Conference paper

https://doi.org/10.33128/s.72.1-2.5

SITUATION AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES OF ZAGORJE TURKEY REARING IN VARAŽDIN COUNTY

Vladimir Kurečić ; Vladimira Nazora 71, Petrijanec, Hrvatska
Zlatko Janječić orcid.org/0000-0001-9161-024X ; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Stjepan Mužic ; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Zoran Grgić orcid.org/0000-0003-1635-4316 ; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Dalibor Bedeković orcid.org/0000-0002-7418-3968 ; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Abstract

Turkey has been raised as poultry across most of the Croatian region known as Hrvatsko Zagorje since the 16th century when, after the discovery of the New World, it was brought on ships, most probably from Central America, to Europe: first to Spain, then England, Germany and Italy. Since then, it has been domesticated and has not been cross-bred with other breeds and has been specifically bred in small, free range flocks where they can naturally peck for food. This has conditioned the development of certain morphological and physiological properties and influenced the quality of meat for which Zagorje Turkey is widely renowned and considered a special breed, not only economically but also as a valuable element of Croatian biodiversity. In the past, original breeds of domestic poultry have been insufficiently researched, i.e. there were only a few attempts prior to the outbreak of World War 2, despite the fact that it represented a significant part of traditional product exports to Western Europe. From the end of World War 2 to the mid 1990s, the Zagorje Turkey almost became extinct and practically disappeared, and it took the initiative and expertise of various enthusiasts and experts from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb from the end 1990s and early 2000s onwards to save it. Since then, the Zagorje Turkey has been seriously researched, supported and promoted, and even though the numbers of individual turkeys saved have varied, the breed has been saved for the future. There have been occasional initiatives in which it was treated as a brand requiring stability and continuity of breeding. This paper aims to establish the situation and economic prospects of Zagorje Turkey in the County of Varaždin.

Keywords

Zagorje Turkey; special breeds; biological diversity; traditional farming; Varaždin County

Hrčak ID:

220299

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/220299

Publication date:

15.5.2019.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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