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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Small Ruminant Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres

Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
L. Iniguez a , J.P. Mueller b, , A. Ombayev c , S. Aryngaziyev c , A. Ajibekov d ,
S. Yusupov e , A. Ibragimov e , M. Suleimenov a , M. El-Dine Hilali f
a
International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria1
b
National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA), Bariloche, Argentina
c
Kazakh Research Institute of Livestock and Forage Production, Mynbayev, Kazakhstan
d
Kyrgyz National Agrarian University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
e
Karakul Sheep Breeding and Desert Ecology Research Institute, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
f
International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: To generate information on animal ber quality traits in Central Asia, as a prelude to genetic
Received 19 September 2013 improvement, ber samples of 495 cashmere goats from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and
Received in revised form 9 April 2014 448 mohair goats from these two countries and Kyrgyzstan were characterized. Fixed effects
Accepted 8 May 2014
involved location (geographical), animal age and coat color. Fiber traits included greasy
Available online xxx
down yield for cashmere (GDY, %) and clean yield (CY, %) for mohair; mean down diame-
ter (MDD, m) for cashmere and mean ber diameter (MFD, m) for mohair; coefcient
Keywords: of variation (CV, %) associated with MFD or MDD; comfort factor (CF, %); ber curvature
Central Asia (Curv, /mm) and staple length (SL, mm). Percentages of med, kemp and total medullation
Correlation (TM) were also obtained for mohair samples. Residual phenotypic correlations between
Fiber diameter traits were calculated. Cashmere GDY, MDD, CV, CF, Curv and SL averaged respectively
Fiber quality 26.8 0.6%, 17.2 0.1 m, 21.0 0.2%, 98.9 0.2% 69.7 0.5 /mm and 29.4 0.7 mm. Loca-
Goat tion was a signicant differentiating factor for all cashmere traits. Signicant GDY decrease
Medullation
and MDD increase was observed with age. The SL was highly correlated with GDY, MDD
Phenotypic variability
and CF (0.63, 0.65 and 0.64, respectively), and so was GDY with MDD (0.78). Mohair
CY, MFD, CV, CF, Curv and SL averaged respectively 76.7 0.3%, 29.3 0.2 m, 29.5 0.2%,
60.5 1.0%, 48.5 0.2 /mm, and 176.9 1.9 mm, whereas med, kemp and TM averaged
respectively 5.7 0.3, 5.5 0.3 and 11.2 0.6%. Signicant location differences were found
for mohair CY, MFD, CF, Curv, SL, kemp and TM, along with a signicant MFD increase and CF
decrease with age. All variables, except CY, differentiated according to coat colors. CY was
highly correlated with MFD (0.70), SL (0.80), CF (0.72), Curv (0.81) and kemp (0.70).
The mohair MFD was also highly correlated with CF (0.99), Curv (0.81), SL (0.70) and FM
(0.64). The study detected important variability for ber quality traits in view of (1) hetero-
geneity for all studied cashmere traits, except for CF, and in all studied mohair traits, and (2)
signicant location differences for most important quality traits in cashmere and mohair.
This suggests that a good base for ber quality improvement is in place in the region.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +54 294 4420420.

