Performance evaluation of Gurez sheep in farmer’s flocks—A threatened sheep breed of Kashmir

MUBASHIR ALI RATHER; SHOWKAT AHMAD AHANGER; A HAMADANI; M MAROOF SHAH; MOHMMAD ASHRAF BABA; MUSTAFA KHALEEL

doi:10.56093/ijans.v91i8.115925

Authors

MUBASHIR ALI RATHER Department of Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India
SHOWKAT AHMAD AHANGER Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, SKUAST-Kashmir
A HAMADANI Department of Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India
M MAROOF SHAH Department of Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India
MOHMMAD ASHRAF BABA Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, SKUAST-Kashmir
MUSTAFA KHALEEL Department of Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v91i8.115925

Keywords:

Growth, Gurez sheep, Morphology, Morphometery, Performance evaluation, Vegetation

Abstract

Gurez is an indigenous breed of sheep native to the Gurez Valley of J&K, India. Despite being a unique genetic resource, this breed is largely unexplored and meagre studies have been conducted on it. Hence, a comprehensive study was conducted to study the breed in its native breeding tract. Data on growth, wool, reproduction and morphometric traits of Gurez sheep maintained under farmers' flocks in its native tract were recorded and analyzed for performance evaluation as well as the farming practices in that area with regards to the breed. Screening for parasites and brucellosis, blood biochemistry and mineral profile were also conducted. This triple purpose breed produces milk, meat as well as apparel quality wool. The average values for wool traits were 76.12, 28.31, 4.42, 5.35 and 8.18 for clean wool yield (CWY) (%), fibre diameter (FD) (Î¼), staple length (SL) (cm), crimps per cm (NCPC) and medullation (%), respectively. The coefficient of variations % of these traits ranged from low to very high indicating that the traits had low to very high variability. The least squares mean for clean wool yield (%), fiber diameter (μ), staple length (cm), crimps per cm and medullation (%) were 77.07±0.33, 29.83±0.41, 4.80±0.17, 5.04±0.28 and 9.26±0.79, respectively. The sexual dimorphism was observed in favour of males with respect to all these traits. Age had non-significant effect on these traits in the present study. Black wool samples were having higher estimates of FD, CWY (%), SL and medullation (%). NCPC was higher for white wool samples. Conservation of this unique breed and its selective breeding is highly recommended. The incidence of Eimeria (37.50%) was found to be highest in the area.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amador E and Urban J. 1977. Simplified serum analysis by continuous flow UV-spectrophotometry. Clinical Chemistry 18(2): 60.

Anonymous. 2019. Government of India. 20th All India Livestock Census. Department of animal Husbandry, Dairy & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.

Arora A L, Arora LL and Mishra A. 2007. Performance evaluation of Jaislmeri sheep in farmers flocks. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 77(8): 759–62.

Baba M A, Ahanger S A, Hamadani A, Rather M A and Shah MM. Factors affecting wool characteristics of sheep reared in Kashmir. Tropical Animal Health and Production 10.1007/s11250-020-02238-1

Chessa S, Criscione A, Moretti R, Bordonaro S, Marletta D and Castiglioni B. 2013. Estimation of linkage disequilibrium in the Nero Sicilian Italian autochthonous breed using the illumina 60k snp array. Acta Agriculture Slovenica 4: 37–40.

Das A K, Chakraborty D, Kumar N, Gupta P., Khan N N and Bukhari S. 2014. Effects of non-genetic factors on performance traits of Kashmir Merino sheep. Indian Journal of Animal Research 48(2): 106–08. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/j.0976-0555.48.2.024

Dixit S P, Gaur G K, Yadav D K and Singh G. 2005. Characterization of the Rampur Bushair sheep in the north DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1014233900001863

temperate region of India, National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, Haryana, 47–52.

Ganai T A S, Misra S S and Sheikh F D. 2010. Gureza threatened sheep breed of Kashmir. Indian Journal of Animal

Sciences 80(8): 806–08.

Gorkhali N A, Han J L and Ma Y H. 2015. Mitochondrial DNA variation in indigenous sheep (Ovis aries) breeds of DOI: https://doi.org/10.4038/tar.v26i4.8125

Nepal. Tropical Agricultural Research 26(4): 632–41.

Kaser M and Stekol J A. 1979. Role of Vitamin A on urolith formation in Calves. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical

Medicine 28: 904

Khan A A, Dar A A, Khan H M, Mir M S, Malik A A and Afzal Y. 2013. Status of livestock production in Gurez valley of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Indian Journal of Hill Farming 26(2): 54–58.

Kour G, Singh A, Kumar P and Kumar D. 2018. An overview of diversified animal genetic resources in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 7(10): 3113–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.710.361

Porwal K, Karim S A, Sisodia S L and Singh V K. 2006. Socioeconomic survey of sheep farmers in western Rajasthan. Indian Journal of Small Ruminants 12: 74–81.

Rather M A, Shanaz S, Ganai N A, Bukhari S, Hamadani A, Khan N N, Yousu S, Baba A, Raja T A and Khan H M. 2019. Genetic evaluation of wool traits of Kashmir Merino sheep in organized farms. Small Ruminant Research 177: 14–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2019.06.003

Rather M A, Magray S, Ahanger S A, Baba M A, Shah M M, Rather TA, Farooq Y and Abbas Q. 2019b. Effect of some

non-genetic factors and fec-b gene introgression on performance traits of Kashmir Merino Sheep. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 8(8): 444–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.808.050

Rather M A, Shanaz S, Ganai N A, Baba M A, Hamadani A, Ahmad M S and Ahmad T. 2019b. Genetic, phenotypic and

environmental trends for production and reproduction traits in Kashmir Merino Sheep. International Journal of Livestock Research 9(12), https://doi.org/10.5455/ijlr.20190510100655 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5455/ijlr.20190510100655

Snedecor G W and Cochran W G. 1994. Statistical Methods. 8th edition. Iowa State University Press, Ames, USA.

Taggar R K, Chakraborty D, Kumar D, Vohra V and Tantia M S. 2018. Wool characteristics of poonchi sheep. International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies 5(2): 133–35.

Tailor S P, Dangi P C, Yadav C M, Meena R K and Kunkar N K. 2005. Socio-economic status of shepherd in Sonadi breeding tract. Indian Journal of Small Ruminants 11: 198–204.

Wani S A, Ghani M Y, Shaheen F A, Mattoo F A, Baba S H and Gul Z. 2012. Livelihood facets in Gurez Valley: Status, issues and strategies. Kashmir and Ladakh Watch Centre. Division of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir.

Yadav D K, Arora R and Jain A. 2017. Classification and conservation priority of five Deccani sheep ecotypes of DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184691

Maharashtra, ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal (Haryana), India