E-Paper
Ludhiana | Interface meet held on state’s animal genetic resources
The theme of the meet, held in Ludhiana, was “Characterization and documentation of animal genetic resources of Punjab: A Mission towards Zero Non-Descript Populations”
ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBAGR), Karnal for Punjab state organised an interface meet under mission towards zero nondescript AnGR of India virtually.
The theme of the meet was “Characterization and documentation of animal genetic resources of Punjab: A Mission towards Zero Non-Descript Populations”.
The meeting was presided by Guru Angad Dev Veterinary And Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) vice chancellor Dr Inderjeet Singh, who said the state contributes 6.7% of total milk produced from less than 2% of total cattle and buffalo population of the country.
He revealed that the productivity of all the dairy animals i.e. exotic cattle, crossbred cattle, indigenous cattle breeds, nondescript cattle, indigenous buffalo breeds, nondescript buffaloes and goat wass 16.73kg, 13.17kg, 7.96kg, 5.87kg, 9.70kg and1.57kg, respectively, the highest among all the states. It, according to him, reflected that the state is having superior germplasm of dairy animals.
Further, he said the per capita availability in the state is also highest at 1,221 gm/day against 406 gm/day at national level, adding that Punjab included gojri buffalo and kajli sheep as registered breeds.
Elaborating on breed-wise productivity, he said the holstein (crossbred cow) that produces milk comparable to HF cows of developed countries, before adding that the chitrangi sheep and PB1 & PB2 parental lines that were used to develop broiler strain IBL-80 by GADVASU need registration.
He also emphasised the need of redefining nili ravi buffaloes, saying it should not be confused with panchakalyani, which possess four white markings (on forehead, muzzle, extremities and tail) and walled eyes. The marks and walled eyes, he said, may not be present in the nili ravi buffaloes.
Dr. Simarjeet Kaur presented the status of AnGR of Punjab. Animal husbandry, Punjab officials provided details of the development programmes and policies for the AnGR of the state, while Dr. M.S Tantia, ICAR-NBAGR, said small ruminants and equine populations are to be explored before declaring the state zero nondescript livestock state.