E-mail addresses: mueller.joaquin@inta.gob.ar, joaquinmueller@gmail.com (J.P. Mueller).
1
until 2008.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
0921-4488/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
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1. Introduction
An estimated 250.8 million ha of Central Asian range-
lands (FAO, 2013) are dedicated to produce animal bers
and skins. Important developments promoted this pro-
duction during the Soviet Union era to meet the textile
industry and Soviet market demand. In this context, several
animal breeding programs were implemented to improve
animal productivity, with more emphasis placed on sheep
and wool production than on ber production by goats
(ICARDA, 2003). Following the fall of the Soviet Union,
during the transition from a centralized to a free market
economy, agricultural production was infringed by the dis-
integration of markets, the disappearance of production
improvement programs/services and the shift in tenure
from a collective to an individual ownership of land and
animals. Myriads of smallholders emerged, with limited
resources and possessing a handful of animals, while lev-
els of rural poverty escalated and productivity fell (Iniguez
and Mueller, 2009). Insufcient investment for the devel-
opment of ber-producing areas, following the fall of the
Soviet regime, led to a decline in ber productivity, quality
and marketing (Mueller, 2000; Kerven et al., 2002).
Fiber-producing goat production systems owned by
small holders are distributed in most agricultural dry
areas of Central Asia and affected by the constraints
addressed above. Goats in these systems play a multipur-
pose function: providing meat, milk, bers and skins, and
contributing substantially to the farmers livelihoods.
Productivity improvement by appropriate management
and animal breeding strategies, along with the improve-
ment of the value chain and marketing, have been proposed
in the region as a means to help ber-producing farmers to
overcome production constraints and enhance their liveli-
hoods. To this end, sufcient information is needed on the
current quality and variability status for ne ber produc-
tion. Though often imprecise, historical data is available on
the Central Asian production and quality of animal bers
during the Soviet period (Kiyatkin, 1968; Medeubekov
et al., 2009; Ajibekov and Almeyev, 2009; Yusupov, 2009);
however, current information on animal productivity and
ber quality is scanty.
This work was designed to assess the quality and
variability of mohair and cashmere bers produced in rep-
resentative production locations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Uzbekistan, as a prelude to developing breeding and
marketing strategies for increasing the supply of high
quality bers in the context of improving smallholder pro-
duction systems.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Fiber sampling
In March 2002, samples of mohair and cashmere ber were collected
at different types of farms (cooperative, private and smallholder farms)
and locations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Table 1 describes
the countries involved, locations and sample numbers. Because goat pro-
ducers in the region do not keep production records, the precise growth
period of the collected ber was not available; however, it corresponded to
ber grown in approximately 1 year considering that goats in the region
are only shorn annually around April. The sampling conducted consid-
ered main producing areas and accessibility to locations by the research
Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
team. The original plan intended to include Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
in the sampling design, but logistical problems prevented it. The samples
were obtained from the animals right mid-side around the ribs, cutting
the bers with scissors at skin level. Animal age, assessed by inspection
of the dental plaque, and color of the coat were recorded. The sampling
was restricted to does because bucks in a ock were not numerous. On
this basis, does in a ock were selected at random, avoiding biases con-
cerning the animal type in relation to ber production. Individual samples
were labeled with the information obtained and hermetically stored in an
envelope before analysis.
The status of small ruminant production and breeding were moni-
tored by the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas
(ICARDA) from 2002 onwards, showing that productivity remained low
as a reection of a largely unchanged production context (ICARDA, 2003;
Suleimenov et al., 2006; Iniguez and Mueller, 2009; ICARDA, 2013). No
studies were conducted to assess the status of genetic variability. Though
it is possible that the fragmentation of large into small ocks of small-
holders gave place to drift and inbreeding processes, with a concomitant
reduction of the intraock variability, it is also expected that the vari-
ability in the large goat populations remained unaltered. Furthermore, no
goat breeding programs were implemented from 1990 onwards. On this
basis, we assume that the sampling conducted in 2002 still reects the
current situation of ber production in the countries involved.
2.2. Fiber analyses
Fiber samples were analyzed at the Animal Fiber Laboratory of the
Argentinean National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) located
in the city of Bariloche. The greasy cashmere ber samples were rst
weighed and then manually dehaired. An attempt was made to separate
down and guard hairs by means of a Shirley Analyzer (Couchman and Holt,
1990) but the instrument did not perform this task satisfactorily. Greasy
down yield (GDY, expressed in %) was calculated as the relation between
greasy down weight and the original greasy un-dehaired sample weight.
The down ber fraction of the cashmere samples was rst measured for
staple length (SL, expressed in mm) by stretching up to ve staples of each
sample on a gridded pad and measuring the median staple. The samples
were mini-cored in order to obtain 2 mm snippets of bers which were
analyzed with a Sirolan LaserscanTM instrument (manufactured by CSIRO,
Australia) following IWTO 12-00 standards (IWTO, 2000). The mean down
ber diameter (MDD, expressed in m) of each sample was obtained by
setting the instrument to measure 2000 individual bers. Approximately
1700 measurements per sample provided valid measurements. The cor-
responding coefcient of variation (CV, expressed in %) of the mean ber
diameter was also registered for each sample. In addition the comfort fac-
tor (CF, expressed in %) or proportion of bers with diameter less than
30 m and the average ber curvature (Curv, expressed in /mm) were
obtained for each sample.
Mohair samples were rst measured for staple length (SL, expressed
in mm) as described for cashmere samples. Then the greasy samples were
weighted (samples averaged 9.2 g), scoured and oven dried. The clean and
dry samples were weighted and the clean yield (CY, expressed in %) was
calculated as the relation between clean and greasy sample weights. Then
the clean mohair samples were mini-cored and tested, similar to cash-
mere samples, to obtain the mean ber diameter (MFD, expressed in m),
coefcient of variation (CV, expressed in %), comfort factor (CF, expressed
in %) and the average ber curvature (Curv, expressed in /mm). Mohair
snippets were also used for determination of ber medullation by using a
projection microscope and following IWTO 8-97 standards (IWTO, 1997).
On 300 ber snippets the percentage of bers with med and kemp bers
(expressed in %) were calculated. Med bers are those medullated bers
where the diameter of the medulla is less than 60% of the diameter of the
ber whereas kemp bers are those with a larger medulla (ASTM D2698,
2001). Total percentage of medullated bers (TM) was calculated as the
sum of the two types of medullated bers.
2.3. Statistical analysis
Generalized linear model (GLM) procedures of the SAS software v. 9.2
(SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) were used for statistical analysis of the data.
Fixed factors in the models included age, location and color. The rst and
second order interactions were removed from the linear models tested
if they did not reach statistical signicance. To test differences between
xed effects the SAS linear contrast statement of GLM procedure was used.
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Table 1
Cashmere and mohair ber samples obtained in different locations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Locations Places collecteda Agroecology No. of samples

Cashmere 495
Kazakhstan
Southern Abay village Turkestan (South Kazakhstan) Foothills 238
Kumkent village Sozak and Kyzylkol-Sozak Semidesert
(South Kazakhstan)
Kyrash village and Kosinki village (Kyzylorda) Foothills
Central Abykgazin farm Ulytau and Isanbayev farm Steppe 97
Ulytau (Karagandy)
Western Khobda village (Aktobe) Steppe 67
Southeastern Nurzhan (Almaty) Semidesert 44
Uzbekistan
North-central Altinsay (Navoiy) Foothills 28
Southeastern Baysun (Surhandarya) Foothills/mountains 21
Mohair 448
Kazakhstan
Southeastern Auez farm (Almaty) Semidesert 265
Kattaubay farm and Mynbayev village (Almaty) Steppe
Nurman farm (Almaty) Foothills
Tauchilik farm (Almaty) Mountains
Eastern Kamenka village Kokpekti and Kokzhyra Foothills 102
farm Tarbagatay (East Kazakhstan)
Kyrgyzstan
Southwestern Batken area (Batken) 25
Uzbekistan
North-Central Altinsay (Navoiy) Foothills 56
a
In parenthesis the name of the provinces.

