The breeding structure for the small ruminant resources in India

The objective of the research was to assess the impact ofNe on the genetic architecture of the population in a simulated data with variableNe for general population under selection. Along with this, the estimate ofNe and its ratio to adult breeding population (NB) in the census data of small ruminants of India were also investigated. Results indicated that the average inbreeding (\( \overline{F_i} \)) decreases with increase inNe; similarly, increase in\( \overline{F_i} \) per generation was highest in population with lowestNe. Correlation of estimated breeding value (EBV) with true breeding value (TBV) was not much affected with effective population size. An effective number of chromosome segments (Me) in the populations under selection were significantly affected by magnitude ofNe, with linear positive relation betweenNe andMe. Results on livestock census data revealed that all the sheep and goat breeds have sufficiently largeNe based on derived and actual census data. The median for ratio of effective population size to adult census size in  sheep breeds was 0.120 and for goat breeds was 0.131. Karnah and Poonchi sheep shares the status of endangered breeds due to a smaller number of breeding female population and hence need attention for conservation. TheNe was large in sheep and goat due to less selection pressure as a result of low coverage of breed improvement programs, availability of large number of breeding males, and absence of artificial insemination (AI) in the ...
Source: Tropical Animal Health and Production - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research