Vol. 7, Issue 7 (2018)

Author(s):
Vandana Yadav, Narendra Pratap Singh, Rahul Sharma, Anuradha Gupta, Amit baranwal, Sheikh Firdous Ahmad and Varinder Raina

Abstract:
Crossbreeding is the mating of animals from different established breeds (Falconer and Mackay, 1996). It is mostly used to combine the desired trait of the parents in the offspring. It is effective because of heterosis or hybrid vigor- NAGA and Breed Complementarity- AGA. It is an effective means to utilize the non- additive genetic variance. Crossbreeding system works by increasing the frequency of heterozygotes at the expense of homozygotes. It is opposite to the phenomena of inbreeding depression. There are different methods of crossbreeding used in different species. Crossbreeding can be broadly classified into two types viz. regular and composite. Regular system of crossbreeding includes specific (two breed, three breed, four breed, terminal) and rotational. Crossbreeding is used as a tool to improve the milk production in case of cattle and for wool and meat in sheep has been in practice for long period. Crossbreeding of zebu cows with exotic dairy bulls has increased the genetic potential of milk yield in non-descript zebu crossbred cows.