Pearson correlations between the different variables were estimated after
adjusting for the different signicant xed factors included in the linear
models. To test differences in ber characteristics between cashmere pro-
ducing Orenburg (n = 30) and Pridonskaya (n = 37) goat grades, a separate
analysis was conducted for the samples collected in Khobda, Aktobe, west-
ern Kazakhstan, where these grades were available, by tting a model
containing breed, age and color as xed effects. For discussion purposes
it was dened that the absolute value of a correlation was considered low
if r < 0.4, medium if 0.4 r < 0.6, and high if r 0.6.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Cashmere characterization
3.1.1. Cashmere color and greasy down yield
Out of the 495 goats sampled at the various locations
visited, four coat colors were recorded: white, black, brown
and blue tone, with proportions of 35.2, 33.1, 23.6 and 8.1
per 100 goats, respectively, which differs from the distri-
bution found by McGregor et al. (2009) for similar colors in
Kyrgyz cashmere goats.
Our estimated GDY average (26.8 0.6%, Table 2) was
low compared to Australian (Rose et al., 1992), New
Zealand (Bigham et al., 1993) and Iranian (Ansari-Renani
et al., 2012) cashmere. The CV of this trait (49%, Table 2)
also reected high heterogeneity. There were signicant
differences between locations (Table 3). The largest GDY
arithmetic average corresponded to western Kazakhstan
(43.9 1.2%). GDY arithmetic averages from all the other
locations ranged from 19.5 0.7% in southern Kazakhstan
to 33.9 3.5% in southeastern Uzbekistan. Previous work
by Aryngaziyev (1998) also noted low GDY in female cash-
mere goats from southeastern and western Kazakhstan
averaging 36.5 (n = 560) and 23.6% (n = 480), respectively.
Kerven et al. (2009) reported a 31% GDY average for
373 samples collected in 9 provinces of Afghanistan. Age
differences in GDY were signicant with yields showing a
linear decreasing trend (Table 3), as animals get older simi-
lar to that observed by Ansari-Renani et al. (2012) in Iranian
cashmere. There were also GDY differences due to the coat
color of the animal with black cashmere having a lower
GDY than white or blue cashmere (P < 0.05, Table 3).
3.1.2. Cashmere mean down ber diameter, coefcient of
variation and comfort factor
The MDD arithmetic average was 17.2 0.1 m with
individual values in the range of 13.226.2 m displaying
moderate overall variability (CV 10%, Table 2). Whereas the
MDD average is similar to Australian cashmere (McGregor,
2004), it is high compared to cashmere goats from Inner
Mongolia, China (Bai et al., 2006). Wang et al. (2013)
reported 13.8 m for Inner Mongolian yearling goats which
is 3.2 m ner than the estimate for yearlings in our study
(Table 3). Conversely our Kazakh and Uzbek cashmere sam-
ples were 2.7 m ner than typical Raeini cashmere of Iran
(Ansari-Renani et al., 2012).
MDD signicantly differentiated according to location
(Table 3). Location MDD arithmetic averages ranged from
16.2 0.2 m in southeastern Kazakhstan to 18.9 0.2 m
in western Kazakhstan. Results for some of the locations
are in close agreement with former studies by Aryngaziyev
(1983, 1998) and Tisher (1991). Kerven et al. (2009) also
reported important geographical differences in MDD, with
particularly ne cashmere (14.5 m) for samples from four
districts of the Kyzylorda Province, in southern Kazakhstan.
Cashmere MDD in the Osh and Naryn provinces of neigh-
boring Kyrgyzstan are reported to be 15.7 and 16.7 m,
respectively (McGregor et al., 2009). It is noteworthy that
goats with the greatest MDD arithmetic average (18.9 m)
were found in western Kazakhstan, a region that has been

Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
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Table 2
Number of records, arithmetic mean, standard deviation (SD), coefcient of variation (CV) and range of eece and ber traits in samples collected from
Central Asian cashmere and mohair goats.

Goat ber Trait n Mean SD CV (%) Minimum Maximum

Cashmere Greasy down yield (%) 495 26.8 13.2 49 0.4 82.6
Mean down ber diameter (MDD) (m) 495 17.2 1.7 10 13.2 26.2
Coefcient of variation of MDD (%) 495 21.0 3.4 16 14.6 41.0
Comfort factor (%) 495 98.9 3.4 3 37.5 100.0
Fiber curvature ( /mm) 495 69.7 10.1 15 45.3 105.3
Staple length (mm) 444 29.4 13.8 47 10.0 145.0

Mohair Clean yield (%) 448 76.7 5.7 7 44.2 99.1

Mean ber diameter (MFD) (m) 448 29.3 4.6 16 17.6 43.9
Coefcient of variation of MFD (%) 448 29.5 4.6 16 19.7 48.9
Comfort factor (%) 448 60.5 20.9 35 11.5 97.3
Fiber curvature ( /mm) 448 48.5 4.7 10 30.9 78.7
Staple length (mm) 448 176.9 39.2 22 73.7 293.3
Med (%) 448 5.7 7.1 125 0 72.0
Kemp (%) 448 5.5 6.5 118 0.0 64.0
Total medullation (%) 448 11.2 11.8 105 0.0 100.0

under the inuence of improved Russian breeds such as the
Orenburg and Pridonskaya, the former known for its ne
cashmere and the latter known for its high cashmere pro-
duction (Millar, 1986). All the other locations corresponded
to animals that did not have a direct inuence of improved
breeds or if this inuence occurred it was not as marked as
in Aktobe.
To further investigate the effects of past upgrading poli-
cies, samples from goats with Pridonskaya and Orenburg
inuence were compared. In Aktobe our data showed that
goats with Pridonskaya inuence, as opposed to goats with
Orenburg inuence, have signicantly higher proportion of
cashmere bers in their eeces (48.6 1.5 vs. 38.2 1.6%)
and also signicantly longer cashmere bers (37.5 2.1
vs. 27.0 2.1 mm). For other cashmere quality traits Oren-
burg crosses and grades performed signicantly better
than Pridonskaya crosses: 18.4 0.2 vs. 19.4 0.3 m for
MDD, 99.1 0.2 vs. 98.1 0.2% for CF and 62.6 1.3 vs.
58.3 1.0 /mm for ber curvature, respectively. In west-
ern Kazakhstan, Aryngaziyev (1998) and Aryngaziyev and
Izbasarov (1998) concluded that the Orenburg breed per-
forms better than the Pridonskaya and the Gorno Altai
breed.
Age contributed to differences in MDD, mainly due to
rst shearings having 0.7 m less MDD than later shearings
(P < 0.05, Table 3). A similar trend with age was observed

Table 3
Least squares means (standard error) of down ber characteristics produced by Kazakh and Uzbek cashmere ber-producing does, in accordance with
location, age and coat color.

