Mariana Petkova

Organisation:
Institute of Animal Science
Kostinbrod BULGARIA
Name:
Mariana Petkova
Contact Details:
m_petkova2002@abv.bg
WBC – NMP
Brokerage Event
18 June 2010
zmir, zmir, Turkey

Bulgaria

INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL SCIENCE –
KOSTINBROD BULGARIA
IN THE MIDDLE OF BALKAN COUNTRIES

INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL SCIENCE
KOSTINBROD, BULGARIA

Description of the Organization 1
This is a state institute and was founded in 1950.
Presently there are 148 staff members at the IAS of
which 42 researchers.
The Institute structure comprises 9 scientific
departments
Our present scientific activities range from
fundamental to interdisciplinary and applied studies.
The major objective of these activities is to extend
general knowledge of basic principles important for
production and reproduction of animals and quality of

Description of the Organization 2
The researchers are:
Senior researchers Ist degree, DSci: 3
Senior researchers IInd degree, PhD: 17
Junior researchers and PhD: 22

Description of the Organization 3
MAIN RESEARCH DEPARTMENTS:
Cattle Breeding and Technology
Sheep Breeding and Technology
Poultry Breeding and Technology
Genetics and Breeding of farm animals
Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
Reproduction
Special branches (horses, rabbits, honey bees)
Physiology and Biochemistry
Ecology and Quality of animal products

Description of the Department
on Cattle Breeding
Selection methods for productive traits bettermentmilk
and meat in various cattle breeds for increasing
of their genetic potential.
High-tech farm technologies for production of high
quality, cheap milk, meat, biogas, electricity and high
quality manure, meant for further enhancement of
the agricultural production and improvement of its
economic effectiveness.
Optimizing live weight and fattening period in
various breeds of male calves. Breed-specific
technologies, adapted to different climatic regions of
the country.
Complex study and assessment of various capacitycattle
farms and levels of technological production.

Description of the Department
on Sheep Breeding
Systems for milk yield control. Contemporary criteria
for animal products evaluation in milk-breeds of
sheep.
Standards for sheep carcass assessment with the
European requirements.
Selection program for breeding meat breeds of
sheep.
System of sheep products under of organic and
conventional conditions.
Economic analysis of sheep production systems.
Genetic analysis of productive componentsevaluation
and preservation of sheep genetic
resources.

Description of the Department
on Poultry Breeding
Genetics and selection
Technologies
Feeding, physiology and biochemistry

Description of the Department
on Genetics
Factors on the variability of quantitative traits in
animals and honey bearing plants of the species
Tilia and Robina psedo acacia.
Economic weight of the main selection traits as a
quotient derivative of the total function of the profit
in sheep populations.
Content of acid–soluble (free) nucleotides in a
number of organs (spleen, testes, muscular tissue
and pancreas) in Black and White and Bulgarian
brown calves.

Description of the Department
on Reproduction
Artificial insemination:
- motility and fertilizing ability of spermatozoa from
different animal species
- survival time of thawed bull semen
- various mediums for fresh semen preservation
Embryos transplantation:
- ovocytes activation, isolation of stem cells from
embryos and fetal organs as well as in vitro
fertilization of ovocytes
- introcytoplasmic fertilization of gametes and
vitrification of ovocytes and embryos.

Description of the Department
on Physiology and
biochemistry
Effective anti-stress feed supplements in various
species and breeds of farm animals.
Thermoregulation in various species and breeds of
farms animals aimed at finding the most suitable
climatic region for breeding the corresponding
breeds.

Description of the Department
on Ecology and quality of
animal production
New methods and national standards for
management and production of high quality, safe
and nature-friendly meat and milk in relation to
human health.
Development of standards for assessment of
slaughter carcasses, complied with the European
ones.
Organizes training courses on classify slaughter
carcasses by the (S) EUROP system

Description of the Department
on Animal nutrition
and feed technology
Systems for feeding of all species and categories of
farm animals.
Compound feed and bioconcentrate mixtures
formulation.
Testing of various nature-friendly conservants for
forage processing and preservation.
Bulgarian herbs and herbal extracts evaluation.
New feeding requirements in cows.
Technological regimes for granulation and extrusion
of concentrate mixtures.

The Institute preserves diverse
livestock genetic resources
Animal species and total number :
Sheep
- milk sheep (200)
- meat sheep (198)
- aboriginal breeds (109)
Limousine beef cows (54)
Horses – Trakehnen breed (51)
Pigs – Danube white breed (100)
Rabbits
- New Zealand (400)
- Californian breeds (180)
Various hybrids and lines of birds (4 000)
Bee Families (209)

Research Interests with the
respect to the topic of
Brokerage Event
New feeds and additives could change animal`s
metabolism and as result to change composition of
foods by animal origin
New technology for feed processing, for example the
ionizing radiation, also could change composition of
feed and food.
Nanostructures from DNA which have possibilities to
joint together and can be programmed to change its
form or to move.
New methods or/and substances which could reduce
the methanogenesis in the rumen with a respect to
protect environment.

Thank you for your attention!
Name: Mariana Petkova, Prof. Assoc. PhD,
Coordinator for International Cooperation
Organisation: Institute of Animal Science (IAS)
Address: Pochivka, 1,
Kostinbrod, 2232 Bulgaria
E-mail: m_petkova2002@abv.bg
http://www.ias.bg
Phone: + 359 721 68955