J&K Govt to procure prolific sheep breed ‘Romanov’ to increase mutton productivity

STATE TIMES NEWS

Reasi: Jammu and Kashmir government is all set to import Romanov, a prolific sheep breed, under the holistic agriculture development programme to increase wool and mutton productivity in the union territory.
To boost production and reduce import of mutton, the Jammu and Kashmir government has approved a Rs 329-crore project for the next five years to achieve self-reliance in the mutton sector.
Earlier, J&K’s sheep husbandry department imported two premier breeds, Rambouillet of France and Dorper of South Africa, to give a fillip to the sheep breeding productivity and decrease imports.
“We are importing the elite breed of sheep in the world. It is the Romanov breed. This is the best breed in the world for wool and mutton. We are introducing it here”, Additional chief secretary Atal Dulloo told PTI here.
He said that the Romanov breed grows to 70 kg in a year. “It will give a fillip to the income of the sheep breeders. This is part of the holistic agriculture development plan. We will import the breed soon. and will give a fillip to the sheep breeding here”, he said.
Romanov is a breed of imperial sheep originating from the Upper Volga region in Russia. These domestic sheep got the name Romanov from the town of the same name. In the 18th century, these sheep were first noticed outside of Russia. Soon after, they were imported to Germany and then to France.
The authorities are preparing the Reasi-based centre, the oldest breeding farm of Jammu and Kashmir for housing Romanov breed. “We are developing this farm under a holistic development plan. We have decided to introduce the Romanov breed. We are preparing for that”, Director Sheep husbandry department Jammu, Krishen Lal told PTI.
This Reasi farm was the private farm of the King of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh. “It was set up in 1937. It is the oldest farm in Jammu and Kashmir. It was later taken over by the government in 1949”, Deputy Director Reasi Dr R K Mahas said. This Rambouillet breeding centre houses nearly 2500 livestock of the Roumilet breed, which is the elite breed of France. “These are provided in every district to breeders free of cost. The aim is to increase the population of this foreign breed in bid to decrease the import of mutton”, Dr Manhas said.
Another Breeding centre at Panthal in Reasi district houses South-African breed Dorper and French breed Rambouillet.
“We provide the sheep breed to the farmers to increase the population. It is a lone farm which has the Dorper breed. The Dorper witnesses growth of 30 kg in six months. We are introducing this breed to other areas in Jammu and Kashmir”, Assistant Director Sheep Breeding farm Panthal, Dr Deepak Kitchloo said.
“In view of huge mutton usage in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Kashmiri cuisine and in order to reduce meat import, the government has approved an ambitious Rs 329 crore project for the next five years to achieve self-reliance in the mutton sector”, Dulloo said. Despite the region’s competitive advantage and potential to become self-reliant in the mutton sector, there is a shortfall of 41 per cent leading to an import bill of Rs 1,400 crore every year, officials said.
One of the major interventions planned is the import of prolific breeds, which will lead to establishment of 72 breed-based farms to provide high genetic merit to animals. The project aims to conduct 1,00,000 artificial inseminations annually and establish 400 new commercial farms every year.
The project also focuses on clusterization, creation of mandis, abattoirs and common facility centres (CFCs), to support marketing and value addition of the sector, Dulloo said. The existing mutton production is not only of insufficient quantity but also lacks quality and is not FSSAI compliant, putting consumers at risk.
The majority of the livestock population is held by Bakerwals who follow traditional methods of farming, resulting in low productivity and profits.
The expected output from the project includes import of 2700 high genetic merit and elite sheep and goats, increased lambing percentage from 80 to 120 and considerable reduction in marketable age for sheep and goats (40-50 kg in 6 months), they officials said.