Effects n Greasy down Mean down Mean down Comfort factor Fiber curvature n Down staple
yield (%) diameter (m) diameter CV (%) (%) ( /mm) length (mm)
** ** ** * ** **
Location
North-centralUz 28 34.2 2.0a 17.5 0.3a 24.1 0.7a 97.4 0.7a 78.7 1.8a 28 48.3 2.5a
SoutheasternUz 21 33.8 2.3a 18.3 0.3b 23.4 0.7a 97.6 0.8ac 79.9 2.0a 19 39.0 2.9b
CentralKaz 97 27.6 1.2b 17.5 0.2a 19.1 0.4b 99.7 0.4b 67.7 1.1b 94 32.3 1.5c
WesternKaz 67 44.3 1.3c 18.9 0.2b 20.6 0.4cd 98.6 0.4ad 59.2 1.2c 64 33.1 1.6c
SoutheasternKaz 44 27.1 1.5b 16.2 0.2c 20.3 0.5c 99.5 0.5bd 74.1 1.3d 41 19.7 1.9d
SouthernKaz 238 19.4 0.7d 16.8 0.1d 21.4 0.2d 99.1 0.2bcd 70.2 0.6e 198 24.3 0.9e
** ** ns ns ns ns
Age (years)
1 119 33.8 1.2a 17.0 0.2a 21.9 0.4 98.9 0.4 72.8 1.0 105 32.3 1.4
2 107 33.8 1.2a 17.6 0.2b 21.6 0.4 98.7 0.4 70.3 1.0 98 34.7 1.4
3 118 32.3 1.0ab 17.9 0.1b 21.1 0.3 98.1 0.3 70.9 0.9 109 33.8 1.2
4 112 30.3 1.0b 17.7 0.1b 21.2 0.3 98.7 0.3 72.6 0.9 101 34.3 1.3
5 39 25.1 1.7c 17.6 0.2b 21.5 0.6 98.9 0.6 71.5 1.5 31 28.9 2.3
* ns ** ns * *
Coat color
Blue 40 33.6 1.7a 17.8 0.2 21.3 0.5a 98.7 0.6 69.9 1.4a 38 34.9 2.0ab
Brown 117 30.8 1.0ab 17.5 0.1 21.4 0.3a 98.9 0.3 73.2 0.9b 104 30.4 1.3a
Black 164 28.4 1.0b 17.4 0.1 20.7 0.3a 98.8 0.3 73.1 0.9b 144 31.1 1.2a
White 174 31.4 1.0a 17.5 0.1 22.5 0.3b 98.2 0.3 70.3 0.9a 158 34.8 1.3b

North-centralUz : Foothill areas of Navoiy Province (Altinsay).

SoutheasternUz : Foothill and mountain areas of Surhandarya Province (Baysun).
CentralKaz : Steppe areas of Karagandy Province (Ulytau).
WesternKaz : Steppe areas of Aktobe Province (Khobda).
SouthernKaz : Semidesert and foothill areas of Turkestan (Abay) and Sozak (Kumkent and Kyzylkol) in South Kazakhstan Province; and Kyzylorda (Kyrash
and Kosinki) in Kyzylorda Province.
SoutheasternKaz : Semidesert areas of Almaty Province (Nurzhan).
*
P < 0.05.
**
P < 0.01.
ns
P > 0.05; Least squares means in a column within a given xed effect without a common letter differ (P < 0.05).

Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
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by McGregor et al. (2009, 2011) and Ansari-Renani et al.
(2012). Whether these changes are an allometric response
to liveweight change (McGregor et al., 2012) could not be
tested in this study. In disagreement with results found
in Kyrgyz goats (McGregor et al., 2009), we found no sig-
nicant MDD differentiation between colors in our study
(Table 3).
The MDD CV obtained from the measured ber snippets
averaged 21.0 0.2% with a 14.641.0% range (Table 2),
reecting considerable within sample heterogeneity. This
corroborates with variation and averages reported for goats
from Kazakhstan (Kerven et al., 2009) and Kyrgyzstan
(McGregor et al., 2009). Though MDD CV of white cash-
mere was greater than for colored cashmere (P < 0.05), the
average difference between these types of bers is of minor
relevance (1.4% points) and could rather reect variation in
sample size. Furthermore, contrasting the results reported
by McGregor et al. (2009) for Kyrgyz goats, no signicant
age differences were evident in our study.
The overall CF arithmetic average was 98.9 0.2%
displaying minimal variation (Table 2). Furthermore, CF
signicantly differed across locations (P < 0.05) and was
similar across ages and colors.
3.1.3. Cashmere staple length and ber curvature
The arithmetic mean SL in this study was 29.4 0.7 mm
with a very large range from 10.0 to 145.0 mm and
considerable heterogeneity (CV = 47%, Table 2). SL sig-
nicantly differentiated by location (Table 3) with the
highest SL arithmetic average found in goats from north-
central Uzbekistan (48.1 5.0 mm) and the lowest in goats
from southeastern Kazakhstan (20.0 1.4 mm). As indi-
cated earlier, the ber lengths corresponded to ber grown
in approximately 1 year, therefore, the differences reect
environmental and, likely, genetic differences. The highest
SL from north-central Uzbekistan is little low compared to
cashmere goats from Iran (54.2 mm) (Ansari-Renani et al.,
2012). White cashmere was longer than brown or black
cashmere (P < 0.05). Age differences in SL and ber curva-
ture were not signicant (Table 3).
Paralleling the results by Ansari-Renani et al. (2012)
involving Iranian Cashmere goats, Curv in our study aver-
aged 69.7 0.5 /mm and displayed heterogeneity (CV 15%,
Table 2). In contrast, goats from Osh and Naryn provinces of
Kyrgyzstan (McGregor et al., 2009) and The Pamir villages
of Tajikistan (McGregor et al., 2011) were reported to have
bers with less average Curv than the average found in this
study. Signicant variation for Curv was found between
locations (Table 3) with extreme arithmetic averages of
60.2 0.9 /mm in Western Kazakhstan and 80.7 2.8 /mm
in southeastern Uzbekistan. Our results also differ from
Curv assessments of Kyrgyz and Pamir goats (McGregor
et al., 2009, 2011), in that we found no signicant age differ-
ences in Curv whereas white and blue tones had less Curv
than darker colors (P < 0.05, Table 3).
3.1.4. Phenotypic correlations of cashmere traits
Mean down ber diameter showed a negative residual
correlation with ber curvature (0.48, Table 4) similar
to the relationship between these two traits found by
McGregor et al. (2009). The magnitude of this correlation
Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
5
Table 4
Residual phenotypic correlations among ber characteristics of cashmere
goats from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Traits MDD MDD CV CF Curv SL
GDY 0.78**
0.11*
0.38**
0.42 **
0.63**
MDD 0.08ns 0.55** 0.48** 0.65**
MDD CV 0.64** 0.47** 0.27**
CF 0.17** 0.64**
Curv 0.0003ns
GDY, greasy down yield; MDD, mean down ber diameter, MDD CV, mean
down ber diameter coefcient of variation; CF, comfort factor; Curv, ber
curvature; SL, staple length.
*
P < 0.05.
**
P < 0.01.
ns
P > 0.05.
was not large enough to suggest efcient visual assessment
of MDD via a supposedly high correlation between ber
curvature and crimp frequency, a trait easy to assess visu-
ally. McGregor (2007) obtained a relatively high correlation
between ber curvature and crimp frequency (0.66) in
cashmere, but a weak correlation between crimp frequency
and MDD (0.37). McGregor and Butler (2009) conclude
that using crimp frequency as a tool for changing MDD in
cashmere will be reasonably effective within a farm but
not a reasonable indicator and predictor of MDD differ-
ences between farms. MDD CV was uncorrelated to MDD,
whereas the correlation between MDD CV and CF was high
and negative (0.64), as would be expected.
Table 4 indicates that down SL showed high resid-
ual correlations with GDY (0.63), MDD (0.65), and CF
(0.64). Litherland et al. (1995) concluded that staple
length explained only 36% of the variance in cashmere yield
and McGregor and Butler (2008a) showed that farm, sta-
ple length and MDD but not age and sex of the goats are
primary indicators of clean cashmere production. Further-
more, the phenotypic residual correlation between GDY
and MDD was 0.78 (Table 4). Bai et al. (2006) found a phe-
notypic correlation (0.43) between MDD and SL in Chinese
white cashmere goats, similar in sign though less in mag-
nitude than our result.
3.2. Mohair characterization
3.2.1. Mohair color and clean yield
Most of the 448 goats sampled (86.2%) had a white coat.
Other coat colors were less frequent, these including tones
of black (7.1%), gray (4.9%) and brown (1.8%). In six out of
the nine sampling sites colored segregating animals were
found in per site proportions varying from low in two sites
(ranging from 2.2 to 6.1%) to high in four sites (ranging from
16.1 to 31.3%). In the remaining three sites the goats were
all white.
The arithmetic average of mohair CY was 76.7 0.3%
(Table 2), not very different from the 80% oven dry clean
yields obtained by Gifford et al. (1990) in Australian mohair
and from the range of means reported by Snyman (2002) for
South African 18-month Angora does. Though little overall
variability was detected for this trait (CV 7%, Table 2), CY
signicantly differentiated according to locations (Table 5).
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Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,

Table 5
Least squares means (standard error) of bers characteristics produced by Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek mohair ber-producing does, in accordance with location, age and coat color.

Effects n Clean yield Mean ber Mean ber Comfort Fiber curvature Staple length Med (%) Kemp (%) Total medullation

L. Iniguez et al. / Small Ruminant Research xxx (2014) xxxxxx

(%) diameter (m) diameter CV (%) factor (%) ( /mm) (mm) (%)

ARTICLE IN PRESS
** ** ns ** ** ** ns ** *
Location
SoutheasternKaz 265 76.5 0.7a 27.9 0.5a 32.5 0.5 65.4 2.3a 50.2 0.5a 177 4a 3.1 0.9 1.9 0.8a 5.0 1.4a
North-centralUz 56 71.5 0.8b 22.8 0.6b 32.8 0.7 89.8 3.0b 55.9 0.7b 120 5b 1.7 1.1 6.6 1.0b 8.3 1.8a
SouthwesternKyr 25 79.6 1.2c 26.8 0.9a 31.9 1.0 67.5 4.3a 50.5 1.0a 213 7c 0.2 1.6 -1.1 1.4c -0.9 2.7b
EasternKaz 102 78.2 0.8d 28.6 0.6a 32.3 0.6 63.3 2.7a 50.0 0.6a 170 5a 2.3 1.0 2.1 0.9a 4.4 1.7a
ns ** ns ** ns ns ns ns ns
Age (years)
1 101 75.6 0.8 24.6 0.6a 33.1 0.7 79.7 2.9a 52.0 0.6 170 5 2.1 1.1 2.2 1.0 4.3 1.8
2 80 77.1 0.9 26.6 0.7b 31.9 0.7 71.5 3.1b 51.8 0.7 168 5 1.0 1.2 1.9 1.0 2.9 1.9
3 109 76.2 0.8 27.0 0.6bc 32.1 0.6 69.0 2.7bc 51.3 0.6 168 5 2.3 1.0 3.3 0.9 5.6 1.7
4 158 76.8 0.7 27.9 0.5c 32.6 0.6 65.9 2.5c 51.5 0.5 173 4 1.9 0.9 2.2 0.8 4.1 1.5
ns ** ** ** ** * ** ** **
Coat color
Brown tones 8 74.2 1.9 26.8 1.4ab 33.5 1.6a 68.0 6.7ab 56.0 1.5a 172 12ab 0.6 2.6a 0.2 2.2a 0.8 4.1a
Gray 22 77.4 1.2 25.3 0.9b 33.2 1.0a 78.0 4.1a 51.3 0.9b 170 7ab 0.3 1.6a 1.4 1.4a 1.7 2.5a
Black 32 77.6 1.0 25.3 0.8b 34.2 0.8a 77.3 3.5a 50.2 0.8bc 158 6b 0.8 1.3a 1.9 1.2a 2.7 2.1a
White 386 76.6 0.4 28.7 0.3a 28.6 0.3b 62.8 1.3b 49.0 0.3c 178 2a 5.6 0.5b 6.1 0.4b 11.7 0.8b

