Ethno-zootechnical characterization of the population of fiber bearing lamas from the province of Jujuy, Argentina

Abstract

The objective was an ethno-zootechnical characterization of the populations of fiber-bearing lamas from Puna in Jujuy Province, establishing the degree of archaism and determining the quality of the fiber produced. A survey included 173 flocks and 17 022 animals from nine areas of production (CP) and described morphological and productive aspects, including a fiber sample. The degree of archaism was determined by index of primarity (IPNA) for each flock. The IPNA was calculated based on the characteristics morphotype, hoof, pigment pattern, type of white spot, type of fleece and fiber color, and their respective variants. The following criteria were evaluated in the laboratory as fiber quality characteristics: fiber color (CM), fleece type (TM), fineness (FM) and average diameter (DM). The IPNA values for the CP studied fell between 4.84 and 8.07, reflecting different primarity situations and in particular a CP (Cieneguillas) with a process of standardization. Significant variations were observed for all fiber quality criteria by CP. The total weighted relative frequencies for CM showed 40.88% of depigmented animals, for TM similar proportions of the different types and for FM 82.53% of fiber less than 25 microns with a mean of 22.44 microns. It was concluded that there are areas with different ethno-zootechnical situations in terms of their status of archaism and flocks with a high potential for fiber production, with important variations according to the geographic areas.