inbreeding due to limited population size. In addition, crossbreeding with exogenous commercial breeds has been quickly progressing in some
Although there are a number of Vietnamese native pig (VnP) populations, some are on the verge of extinction, and therefore adequate management and conservation are necessary. In this study, we conducted a field survey of VnP populations and analyzed interrelationships among their characteristics. We also established a relational database for management of field data on these populations. For data collection, we conducted interviews with farmers and visual inspection of 32 VnP populations in 22 provinces of Vietnam, as well as taking photographs of individual animals. Data on the characteristics of VnP populations were subjected to multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). For establishment of the database, normalization and table partitioning were performed to eliminate redundancy and ensure consistency of the collected data items. Passport data, characteristics data, and image data were collected from a total of 1,918 VnPs and entered as a normalized table. Upon MCA, most of the populations were not separated from each other, but the Mong Cai, O Lam, and Chu Prong populations were separated from the other populations. Thus, we have constructed a relational database from comprehensive information on the characteristics of VnP populations.
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