SoutheasternKaz : Semidesert (Auez), steppes (Kattaubay and Mynbayev), foothills (Nurman) and mountains (Tauchilik) of Almaty Province.
EasternKaz : Foothill areas (Kamenka and Kokzhyra) of East Kazakhstan Province.
SouthwesternKyr : Areas in the Batken Province.
North-centralUz : Foothills of Navoiy (Altinsay).
*
P < 0.05.
**
P < 0.01.
ns
P > 0.05; Least squares means in a column within a given xed effect without a common letter differ (P < 0.05).
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L. Iniguez et al. / Small Ruminant Research xxx (2014) xxxxxx
3.2.2. Mohair mean ber diameter, coefcient of
variation and comfort factor
The 29.3 0.2 m MFD and overall 29.5 0.2 CV
(Table 2) lie within the range of expected values for these
variables for mohair bers according to Franck (2001):
2345 m MFD and 2033% CV, respectively, and was not
different from the MFD reported by Lupton et al. (2008)
for Texan Angora. MFD signicantly differentiated accord-
ing to age, location and coat color (Table 5). Table 5 shows
that kid mohair was 23 m ner than in mohair from
older Angoras (P < 0.05), a difference also noted in other
studies (e.g. Allain and Roguet, 2006; McGregor et al.,
2012; Kosimov et al., 2013) and recently explained by
an allometric relationship with body weight (McGregor
et al., 2012). North-central Uzbek Angoras mohair was
ner than that from other sampled locations and previ-
ously reported results by Yusupov (2009) for the same
region and by Aryngaziyev (1983) and Mutairov (1991) for
Kazakhstan. White mohair was coarser than gray and black
mohair (P < 0.05, Table 5), a difference also documented by
Kosimov et al. (2013) in Tajikistan.
The MFD CV arithmetic average obtained from the
measured ber snippets (29.5%, Table 2) was higher than
averages reported by Lupton et al. (2008) for Texan Ango-
ras, and contrastingly higher than those implicit in results
accounted by Snyman (2002) and Snyman (2004) for 18-
month old South African Angoras. In an opposite direction
than in cashmere and in agreement with Kosimov et al.
(2013), MFD CV of white mohair in our study showed
on average 5% points less than colored mohair (P < 0.05,
Table 5).
Table 2 shows the statistics for CF that averaged
60.5 1.0%, displaying considerable heterogeneity (CV
35%). Signicant differences in CF were found between
locations, ages and coat colors. As expected for a low MFD,
southwestern Kyrgyz mohair had a high CF and for the
same reason young Angoras had also the highest CF. Simi-
lar decreasing trend in CF with age and color effects on CF
were found by Kosimov et al. (2013).
3.2.3. Mohair staple length and ber curvature
The arithmetic mean SL in this study, correspond-
ing to approximately 1-year growth, was 176.9 1.9 mm
(Table 2), higher than the 109 mm average reported by
Franck (2001) (range 84137 mm) and the 141149 mm
mean range assessed by Lupton et al. (2008) in Texan
Angora. SL signicantly differentiated according to loca-
tion and colors but not according to the age of the animals.
The largest and signicant difference due to locations was
found between north-central Uzbekistan and southwest-
ern Kyrgyzstan (with 127 3 and 221 5 mm arithmetic
averages, respectively). Unfortunately, the small sample
size of goats from Kyrgyzstan (n = 25) prevents well based
conclusions for this region. Nevertheless, the results for
SL are within the range of values reported by Almeyev
et al. (2010) for Kyrgyzstan, 180280 mm, respectively. SL
of white mohair was 20 mm larger than SL of black mohair
(P < 0.05) (Table 5), a result also observed by Kosimov et al.
(2013) (179 and 150.6 mm, respectively).
Notwithstanding Curv is not a relevant trait in mohair, it
is not obvious why Curv estimates concerning Tajik mohair
Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
7
(Kosimov et al., 2013) and mohair from different origins
(McGregor and Butler, 2008b; Lupton et al., 2008) are con-
trastingly lower than our estimate showed in Table 2.
3.2.4. Mohair medullation
The TM in this study, mean 11.2 0.6% (Table 2), was
substantially higher than the expected values for mohair
bers (mean 1% and range 0.32.8%) outlined by Franck
(2001) and also contrasts with the 0.280.35% TM range
reported by Snyman (2002) for South African Angora. The
arithmetic averages for med and kemp bers were respec-
tively 5.7 0.3% (ranging 072%) and 5.5 0.3% (ranging
064%) (Table 2). Of the 448 samples assessed, 93 and 94%
had 15% med or kemp percentages, respectively. Only 14
and 18% were free of med or kemp bers, respectively, and
11% free of both med and kemp.
Signicant differences in kemp and TM were found
between locations (Table 5) with goats from Kyrgyzstan
having the lowest percentage estimates of these medul-
lated bers. Age was not a factor that differentiated med,
kemp and TM (P > 0.05), whereas white bers displayed
contrastingly higher medullated bers than colored bers
(P < 0.05).
3.2.5. Phenotypic correlations of mohair traits
Residual correlations between mohair ber traits are
shown in Table 6. CY was found to have high positive cor-
relations with MFD and SL and high negative correlation
with CF, Curv and kemp. In Australia Gifford et al. (1991)
obtained similar correlations, although much weaker for
CY with MFD and SL and no correlation with kemp. The
MFD was, as expected, highly negatively correlated with CF
(0.99), it was also highly negatively correlated with Curv
(0.81) and highly positively correlated with SL (0.70).
MFD displayed a medium to high positive correlation with
med but not with kemp and TM. Similarly, Kosimov et al.
(2013) in Tajikistan found high negative correlation of
MFD with CF (0.91), somewhat lower but also negative
correlation with Curv (0.53) and much lower and posi-
tive correlation with SL (0.14). They also observed similar
correlations of MFD with med bers (0.40) and no correla-
tion with kemp content (0.08). Correlations obtained by
Gifford et al. (1991) in Australia followed the same pat-
tern with lower association of MFD with med bers, kemp
