In the period from 13 to 17.07.2022. some members of the project team were in Slovenia at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana. The goal of the trip was training for the prediction genomic breeding values in dairy cattle. For this purpose, professor Dr. Klemen Potočnik and his colleagues prepared lectures on the topic of genomic selection in small cattle populations and the use of software specialized for the prediction genomic breeding values, and the preparation of data for analysis. A web application for displaying the results, which has open access, was also presented. Also, two projects were briefly presented. One is managed by prof. Dr. Klemen Potočnik, and it refers to the introduction of genomic selection in Holstein Friesian and Brown Swiss cattle breeds in Slovenia and was approved as part of the European Innovation Partnership (EIPs) call. The second project is related to digitization in animal husbandry and it is a project of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Slovenia.
In front of the Department of Genetics, Animal Biotechnology and Immunology, prof. Dr. Tanja Kunej and her colleagues prepared very interesting presentations regarding the use of SNP chips in population genetics. Also, prof. Dr. Peter Dovč showed laboratories and equipment for molecular genetic analyses.
During the training, team members also visited a demonstration farm where horses and poultry are bred. The faculty also has a farm for breeding other types of animals, but considering that one of the employees fell ill (COVID), it was not possible to visit it.
At the end of the training, possibilities for further cooperation were discussed, primarily in the field of cattle breeding and horse breeding. In the following period, the cooperation will continue through the processing of data for the PhD dissertation, and then through the writing of scientific papers, which would create the conditions for reporting joint projects and the association of databases for the evaluation of breeding values.
