In continuation to the series of State specific Interface meet, the 10th Interface meet for Madhya Pradesh, under “Mission towards zero non-descript AnGR of India” was organized virtually on 3rd March, 2022. The theme of the meet was “Characterization and Documentation of Animal Genetic Resources of Madhya Pradesh: A Mission Towards Zero Non-Descript Populations”. About 127 participants of ICAR, Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (NDVASU) Animal Husbandry & Dairying Department-MP (AHDD), MP State Livestock & Poultry Dev. Corp. (MPSLPDC), MP State Biodiversity Board, NGOs etc. attended the Meet.
In his welcome address, Dr BP Mishra, Director, ICAR-NBAGR described the priorities of NBAGR for the management of native AnGR in the country. He further outlined the strategies of the National Mission towards Zero Non-descript AnGR in the country.
Dr V K Saxena, ADG (AP&B), ICAR in his message stressed upon completing the breed inventory, for which he urged for collaboration of all agencies and stakeholders. Dr R K Mehiya, Director, AHDD extended full support of the Department in fulfilling the task of documenting native AnGR in the state. Dr HBS Bhadoria, MD, MPSLPDC stressed upon the requirement of breed multiplication by the agencies after the registration of new breed. He also informed about the programs being implemented regarding the improvement of native breeds by the corporation.
During the meet, Dr S S Tomar, Dean, CVSc, NDVASU presented the status of native AnGR of the state. Dr P K Pathak, Addl. Director, AHDD presented the activities of the department for improvement of native animals. Dr SK Niranjan, Principal Scientist, NBAGR presented the strategies for documentation of native AnGR of Madhya Pradesh. A panel of experts of ICAR, NDVASU and NGOs deliberated the strategies for documentation of non-descript AnGR and improvement of native breeds in MP. It was suggested to target the populations from tribal and forest areas; along with geographical region wise AnGR mapping needed to be adopted. It was felt to characterize unique traits related to adaptation towards climate change along with valuation of native breeds. Experts also suggested to formulate the strategy for improving the production of native cattle breeds-Malvi and Nimari to make them economically viable. More efforts would be required for producing elite bulls of local cattle breeds and wider coverage of AI.