Review on small ruminant conservation status and prospects in India
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Review on small ruminant conservation status and prospects in India Prajwalita Pathak 1 & Vivek Kumar Nayak 1 & Rebeka Sinha 1 & Bilal Ahmad Ganaie 2 Received: 28 May 2018 / Accepted: 9 June 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Small ruminants always play a major role in the agricultural economy of India. They provide livelihoods to numerous small and marginal farmers. The diversity of small ruminant population is enormous in the country which contributes to agrarian economy. However, the genetic variety is now at risk due to indiscriminate cross-breeding, and change is farmer’s preference towards highproducing breeds. The population statistics is showing a declining trend for the past several years. During time of climate change and outbreak of novel diseases, this genetic diversity is important as consumer preferences and climate is bound to change in future. So to ensure fitness and vitality in future populations of food-producing animals, and to keep genetic options open, access to greater diversity of genetic material will always be required. The native breeds of the country also possess several characteristics of disease tolerance, high fecundity and specific products which make them unique in their own aspect. Hence, conservation programmes should be adopted to maintain this large diversity of small ruminants. It may involve tradition practices followed by pastoralists or modern reproductive technologies like MOET. The government has taken several steps towards conservation and national institutes like NBAGR works for evaluation and conservation of native genetic diversity. However, better awareness among famers and improving of conservational approaches will go a long way in sustainable management of sheep and goat genetic resources. Keywords Conservation . Small ruminant . MOET . Genetic resources
Introduction India is a rich country with diverse source of ovine and caprine germplasm, and such huge and extensive number of breeds with extensive genetic variety is only found in very few countries of the world. As per 2012 livestock census, India possesses about 200 million small ruminants. Among the major states in India, Andhra Pradesh (undivided) and Rajasthan own the highest number of small ruminants (BAHS 2014). Small ruminants contribute greatly to the agrarian economy and play an important role in the livelihood of a large proportion of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers, especially in dry and arid areas where crop and dairy farming are not so economical. However, this “domestic animal
diversity” is now at risk, the reasons being intermixing of nearby breeds, introduction of exotic breeds and change in farming system. All these have resulted in decline of pure line population and dilution of genetic merit (Bhatia and Arora 2005). According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, about 30% of the world’s recognised 3882 livestock breeds are in danger of extinction, with breeds disappearing at the rate of one per week. This alarming situation poses a grave threat to the
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