With the growing demand for meat consumption in Odisha, the State Government is chalking out plans to improve production of sheep meat. And the Kendrapada sheep are seen gaining more acceptance among consumers. looking at the demand of mutton (sheep meat) in the country and the potentiality of the Kendrapada sheep in terms of body weight, meat quality and multiple births, it is well-anticipated that Kendrapada sheep would be the choice for future sheep breeding programmes in the country.
Kendrapada sheep, usually called ‘Deshi’, is a medium stature compact meat type docile animal with very coarse and little curled hair as body coat. The predominant coat colour of these animals is deep brown but ranges from white to black. But a majority of the animals are between light brown to dark brown having almost no horns. The Kendrapada sheep are native to the districts of Kendrapada, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Jajpur. The Department of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (DoFARD) has decided to help the small and marginal sheep farmers in an organised manner.
DoFARD Secretary Bishnupada Sethi has held discussions with experts and departmental officials to design strategic plans for conservation and improvement of this unique sheep, Germplasm breed, and take step to register the Kendrapada animals as a nationally-recognised breed of sheep. Sethi has taken up the matter with the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Union Government.
These domestic animal breeds commonly possess valuable traits such as adaptation to harsh environmental conditions, tolerance of parasitic and infectious diseases, drought and poor quality feed and are best suited to the corresponding farming system. The breeds are developed through evolution and selection process.
A 12-month study by the Odisha livestock Development Society and the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology on the Kendrapada sheep has revealed that these animals possess a very important economic trait of giving multiple births, in more numbers than any counterpart in the whole world. There are around 1.23 lakh heads of this sheep, reared by mostly resource poor farmers in the native tract.
The Kendrapada sheep have been identified as the second sheep breed in India and the sixth in the world which carries FecB mutation (gene), which is responsible for prolificacy (multiple births, twins and triplets). More than 80 per cent of multiple births with 71 per cent twinning, 9 per cent triplets and 1 per cent quadruplets were recorded in the study.
The ewe (female) of this sheep comes to heat in eight to 10 months and drops its first lamb at around 15 months of age. The average lambing interval in these sheep is eight months with a gestation (pregnancy) period of 150 days. The average body weight of the sheep is 18 kg at one year of age and 28 kg at adult stage without any supplementation of feed (that is with only grazing).