I. Animal Husbandry
- It is the scientific agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.
- It deals with the care and breeding of livestock (buffaloes, cows, pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats, etc.), poultry farming, and fisheries.
- More than 70% of the world livestock population is in India and China. However, their contribution to world farm produce is only 25%, indicating low productivity per unit. New technologies should be applied to improve quality and productivity.
Management of Farms & Farm Animals
1. Dairy Farm Management (Dairying)
- It is the management of animals for increasing yield and quality of milk and its products.
- Milk yield depends on the quality of breeds in the farm.
- It is important to select good breeds having high yielding potential and resistance to diseases.
- Ways for the yield potential:
- Look after the cattle (housing well, give adequate water, and maintain disease-free).
- Feeding of cattle in a scientific manner – emphasis on the quality and quantity of fodder.
- Stringent cleanliness and hygiene of cattle and handlers while milking, storage, and transport of the milk.
- Nowadays, these processes have been mechanized, reducing the chance of direct contact of the produce with the handler.
- To ensure these stringent measures:
- Regular inspections to identify and rectify problems.
- Regular visits by a veterinary doctor.
2. Poultry Farm Management
- Poultry is the domesticated birds used for food or eggs (e.g., chicken, ducks, turkey, and geese).
- Components of poultry farm management:
- Selection of disease-free and suitable breeds.
- Proper and safe farm conditions.
- Proper feed and water.
- Hygiene and health care.
Animal Breeding
- A breed is a group of organisms related by descent and similar in general appearance, features, size, etc.
- Breeding is the modification of an organism’s genotype to make it more useful to humans (e.g., Jersey (improved cattle breed), Leghorn (improved chicken breed)).
- Animal breeding aims at increasing the yield of animals and improving the desirable qualities of the produce.
- Breeding is of two types: Inbreeding and Out-breeding.
a. Inbreeding
It is the mating of more closely related individuals within the same breed for 4-6 generations. The strategy is as follows:
- Identify and mate superior males and females of the same breed.
- Evaluate the progeny obtained and identify superior males and females among them for further mating.
- In cattle, a superior female produces more milk per lactation. A superior male (bull) gives rise to superior progeny.
Advantages of Inbreeding
- It increases homozygosity to evolve a pure line animal.
- It exposes harmful recessive genes that are eliminated by selection.
- It helps in the accumulation of superior genes and elimination of less desirable genes, increasing the productivity of the inbred population.
Continued inbreeding, especially close inbreeding, may reduce fertility and productivity, known as inbreeding depression. To solve this, selected animals should be mated with unrelated superior animals of the same breed.
b. Out-breeding
It is the breeding of unrelated animals, including out-crossing, cross-breeding, and interspecific hybridization.
i) Out-crossing
- It is the mating of animals within the same breed, but having no common ancestors on either side of their pedigree up to 4-6 generations.
- The offspring of such a mating is known as an out-cross.
- It is the best method for animals with low milk productivity or growth rate in beef cattle.
- It helps to overcome inbreeding depression.
ii) Cross-breeding
- It is the mating of superior males of one breed with superior females of another breed.
- The desirable qualities of two different breeds are combined.
- The progeny hybrid animals may be used for commercial production or subjected to inbreeding and selection to develop new stable superior breeds.
- Example: Hisardale (sheep) developed in Punjab by crossing Bikaneri ewes and Merino rams.
iii) Interspecific Hybridization
- It is the mating of males and females of two different species.
- In some cases, the progeny may combine desirable features of both parents and may be of considerable economic value (e.g., Mule from male ass × female horse).
Controlled Breeding Experiments
1. Artificial Insemination
- The semen collected from a male parent is injected into the reproductive tract of a selected female by the breeder.
- Semen is used immediately or frozen and used later. Frozen semen can also be transported.
- The success rate of crossing mature males and females is low, even with artificial insemination.
2. Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET)
- It is a programme for herd improvement, improving the chances of successful hybrid production.
- A cow is administered hormones such as FSH to induce follicular maturation and super ovulation (production of 6-8 eggs per cycle instead of one).
- The animal is either mated with an elite bull or artificially inseminated. Fertilized eggs at the 8–32 cell stage are recovered non-surgically and transferred to surrogate mothers.
- MOET has been demonstrated for cattle, sheep, rabbits, buffaloes, mares, etc.
- High milk-yielding breeds of females and high-quality (lean meat with less lipid) meat-yielding bulls have been bred successfully to increase herd size in a short time.
Bee-keeping (Apiculture)
- It is the maintenance of hives of honeybees to produce honey and beeswax.
- The most common species that can be reared is Apis indica.
- Honey is a food of high nutritive and medicinal value.
- Beeswax is used in the preparation of cosmetics, polishes, etc.
- Apiculture can be practiced in areas with bee pastures of wild shrubs, fruit orchards, and cultivated crops.
- Important points for successful bee-keeping:
- Knowledge of the nature and habits of bees.
- Selection of a suitable location for keeping beehives.
- Catching and hiving of swarms (groups of bees).
- Management of beehives during different seasons.
- Handling and collection of honey and beeswax.
- Bees are pollinators of crop species such as sunflower, Brassica, apple, and pear.
- Keeping beehives in crop fields during the flowering period increases pollination, improving crop and honey yield.
Fisheries
- Fishery is an industry of catching, processing, or selling fish, shellfish, or other aquatic animals (prawns, crabs, lobsters, edible oysters, etc.).
- Fish Types:
- Freshwater fishes: Catla, Rohu, common carp, etc.
- Marine fishes: Hilsa, sardines, mackerel, pomfrets, etc.
- Fisheries provide income and employment to millions of fishermen and farmers.
- Aquaculture (farming of aquatic organisms) and pisciculture (farming of fishes) are techniques to increase the production of aquatic plants and animals.
- Blue Revolution: The development and flourishing of the fishery industry.
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1. Animal Husbandry 2. Plant Breeding 3. Single Cell Proteins and Tissue Culture