Sheep and Goat Breeds

India's vast genetic resources in sheep and goats are reflected by the availability of 40 breeds of sheep and 20 breeds of goats. In the strict sense, there are no specific breeds, since the majority of them do not have specified defined characters. Neither are there breeding societies or agencies to register animals of particular breeds, maintain flock books and ensure the purity of the breed. A population of sheep or goats in a given locality, with characters distinct from other populations in the vicinity and with a distinct local name, has usually been considered as a breed. There has been little effort to conserve and further improve the native breeds. At a few Central and State Government farms, some important breeds of sheep and goats are maintained for purebreeding and producing stud rams for distribution to the farmers.

Most of the breeds of sheep and goats in India have evolved naturally through adaptation to agro-ecological conditions; to a limited extent there has been artificial selection for specific needs. These breeds have generally been named after their place of origin or on the basis of prominent characteristics. A few breeds, e.g. Hissardale, Kashmir Merino and Nilgiri, are cross-breds involving native and exotic fine/dual/mutton breeds. The numbers and distribution of Hissardale and Nilgiri are very limited, whereas the Kashmir Merino, though large in numbers, has no definite level of exotic finewool inheritance and has involved almost all the native breeds of Jammu & Kashmir.

Most of the breeds of sheep and goats are very well adapted to the harsh climate, long migration, and lack of vegetation and drinking water. A large proportion of sheep and goats (more particularly the latter) are of nondescript or mixed breeds.

Among the Indian sheep breeds, the most important in number and distribution are Marwari and Deccani. The Marwari covers the greater part of the arid northwestern region, in both Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is highly migratory, following a transhumant system of management, and has made the greatest impact on other breeds, especially those with very coarse and hairy fleeces, Malpura and Sonadi. The Sonadi covers most of the central part of the southern peninsula, being distributed in the States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

There has been a very great amount of inter-mixture among indigenous breeds. Crossing with exotic breeds has also been undertaken in order to upgrade the local breeds and to develop new ones, but no serious consideration has been given to genetic improvement. The current breeding policy for improving wool production for clothing and carpets and increasing mutton production in sheep is to cross the better carpet-wool breeds and extremely coarse and hairy breeds with exotic superior fine-wool and dualpurpose breeds. For improving carpet-wool production in some northwestern carpet-wool breeds and meat production in some south Indian non-woolly mutton breeds, however, selection within breeds is being recommended. In goats, the breeding policy is to upgrade inferior breeds with superior breeds, especially Jamnapari and Beetal.