Marjeta Čandek-Potokar

By Maja Prevolnik, Dejan Škorjanc, Marjeta Čandek-Potokar and Marjana Novic

Part of the book: Artificial Neural Networks

By Marjeta Čandek-Potokar, Martin Škrlep and Galia Zamaratskaia

Surgical castration of piglets is a routine practice in pig production used to prevent the incidence of boar taint of pig meat, which may develop in entire male pigs as they reach puberty. This practice is being presently questioned in the European Union, and there is a strong initiative to end it. The initiative is presently voluntary; however, key stakeholders of European pig production sector have signed a declaration, and the actions undertaken by them already affect the business. Before such new concepts in pig production can be implemented, alternative solutions are needed, one of them being immunocastration. The present chapter will thus focus on the presentation of immunocastration as one of the promising alternatives to surgical castration. Theoretical and practical aspects of immunocastration in pig production will be described, and the advantages and disadvantages of this alternative will be summarised. Physiological principles of immunocastration and impacts on metabolism, growth performance, body composition and meat quality will be described and aspects of public acceptability reviewed.

Part of the book: Theriogenology

By Marjeta Čandek-Potokar, Nina Batorek Lukač, Urška Tomažin, Martin Škrlep and Rosa Nieto

Traits of interest concerning reproductive performance, growth performance, carcass and meat quality of local pig breeds involved in H2020 project TREASURE were collected from the available literature, unpublished data available to partners or results recorded in the experiments within the project. The survey revealed great variability in the availability and quality of information. Reproductive performance of local pig breeds is lower than in conventional modern pig breeds, not only due to their genetic background but also due to the management. Data on growth rates reflect the heterogeneity of different production systems and feeding regimes used. The growth potential of the majority of local pig breeds is not well exploited, and their nutritional requirements are not known. Generally, local pig breeds show low muscular development and high potential for fat tissue deposition and are slaughtered at older age and weight, which results in higher intramuscular fat and more intense colour of meat. However, considerable differences exist between them and their potentials, not only in their production systems. For many local pig breeds studied in the project, the collected information provides the first in-depth overview of their productive performance in their preserved, present-day phenotype.

Part of the book: European Local Pig Breeds - Diversity and Performance

By Marjeta Čandek-Potokar, Luca Fontanesi, Bénédicte Lebret, José M. Gil, Cristina Ovilo, Rosa Nieto, Ana Fernandez, Carolina Pugliese, Maria-Angels Oliver and Riccardo Bozzi

Part of the book: European Local Pig Breeds - Diversity and Performance

By Nina Batorek Lukač, Urška Tomažin, Martin Škrlep, Andrej Kastelic, Klavdija Poklukar and Marjeta Čandek-Potokar

This chapter presents the history and the current state-of-the-art in the only Slovenian autochthonous pig breed - Krškopolje pig. A review of literature regarding productive traits was carried out. The reproductive performance includes sow age at first parturition and at culling, litters per sow per year, number of live born and percentage of stillborn piglets per litter, piglet birth and weaning weight, mortality at weaning, duration of lactation and length of farrowing interval. Growth performance was evaluated as average daily gain in lactation, post-weaning, and early, mid, or late fattening. Daily feed intake in different stages was also assessed. Review also addresses age and weight at slaughter, and carcass traits: hot carcass weight, carcass yield, lean meat content, backfat and muscle thickness, and loin eye area. Meat quality traits considered were Longissimus muscle pH, objective colour parameters and intra muscular fat content. Additionally, fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat and backfat tissue was considered. Although studies on Krškopolje pig are scarce and the results on productive traits should be interpreted with precaution, due to different production systems and feeding strategies used in considered studies, the current review gives the first overview on this local pig breed in its current phenotype.

Part of the book: European Local Pig Breeds - Diversity and Performance