ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, India.
Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra, India.
J Anim Breed Genet. 2019 Sep;136(5):329-338. doi: 10.1111/jbg.12391. Epub 2019 Mar 15.
Animal breeding in India has a long and chequered history. High pressure on agricultural land and increasing human population opened a new opportunity for the livestock and poultry sector as a promising food industry. Productivity of livestock in India is low due to less coverage of livestock under structured breeding programmes, inadequate nutrition and its entanglement with several socio-economic issues. A bottom-up approach to breeding policy formulation addressing local needs is required with assured flow of investments. Cattle slaughter is banned in India; hence, a legal policy to curb widespread indiscriminate mating is required which may incur substantial financial and infrastructural burdens for castration of stray males and strengthening of cow rehabilitation centres. Genetic evaluation of indigenous cattle with progeny testing (PT) requires substantial financial support, without affecting the already existing PT for exotic cattle breeds used in the local cross-breeding programmes and PT of new genotypes obtained from crosses of exotic and local breeds of cattle and for purebred buffaloes. Small ruminants need special attention due to their socio-economic importance in rural and often highly disadvantaged communities and because they are the second most important meat-producing species after poultry. Genetic improvement of small ruminants should be accompanied by attention to shrinking grazing resources which would require strong political will together with financial support. The outreach of breeding programmes for small ruminants is currently limited; there is also a lack of linkage between the market and producers that discourages farmers from adopting clear breeding objectives like improvement in growth rate, as animals are seldom sold on weight basis. Apart from government agencies, involvement of private sector, non-government organizations, local co-operatives, self-help groups and self-sustainable community-based breeding programmes can strengthen market linkages. Strengthening of the existing infrastructure along with technical input and skilled manpower is essential for achieving the breeding objectives.
印度的动物养殖有着悠久而曲折的历史。农业用地的高压和人口的增长为畜牧业和家禽业提供了一个新的机会，使其成为一个有前途的食品产业。由于缺乏对牲畜的结构化繁殖计划覆盖、营养不足以及与几个社会经济问题的纠缠，印度的牲畜生产力较低。需要制定自下而上的养殖政策，以满足当地的需求，并确保投资的稳定流动。印度禁止屠宰牛，因此需要制定一项法律政策来遏制广泛的滥交行为，这可能会给去势流浪雄性动物和加强奶牛康复中心带来巨大的财政和基础设施负担。对具有后裔测试 (PT) 的本土牛进行遗传评估需要大量的财政支持，而不会影响已经存在的用于当地杂交计划的外来牛品种的 PT 以及从外来和本地牛品种杂交获得的新基因型的 PT 和纯种水牛的 PT。由于小型反刍动物在农村和经常处于高度劣势的社区中的社会经济重要性，以及它们是仅次于家禽的第二大重要肉类生产物种，因此需要特别关注它们。小型反刍动物的遗传改良应伴随着对不断缩小的放牧资源的关注，这将需要强大的政治意愿和财政支持。目前，小型反刍动物繁殖计划的推广范围有限；市场和生产者之间也缺乏联系，这阻碍了农民采用明确的繁殖目标，例如提高生长速度，因为动物很少按重量出售。除了政府机构外，私营部门、非政府组织、地方合作社、自助团体和自我可持续的社区繁殖计划的参与可以加强市场联系。加强现有的基础设施，同时提供技术投入和熟练劳动力，对于实现繁殖目标至关重要。
