Poultry breeding under public sector in India – Achievements and future perspectives: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Poultry sector in India is reaching new heights due to advances made in breeding, nutrition, health and management. Notably, poultry breeding has played a crucial role in the unprecedented growth and development of the sector through the selection of highly specialized sire and dam lines and subsequently, crossing them to produce varieties suited for commercial and backyard production. Government interventions and public sector institutions have been relentlessly working to make poultry farming remunerative in rural backyards. In this context, climate change, disease outbreaks, stagnant gains, welfare and ethical issues are the major challenges which call for immediate attention. Some possible interventions to address these issues include: incorporation of climate resilience and welfare traits in the selection indices for selection of birds, embarking on genome-based selection to exploit the genomic variability in the population for substantial gains, gene silencing and CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing approaches for improving productivity and boosting immune responses. Collection and analysis of real-time data using artificial intelligence and data analytics will also help in improving predictions for health and welfare traits in poultry. This review provides a detailed account of the achievements of public sector with regard to poultry breeding in the country and presents future perspectives for continued viability and sustainability of the sector.