ZONE SPECIALIZATION OF LIVESTOCK BREEDING OF THE TUVA REPUBLIC

For agriculture of the Republic of Tuva, animal husbandry has always been the leading industry, which is facilitated by the natural and climatic conditions of the region. The territory of the republic is divided into 4 agricultural zones according to the geographical location, taking into account climatic features, terrain, soil cover, vegetation. The purpose of research was to analyze the current state and prospects for the development of the animal husbandry industry of the Republic of Tuva in the context of natural and climatic agricultural zones. It was determined that the largest number of cattle and horses is currently concentrated in the central zone (42.1 and 42.0 %), followed by the western (35.0 and 31.3 %) and southern (19.5 and 24.4 %) zone. About half of the total number of small cattle (45.3 %) is kept in the southern zone, in the central and western zones – 27.6 and 26.6 %, respectively. For the central zone, which has the largest arable land and large areas of steppe, forest-steppe, foothill, mountain pastures, it is effective to develop dairy and beef cattle breeding, early maturing meat and wool, semi-coarse and fine-wool sheep breeding, wool goat breeding, and horse breeding. In the western zone, characterized by a more severe climate, about half of the pastures of the republic are located, which creates conditions for breeding dairy and beef cattle, semi-coarse and coarse-wooled sheep, woolly goats, horses, yaks in some areas of the zone. The southern zone of dry steppes is optimal for breeding beef cattle, coarse-wooled and semi-coarse-wooled sheep, goats, both woolly and coarse-haired horses. The main branch of animal husbandry in the eastern mountain-taiga zone is reindeer breeding.