and SL (0.39, 0.00 and 0.28, respectively). Allain and Roguet
(2006) got small positive correlations of MFD with both
kemp and med bers (0.29 and 0.20, respectively). Like-
wise, Visser et al. (2009) in South Africa reported a high
negative correlation of MFD and CF (0.86) that agrees with
our results. As expected, med was highly positively cor-
related with total medullation; moreover, the correlation
between proportion of kemp and total medullation was
even higher (0.91). The correlation between MFD CV and
MFD was medium negative (0.50, Table 6), slightly higher
in absolute value than that found in Tajik mohair (Kosimov
et al., 2013). The correlations between MFD CV with Med
or TM were high and negative (Table 6), contrasting with
the non-signicant correlations, though consistent in sign,
reported by Kosimov et al. (2013).
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8 L. Iniguez et al. / Small Ruminant Research xxx (2014) xxxxxx
Table 6
Residual phenotypic correlations among ber characteristics of mohair goats from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Traits MFD MFD CV CF
CY 0.70** 0.07ns 0.72**
MFD 0.50** 0.99**
MFD CV 0.49**
CF
Curv
SL
Med
Kemp
MFD, mean ber diameter; MFD CV, mean ber diameter coefcient of variation; CF, comfort factor; Curv, ber curvature; SL, staple length; Med, med
bers; Kemp, kemp bers; TM, total medullation.
*
P < 0.05.
**
P < 0.01.
ns
P > 0.05.
3.3. Salient issues
Colored mohair is rare outside Central Asia, in contrast
our results showed a 12.8% proportion of colored animals,
substantially lower than the 30% also reported by Kosimov
et al. (2013) for goats of northern Tajikistan. It is notewor-
thy that in contrast to cashmere production, indigenous to
the region and common to most of the Central Asian popu-
lations distributed in colder climates, mohair production
derived from introductions of Angora animals from differ-
ent countries in the second half of the 20th Century (Iniguez
and Mueller, 2009). Therefore, it is plausible to assume
that this variation responds to an indigenous genetic back-
ground for colors, still present in the current mohair grades.
It seems that color variability in Central Asian cashmere is
a facet of the indigenous cashmere variability. Colored ani-
mals have been reported by different authors (Kerven et al.,
2009; McGregor et al., 2009, 2011) in agreement with our
data, though in different frequencies of occurrence.
For the regions studied the values of some quality
traits ranked lower than bers from populations undergo-
ing genetic improvement: e.g. Australia (Rose et al., 1992;
McGregor, 2004), New Zealand (Bigham et al., 1993) and
China (Bai et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2013) for cashmere
GDY and MDD, and South Africa (Snyman, 2002) and the
USA (Lupton et al., 2008) for mohair medullation.
The proportion of samples having MDD 15.5 m, sim-
ilar to premium cashmere from China, was only 15%. In fact,
only one out of the 495 assessed samples averaged a MDD
similar to the 13.8 m MDD average reported by Wang
et al. (2013) for cashmere from Inner Mongolia, an area
recognized for its ne cashmere. Furthermore, 75.6% of the
sampled bers in this study simultaneously met the three
standards followed by the CCMI (2013) to qualify cashmere
bers which are MDD 19 m, CV 24% and CF 97%. The
MDD of about a half (54%) of our samples had 1618 m,
similar to Iranian and Afghan cashmere, and thus are suit-
able for either knitwear or weaving, according to McGregor
(2009).
High proportion of medullated bers severely infringes
on the quality of mohair bers and thus on its market price.
The med and kemp averages in our study were respectively
616 times higher than those of Tajik mohair (Kosimov
et al., 2013) that were already considered high in relation
Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
Curv SL Med Kemp TM
0.81** 0.80** 0.08ns 0.70** 0.48**
0.81** 0.70** 0.47** 0.20** 0.11*
0.39** 0.32** 0.81** 0.55** 0.75**
0.83** 0.76** 0.46** 0.25** 0.07 ns
0.81** 0.47** 0.34** 0.02 ns
0.25** 0.57** 0.23**
0.57** 0.86**
0.91**
to other breeds. This shows the necessity to revert this
condition through genetic improvement.
Incipient improvement programs for ber-producing
goats which started during the Soviet period were dis-
rupted after the collapse of this regime in the 1990s. This
may explain in part the high mohair heterogeneity and
medullation found in all locations assessed in our study.
The SL and MFD from Uzbek mohair goats were con-
siderably lower than other locations (P < 0.05). Age effects
were accounted for and showed that MFD was low in
Uzbek mohair goats at all ages. This population was sub-
jected to indiscriminate crossing with local goats after
the disappearance of breeding programs following the fall
of the Soviet regime and thus incorporated a cashmere
genetic background. Mohair samples were not dehaired
and snippets from all bers in the samples were mea-
sured, therefore, the presence of ne down bers could
have reduced MFD. This may explain in part the differ-
ences with other mohair goats from the region where
the mohair breeding remained more stable (Iniguez and
Mueller, 2009). The high presence of kemp in the Uzbek
samples is also an indication of low graded mohair produc-
ing genotypes. The fact that mohair samples ranged from 0
to 100% medullated bers underlines also the difculty to
classify Central Asian goat mohair eeces into world mar-
ket commercial bers. Fleeces with 0% of medullated bers
would qualify as uncontaminated mohair, whereas eeces
with 100% medullated bers would usually grow on meat
type goats.
Kosimov et al. (2013) suggested that differences in MFD
CV between white and colored mohair were likely due to
the colored mohair eeces still retaining cashmere type
bers. The high negative correlation between medullation
traits and MFD CV showed that higher medullation was
associated with lower ber variability, as it occurred with
white bers having the highest percentages of med and TM
