Traditionally, livestock is an important part of rural life in Pakistan, in addition to its role in farming and commercial operations. The camel is an important species well adapted to hot and dry environments and is an important food source for Pakistan’s desert nomadic communities.

However, it has been neglected by scientists for a long time. Because of its unique characteristics, the camel offers an opportunity to provide a reliable food supply in Pakistan and other arid and semi-arid developing countries. With climate change, this is becoming an imperative. To date, a few improvements have been made to breed superior camels for improved meat, milk or other products such as wool and skin. However, developments in genetic technologies over the past 10 years have made it worthwhile to investigate the feasibility of applying these methods to breed camels for improved meat and milk production.

The economic growth of a country is often supported by its livestock. This is a significant industry in Pakistan, providing raw materials, food and cash income leading to development of the rural community and to all the people along the chain that their products are sold on to. As an example of the growing importance of the industry, recently, the Punjab Livestock & Dairy Development Department established a market to supply camel milk directly to retail outlets in Lahore; this will provide financial benefits to an otherwise economically disadvantaged area of the province. There are 20 breeds of camel in Pakistan, and each has their own potential characteristics.

Marecha camel is considered the best breed for both milk and meat production in Pakistan, although the Lassi camel is another dual-purpose breed particularly able to thrive in droughts. Because of these species potential, there is an intense need to explore the genetic variation of the camel, and how this variation can be used to improve growth and other important characteristics.

Food Security and the Importance of Camel Farming

Provision of sufficient affordable and nutritious food, i.e. “food security”, is becoming an important global issue due to increasing population of world, even more so with climate change. To solve this issue, there is a need to explore new food resources as well as enhance under-utilized ones.

Camel farming will be useful for farmers when there is establishment of proper market, as the recent initiatives by the Punjab government are attempting to address. Camel ranching schemes, identification and classification of superior animals for breeding and further research into camel breeding and management is needed for this livestock industry to grow. This can lead us to exploit this amazing animal as a natural resource to fulfil the food demands of a constantly increasing population.

Keeping in view the importance of the camel, the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore in collaboration of University of Sydney conducted research to identify specific genes having the potential role to improve camel growth.

Genomic Research in Pakistani Camels

In this study, we evaluated over 40,000 genes, or more specifically “genetic markers” in Marecha and Lassi camels to discover significant associations with growth.

This is the first time that a comprehensive study has been conducted on camels with the help of very high-advanced method known as “Genotyping by Sequencing.”

We identified a number of genetic markers associated with growth but also showed that certain genes operate at different ages of life. These genetic markers will be helpful in the development of breeding programs of the two breeds of camels by allowing the identification of superior animals to serve as future breeding animals.