It is widely accepted that the use of family information, as occurs in BLUP, increases the
probability of co-selection of close relatives, which in turn leads to increased inbreeding. Various methods are used to reduce inbreeding while maintaining high rates of genetic gain. All these methods are based on the same principle … reducing the average relationship between the individuals selected. Computer programmes have been developed to optimize selection decisions for a given list of candidates for which decisions for a given list of candidates for which