and lowest MFD CV (Table 2). This seems to conrm that
the mohair upgrading of animals with a cashmere produc-
ing genetic background enhances substantially their ber
variability as opposed to a lower ber variability found in
animals with no mohair inuence (for about 8.5% points in
our study, Table 2).
Possible effects on cashmere associated with the lack
of breeding and production supporting programs can also
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L. Iniguez et al. / Small Ruminant Research xxx (2014) xxxxxx
explain the variability observed in cashmere traits. There
was a signicant difference on quality traits of goats with
inuence of Pridonskaya and Orenburg breeds that were
intensively used in crossbreeding programs in western
Kazakhstan. Goats from this location had larger ber diam-
eter and lower ber curvature than other locations where
these breeds were not widely used, but they also had the
largest greasy yields.
A trait with relevant impact on the economy of farmers
involves the volume of bers to be harvested per animal.
Our study, and other recent results on ne ber-producing
goats from Central Asia (e.g. Kerven et al., 2009; McGregor
et al., 2009, 2011; Kosimov et al., 2013), failed to provide
information on eece weight variability and the relation-
ships of this trait with cashmere and mohair quality traits.
Studies conducted in non-Asian populations (e.g. Bigham
et al., 1993) showed high positive correlations between
MDD and down weight and much less unfavorable val-
ues in Inner Mongolian cashmere populations (e.g. Bai
et al., 2006) which are critical while considering selection
plans. National and international research programs should
devote due efforts to bridge these information gaps to for-
mulate coherent improvement programs.
Important location variability and heterogeneity was
revealed for most of the assessed cashmere and mohair
ber quality traits. For example, two source groups of cash-
mere bers could be distinguished. Group 1 that distributes
in a large area with relatively continuous regions between
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan involves the foothills of central
Kazakhstan, semidesert areas of southeastern and southern
Kazakhstan and steppe areas of north-central Uzbekistan.
Group 2 distributes in more dispersed regions involving
steppes, foothills and mountains of southeastern Uzbek-
istan and western Kazakhstan. Group 1 has signicantly
ner down bers, more ber curvature and shorter down
bers than Group 2. In the case of mohair contrasting differ-
ences in quality were also evidenced, though within a wider
range, in particular concerning the proportion of medul-
lated bers. This variation, along with the recovery of goat
stocks in most parts of central Asia and promising market
prospects for mohair and cashmere, offer an opportunity
for governments to invest in the improvement of ne goat
ber productivity, the associated value chains and farmers
income.
4. Conclusions
The study detected important variability for ber qual-
ity traits in view of (1) heterogeneity for all studied
cashmere traits, except for CF, and in all studied mohair
traits, and (2) signicant location differences for most
important quality traits in cashmere and mohair. This sug-
gests that a good base for ber quality improvement is in
place in the region.
Improvement of goats for mohair and cashmere pro-
duction during the Soviet Union was largely based on large
goat populations kept on government farms where sys-
tematic breeding methods were applied and conducted
by experienced scientists (e.g. Kiyatkin, 1968). Consider-
ing the current structure of the goat production systems
largely dominated by smallholders possessing a handful
Please cite this article in press as: Iniguez, L., et al., Characterization of mohair and cashmere in regions of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Small Ruminant Res. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.05.004
9
of animals, the replication of former breeding systems is
unsuitable and thus not justied. Smaller village based pro-
grams linked to the improvement of ock management
and health, targeting specic improvement needs and the
needs of the communities seem more suitable to the cur-
rent Central Asian production context.
In this context, the breeding objective for cashmere pro-
ducers would in general focus on higher eece weights and
higher down yields. A second objective would be to main-
tain or reduce ber diameter. A third objective would be
to increase down ber length. If the genetic correlations
among these traits were similar in direction and magni-
tude as the phenotypic correlations, selection targeting
high eece weights with ne and long bers would be dif-
cult, though progress could still be achieved if parents
of future generations are carefully selected considering
all traits of relevance. The breeding objective for mohair
should focus on drastically reducing medullated bers.
Import of medullation-free Angoras may be an option to
speed up this process (Kosimov et al., 2013). In addition to
reduced medullation, eece weights should be increased
and mean ber diameter reduced. White or light colors are
preferable for industrial processing but the colored mohair
of Central Asia may be a valuable resource for demands
of natural ber colors for the handicraft market (ICARDA,
2013), in particular for ocks with a considerable propor-
tion of colored animals like those found in this study.
Conict of interest
None of the authors of this manuscript have a nancial
or personal interest that could affect the objectivity.
Acknowledgements
The collaboration of ber-producing farmers of Kazakh-
stan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is thanked. Thanks also go
to Monika Zaklouta from ICARDA and the ber laboratory
personnel from INTA in Bariloche. The project was funded
by grant number TAG-425 provided by the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
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