Banha University Participates in an International Project for the Development of Sustainable Digital Livestock Breeding Funded by “Horizons of Europe”

Prof. Nasser El-Gizawy, President of Banha University, announced the participation of the Faculty of Agriculture at the university in an international research project entitled “Integrating Digital Phenotyping and Genomics for Resilient and Sustainable Livestock Breeding Systems,” funded by the “Horizons of Europe” programme, the European Union's main programme for funding research and innovation.
El-Gizawy affirmed that Banha University's participation in the project comes within the framework of supporting international scientific cooperation, strengthening research partnerships with universities and research centres worldwide, and employing modern technologies and innovation in the development of the livestock sector, in a manner that supports efforts to achieve food security and agricultural sustainability.
A number of universities, research centres and specialised institutions from Egypt, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Austria participate in the project, in the fields of animal genetics and genomics, digital agriculture, and precision livestock farming applications.
Coordination of the project from the Italian side is undertaken by Prof. Vincenzo Landi of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy, while the Egyptian working team is led by Dr Medhat Saleh Mohamed Saleh, Lecturer in the Department of Animal Production at the Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, in his capacity as the principal investigator of the project in Egypt.
The university president clarified that Banha University's participation in the project also reflects the university's orientation towards employing digital technologies, artificial intelligence and genomic analyses in developing the animal production system, in a manner that supports the achievement of food sustainability, raises the competitiveness of the Egyptian agricultural sector, and strengthens the university's presence in international research projects with developmental and economic impact.
The duration of the project is 48 months, with a total funding amounting to 982 thousand and 300 euros, while the share of the research unit at the Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, amounts to 206 thousand euros.
Prof. Gehan Abdel-Hady, Vice President of the University for Postgraduate Studies and Research, clarified that the project aims to establish an international cooperation network that brings together universities, research centres and specialised technology companies, to integrate digital phenotypic and productivity data with genomic data, and employ them in animal genetic improvement programmes.
She added that the project seeks to develop more efficient and sustainable animal production systems, through benefiting from the data provided by smart animal monitoring technologies, such as physiological sensors, virtual fencing technologies, and behaviour and environment monitoring systems, and converting them into indicators and productive traits that can be used in modern genetic and genomic models.
Dr Medhat Saleh, the principal investigator of the project at Banha University, clarified that the project includes a number of scientific objectives, foremost among them developing unified protocols for digital phenotypic measurement and data quality monitoring in buffalo, sheep and goats, and establishing a scientific framework for the development and validation of digital traits associated with resilience, adaptation, physiological robustness and growth.
He pointed out that the project also works on integrating digital, genomic and breeding data to create integrated databases amenable to genetic analysis, in addition to developing strategies for genomic evaluation based on digital traits, in a manner that supports animal breeding and genetic improvement programmes.
The project comprises eight partners from academic, research and industrial institutions, namely: the Faculty of Agriculture at Banha University, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Córdoba in Spain, the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, the Animal Production Research Institute at the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt, the Italian National Association of Buffalo Breeders, the National Association of Murciano-Granadina Goat Breeders in Spain, and the Austrian company SmaXtec specialised in animal care technology.
It is expected that the project will contribute to the transfer of knowledge and modern technology and the development of researchers' capacities in the field of digital livestock breeding, the evaluation of the efficiency of genetic improvement programmes based on digital data, as well as supporting animal breed improvement programmes to confront the challenges of climate change.
The project also aims to enhance data-based decisions to improve animal welfare, productivity and resource-use efficiency, and to consolidate scientific and research cooperation between Egypt and the countries of the European Union in the field of livestock.
The research team from the Department of Animal Production at the Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, comprises Dr Medhat Saleh, the principal investigator of the project, Dr Ayman Gamal Fawzy El-Naggar, assistant to the principal investigator, Dr Maher Hasab El-Naby Khalil, Assistant Professor Tharwat El-Saeed Embabi, and Dr Saeed Khaled, members of the research team.