Crossbreeding of Rambouillet and native sheep for mutton and wool production in Pakistan

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/04/2020
Views (292) Download (16)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Crossbreeding of Rambouillet and native sheep for mutton and wool production in Pakistan

Faisal Ashfaq, Muhammad Fatah Ullah Khan, Muhammad Iqbal Anjum, Munib Hussain, Mubarik Ali, Javed Iqbal
Int. J. Biosci.16( 4), 424-427, April 2020.
Certificate: IJB 2020 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

Pakistan has about 28 sheep breeds with a total population of 30.9 million heads found in the country. Sheep are kept primarily for mutton production but wool and skin are secondary products. Wool, which is produced in the country, is of coarse type and it is used for carpet and carpet by-products. To upgrade the local sheep in Swat valley, Rambouillet sheep were imported from USA. Out of which, Pure Rambouillet rams were distributed among the sheep farmers in Swat valley. As a result of crossbreeding, about 90% of the sheep population became crossbred. To see the impact of crossbreeding under field conditions, the basic performance data of production traits were collected and analyzed statistically. The mature body weight of sheep were increased significantly (p<0.01) from 26.32+ 0.62kg to 31.52+ 0.27kg. The fertility rate difference between the two groups was not significant (80% Vs 85%). The lamb survival rate was significantly higher 93% in crossbreed whereas it was 84% in local sheep. Wool production and quality was significantly improved about 116%. The significant (p<0.01) difference was observed in wool production which increased from 0.8 kg to 1.8kg per annum in local vs. crossbred. The quality of wool was improved from 30.32µ to 23.10µ in local and crossbred sheep, respectively.

VIEWS 12

Ahmad S, Jalil A, Ihsanullah, Pervaiz U, Khan H, Rahman AU. 2009. Morphological characterization of Kutta-The native sheep breed from Northern Pakistan. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 25(2), 279-284.

Economic Survey. 2018-2019. Finance Division, Economic Advisor’s Wing, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.

Getachew T, Haile A, Wurzinger M, Rischkowsky B, Gizaw S, Abebe A, Sölkner J. 2016. Review of sheep crossbreeding based on exotic sires and among indigenous breeds in the tropics: An Ethiopian perspective. African Journal of Agricultural Research 11(11), 901-911.

Khan MF, Ahmad W, Khan MA. 1996. Study of some important characteristics of wool from certain well known sheep breeds in Pakistan. In Proceedings: small ruminants research and development in Bangladesh Editorial: Ahmad W, Nawaz M and Aziz T, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Khan MF. 2016. Wool value chain development in Pakistan, Balochistan Agricultural Project (BAP), Balochistan Agribusiness Project (AUSABBA).

Khan NN, Kumar N, Das AK, Chakraborty D, Taggar RK, Gupta P. 2015. Genetic studies on wool production traits in Rambouillet crossbred sheep in J & K State, India. Indian Journal of Animal Research 49(1), 40-43.

Steel RGD, Torrie JH. 1980. Principles and procedures of statistics. A biometrical approach, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, USA.