Abstract :
Awassi is the most widespread sheep breed of non-European origin. The breed adapts to
a wide range of environmental conditions from the steppe to the highly intensive system.
Performance of the breed varies according to production environment and strain, the Israeli
Improved Awassi being the heaviest and producing the highest amount of milk among all
Awassi populations. Efforts to genetically improve milk production yielded positive results.
In Israel the phenotypic average of lactation milk production increased from 297 kg in the
1940’s to over 500 kg in the 1990’s, while in Syria a selection program succeeded to increase
it from 128 kg in 1974–1976 to 335 kg in 2005. In Turkey, the mean milked yield of ewes
increased from67 kg to 152 kg in a selection/outcrossing programthat lasted for seven years.
AlthoughAwassi is best knownfor its high milk production, the breed is often used as a triple
purpose sheep in most of the countries of its origin in the Middle East. Heritability estimates
in different traits are within those for other populations of sheep but recent estimates for
milk yield in the Improved Awassi indicated lower heritability and higher contribution of
non-additive genetic effects. The Awassi sheep have been exported from its origin in east
of the Mediterranean to more than 30 countries in all continents of the world
