Vol. 6, Issue 10 (2017)

Author(s):
Sidharth Prasad Mishra, Chinmoy Mishra and Sidhant Sekhar Sahoo

Abstract:
Crossbreeding in India was started during colonial era by East India Company and European missionaries. Military Farms were the first to start systematic crossbreeding work in India. After independence, ICAR has launched several crossbreeding programmes in cattle, sheep and goats with the aim to meet out ever growing demand of livestock products. Every state has its own cross breeding policy which is agro climatic and breed specific. Crossbreeding of non-descript animals with exotic germplasm has although resulted in increase in production and reproduction potential, but, indiscriminate crossbreeding resulted in breed dilution of valuable indigenous livestock in their native breeding tract. Along with these, crossbreds are poor to adapt harsh climate, susceptible to tropical diseases and require constant input of good managemental conditions compared to our indigenous livestock genetic resources which are far superior in these aspects. So, even though crossbreeding had initial success but it is necessary to evaluate crossbred animals on large scale basis.