Involved researchers : Pauline Martin & Didier Boichard (UMR GABI), Luc Delaby (UMR Pégase)

Natural resources and environmental preservation are issues to which the Effialim project is attempting to respond; using fewer and better resources for milk production, reducing discharges to the environment through better use of the ration and limiting the use of resources that compete with human food are, among other things, the main challenges of this study.

Effialim illustration
© INRAE / A. Bachelet

Effialim, which is part of the ANR DEFFILAIT project, therefore aims to determine the genetic relationship between milk production, mobilisation of body reserves and feed efficiency in Holstein dairy cows, without altering the health or well-being of the animals. The project started in 2017 and will be extended if necessary according to the results obtained, with modifications of the protocol, if needed, for the following years.

But what is it in practice ?

Effialim 1
© INRAE / A. Bachelet
Effialim 2
© INRAE / A. Bachelet