Lesser Known Germplasm Of Small Ruminants

Small ruminants seem to be the best choice of the livestock component to provide nutritional security of ever growing population and well-being of the society. Small ruminants are spread all over the world adapting well to varied geographical regions and have played significant role in the farmer's economy and maintaining livelihood security. Perhaps, both sheep and goats are preferred over other livestock species due to ease handling, early puberty, better reproduction rate, better body weight gain, early return and wide acceptability by consumers. There are 24 well defined goat and 40 sheep breeds spread across the country accounting for nearly one-third of its total population and the remaining two-third is lesser known, nondescript or unrecognized, but still they are well known for their production potential and adaptability. Nowadays, the small ruminants rearing as a means of livelihood is shifting to commercial enterprise and the poor foundation stock is observed to be one of the main hurdles in running a viable enterprise for longer period. At this juncture, the knowledge on the performance of few lesser known breeds will help the small ruminant keepers to have strong foundation stock while establishing the farms. The book contains 7 chapters covering introduction, the list of recognized as well as lesser known sheep and goat breeds and detailed information on lesser known goat breeds with references. The book has sizable information on a large number of lesser known breeds published in the literature for the use of all concerned in small ruminant rearing. The authors have contributed with their experience and it will be unmatched and useful resource material for students, researchers, academicians, policy makers and planners