Director
Dear Viewers,
I am happy to welcome you to the official website of ICAR-Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Avikanagar. CSWRI, an ISO 9001:2015 certified Institute, is one of the leading Institute of Animal Science under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. It is engaged in conducting basic and applied research in the areas of sheep breeding, nutrition, physiology, reproduction, health, biotechnology, utilization of different sheep products, providing training and transfer of technologies to the beneficiaries for last more than half a century. The Institute headquarter is located at Avikanagar near Malpura, Distt. Tonk, Rajasthan; it has three regional stations, namely, Arid Region Campus (ARC), Bikaner, Rajasthan; Northern Temperate Research Station (NTRS), Garsa, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh and Southern Regional Research Centre (SRRC), Mannavanur, Tamil Nadu.
Sheep is a multi-utility animal playing major role in the rural economy in uplifting the socio-economic status of the resource-poor small and marginal farmers of the country. It serves as an urgent source of meat and money, thus acting like an ATM to them. As per 19th livestock census (2012), sheep population of the country is 65.06 million which is declined by 9.07% over 2007 census, mainly due to increase in slaughter rate to fulfil the growing demand for meat. Sheep are widely distributed all over the country with Andhra Pradesh (40.57%), Karnataka (14.73%) and Rajasthan (13.95%) occupying the 1st three spots, respectively. India is home to 42 well defined registered breeds of indigenous sheep, distributed in four agro-climatic zones. Sheep farming needs less initial investment, suitable for a low input system and adapted to adverse climatic conditions which make it an important tool of poverty alleviation. As per the estimated figures of 2015-16, sheep produced 485.53 million kg meat and 43.6 million kg wool.
During its long journey since 1962, CSWRI has stamped its presence through various highly acclaimed research achievements in different fields under its mandate. It has a long history in development, improvement and conservation of important sheep, goat and rabbit breeds. The journey started with the objective of developing new breeds of sheep with higher wool and mutton production through crossbreeding of indigenous sheep breeds with various exotic breeds. So far, it has successfully evolved different crossbred sheep, namely, Avikalin (1977) for carpet wool, Avivastra (1977) for fine wool, Avimaans (1983) for mutton, Bharat Merino (1986) for fine wool, Awassi x Malpura cross (1995) for mutton with increased milk production in crossbred ewes, Indian Karakul for pelt, Gaddi synthetic for fine wool and very recently, Avishaan, a prolific cross of three indigenous breeds for more lambs per lambing, more live weight, more milk production and high survivability in semi-arid condition. Initial research achievements show that Avishaan has a very promising future in easily fulfilling the target of doubling the income of the farmers. CSWRI is annually supplying more than 1000 genetically improved sheep and goat germplasm of different breeds to the farmers, State Govt. agencies, Universities, KVKs, NGO etc. for breed improvement purpose. Other important technologies/products developed by the Institute are: Intensive lamb rearing for maximizing mutton production, complete feed block for scarcity feeding, ‘Avikaminmix’ (area specific mineral mixture), ‘Memnaprash’ (milk supplement for new born lambs), designer meat production, herbal supplements against GI nematodes, embryo transfer technology, ‘Avikesil-S’ (cost-effective intra-vaginal sponges for oestrus induction and synchronization), Artificial insemination (AI) in sheep with liquid semen, planned flock health calendar for sheep flocks in semi-arid Rajasthan, cost effective worm management technology for sheep in Rajasthan, Targeted selective treatment (TST) approach for management of haemonchosis in sheep, disease data information system for organized sheep and goat farms, FROGIN, a software for forecasting gastrointestinal nematodiasis in sheep of Rajasthan, development of an ELISA for diagnosis of paratuberculosis (Johne’s Disease), wool hair blended woollen products, dying technology using natural dyes for wool and specialty fibres, PCR-based detection of purity of Pashmina fibres from textile materials, value added mutton and milk products, PCR based detection of adulteration of meat of different species, broiler and angora rabbit production practices and ‘Avikhad’ organic manure for utilization of wool waste in agriculture. The Institute is regularly conducting training programmes for skill development of beneficiaries including women farmers/artisans. Today, through Mera Gaon Mera Gourav, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna, Farmers First and other programmes, the Institute has its presence at the doorstep of the farmers, covering around 58 villages and more than 45000 sheep. CSWRI is also running two project coordination units for Network Project on Sheep Improvement (NWPSI) and Mega Sheep Seed Project (MSSP). Presently, it is undertaking research in 19 institute and 18 externally funded projects on different aspects of sheep, goat and rabbit improvement and production. The Institute has developed linkages with various agencies like DBT, DST, CWDB, State Agriculture/Veterinary Universities, KVKs, other ICAR Institutes etc. for strengthening collaborations in academic and research.
Attempts have been made to put here all relevant information with regard to different activities and achievements of the Institute. I hope that this will be of use to all concerned with sheep and wool production and improvement. I request your valuable feedback and suggestions to improve this website further.
(Dr. Arun Kumar Tomar)
