Meeting on Development Roadmap on Genomic Selection in Cattle and Buffaloes

The role of domestic animals has always been important in the farming community. In rural India, almost every house has cattle or Buffaloes. Hence there is a need for registration of these animals and specify its type and breed. Genomic Selection here plays the lead role in concentrating the breeds and their selection through the genomes.  

In view of this, a two-day consultative meeting on “Development of Roadmap on Genomic Selection in Cattle and Buffaloes and Modalities for National Genetic Evaluation System (NGES)” (18th - 19th January, 2019) organized by  ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar & Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi was recently inaugurated. This meeting was a follow up of the brainstorming workshop conducted by Indian Society of Animal Genetics & Breeding (ISAGB) and ICAR-IVRI on 17th Sept 2018 on a contemporary topic “Genomic Selection and its implementation in India: The Way Forward” at ICAR-IVRI.  

Dr. R K Singh, Director, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar emphasized the importance of the meeting in national context and expressed that the road map to be developed should be convincing and with a well-defined timeline and targeting all the stakeholders. He also mentioned that assisted reproductive tools also need to be integrated into the system. 

Dr. R K Vijh, Nodal Officer, NBC presented the progress of indigenous Chip Development and Implementation modalities on Genomic selection in indigenous cattle and buffaloes. 

Dr. B P Mishra, Joint Director (Research), ICAR-IVRI and convener of consultative meeting presented the need and importance of a National Genetic Evaluation System for the genetic improvement of cattle and buffalo of the country. He further deliberated on the strength and limitations of present genetic improvement programmes and the need for integrating efforts under a single umbrella. 

Dr. Vineet Bhasin, Principal Scientist of ASD, ICAR emphasized on the development of well defined SOPs for integration of AICRP/Network data of ICAR with other agencies under NGES system for uniform recording and evaluation. 

The participants divided into three groups prepared a roadmap on the targeted subject. The representatives from various organizations viz, ICAR institutes- IVRI, NBAGR, NDRI, CIRC, IASRI, and CIRB; BAIF, NIAB, DBT, and DAHDF are participating in this two-day deliberations.