Projected impacts of climate changes and sustainability of sheep production systems

Sheep production plays a major role in terms of meat, milk and fibre production in countries that are very susceptible to climate change. Climate change will have both direct and indirect effects on sheep production systems and the effects are largely multi-faceted and it is difficult to adequately predict how all of the underlying factors will interact. The indirect effects of climate change on sheep production especially in regard to nutrition may have a greater impact than the direct effect of ambient temperature. The low availability of pastures during summer was found to be the most crucial factor reducing sheep production. Further, exercise stress was found to be an important stress, particularly in exten sive system of rearing, which negatively influences the production potential of sheep. Although the production potential of sheep is influenced by climate change-induced sudden disease outbreaks, it remains a largely unexplored area of research. Therefore, developing appropriate strategies involving management of rangelands, disease surveillance and genetic selection of sheep for greater heat tolerance may offer longer term solutions to sustain sheep production in the changing climate scenario