Institute of Animal Breeding in the Steppe Regions " Ascania Nova"
was founded in 1931. In 1998 it got status of the National Scientific Selection-Genetic Centre for Sheep Breeding.

    Basic directions of activity of the Institute:

• substantiation of theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of process of breed formation in animal breeding under the modern conditions of management;
• development of programs of selection of sheep, cattle, and pigs at the state and regional levels;
• development of new methods of selection and on their basis improvement of the present breeds, types and lines of agricultural animals and creation of new highly productive breeds, types, and lines;
• development of effective methods and forms of preservation of gene pool of the local breeds of agricultural animals in the southern region of Ukraine;
• development and realization of new genetic methods of intensification of selection processes in animal breeding using molecular-genetic markers;
• development of new energy- and resource-saving technologies of production and deep processing of sheep breeding products;
• development of new biotechnological methods of animal reproduction, cryoconservation of gametes, and gene engineering;
• development of new feed supplements and premixes, systems of feeding agricultural animals, and feed-preparation;
• development of economic methods of intensification of production of animal breeding products on farms of various forms of ownership;
• agroecological monitoring of environment/

    Basic achievements of the Institute:

A number of new gene pools with high level of quantitative and qualitative parameters of productivity, resistance, and reproductive ability at the level of world analogues have been created, particularly:

• Ascanian Merino breed;
• Taurian intrabreed type of the Ascanian Merino breed;
• Ascanian Meat-Wool breed of sheep with crossbred wool including 5 intrabreed types;
• Ascanian Prolific type of the Karakul sheep;
• native prolific Karakul breed (creation coming to the end);
• Ukrainian Red Dairy breed of cattle including 4 types and 13 lines;
• South intrabreed type of the Black-Pied Dairy breed of cattle including 2 breeding types and 23 families;
• South type of the Ukrainian Beef breed of cattle (creation is coming to the end);
• Ukrainian Steppe White and Ukrainian Steppe Spotted breeds of pigs;
• Ascanian type of the Ukrainian Meat breed of pigs;
• breeding type of pigs in the Landrace breed.

    The Institute has developed:

• resource-saving technologies of reproduction and growing of the young sheep, production of lamb and young mutton;
• plants for artificial insemination and milking of sheep and milk processing;
• tools and methods for improvement of artificial insemination of sheep;
• technologies of instrumental determination of complex of selection indices of wool;
• technology of selection of agricultural animals on the basis of molecular-genetic markers;
• methods of selection of animals and paternal pairs using immunogenetic markers;
• methods of preservation of gene pool of the Grey Ukrainian cattle;
• technology of creation of highly productive pastures under the conditions of droughty steppe of Southern Ukraine;
• new high-performance population-genetic methods of control of selection processes in herds of agricultural animals;
• new types of the mixed fodders and feed supplements, recipes of premixes in feeding of agricultural animals;
• state standards of sheep breeding products and technological methods of their production.

    Strategy of scientific researches in the animal breeding branch:

• improvement of methods of the cellular and gene engineering in reproduction of agricultural animals;
• creation of genotypes of agricultural animals resistant to the hard environmental conditions of Southern Ukraine and highly resistant to the widespread diseases;
• increase of level of genetic variety of animals;
• development of technology of improving qualities of meat of agricultural animals;
• creation of population of the Merino sheep with superfine wool;
• improvement of technology of artificial insemination of agricultural animals;
• preservation of gene pools of the local breeds;
• search of genes related to the productive characters in animals and to the qualities of products;
• introduction of the wild plant species in order to enlarge resources of the fodder protein.