New Breeds of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR)

Context: In the last one year, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has registered 10 new breeds of livestock species, including cattle, buffalo, goat and pig. This has taken the total number of indigenous breeds to 212 as of January 4, 2023.

About ICAR-NBAGR:

• The ‘National Bureau of Plant Introduction’ was renamed as ‘National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources’ (NBPGR) in January 1977.
• It is one of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes.
  • ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
• It is a nodal organisation in India for management of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR).
• It has played a pivotal role in the improvement of various crop plants and diversification and development of agriculture in India through germplasm introduction from various institutes/organizations located in foreign countries and germplasm collection from within the country and abroad and conservation thereof.
• Germplasm is a live information source for all the genes present in the respective plant, which can be conserved for long periods and regenerated whenever it is required in the future.
• The NBPGR has linkage with National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS) for the management of active germplasm of field and horticultural crops.
• NAGS are located at NBPGR regional stations, other crop-based ICAR institutes or State Agricultural Universities.
• It is headquartered in Karnal, Haryana.

Registration of new breeds:

• ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal (NBAGR) is the nodal agency for the registration of breeds of the country.
• Total number of indigenous breeds is 212 as of January 2023.
• The identification and registration of indigenous breeds started only after 2010.
  • Those breeds which are not registered or identified are called ‘non-descript’.
• Since 2010, this is the third highest increase in registration of indigenous breeds, after 15 in 2018-19 and 13 in 2019-20 were recorded.
• In 2010, there were only 129 indigenous breeds registered, called ‘extant breeds.’

Newly registered breeds:

Cattle breeds:

• Kathani: It is dual-purpose cattle, is also distributed in the region. It possesses good draft ability and is suited to marshy land for paddy cultivation.
• Masilum: It is a small-sized but well-built and sturdy cattle of Meghalaya.
  • It is reared by the Khasi and Jaintia communities for sports, manure and socio-cultural festivals.
• Sanchori: It is found in the Jalore district of Rajasthan.

Pig breeds:

• Manipuri Black: It is native to Manipur.
• Banda: It belongs to Jharkhand.
• Wak Chambil: It is from Garo hills of Meghalaya.

Buffalo breed:

• Purnathadi buffalo: It is found in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Goat breeds:

• Sojat, Karauli, Gujari – All three new breeds belong to different regions of Rajasthan.

Source: DownToEarth