The National Pig Improvement Program (NPIP) - update

The National Pig Improvement Program (NPIP) is an across-herd genetic evaluation system for pigs in Australia. Michael Macbeth from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries initiated the NPIP in 1995 with technical support from the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU). Since 2001, the NPIP has been the responsibility of AGBU and the analytical system is now based on the PIGBLUP genetic evaluation system. The NPIP web site at http://npip.une.edu.au provides general information about the NPIP along with estimated breeding values (EBVs) for AI boars, genetic trends, distributions of EBVs for young animals and lists of the top young animals. Detailed information about the NPIP was provided at the last workshop (Crump and Hermesch, 2003) and only a brief overview is provided here.