Pig farming in India – Status and Genetic Improvement Programmes

Pig farming in India – Status and Genetic Improvement Programmes

M.Nithya Quintoil and A.Varun

Assistant Professor, RIVER, Pondicherry -09

Introduction

In India, there are many livestock farming sectors, among these pig farming is considered to be a lucrative sector that provides avenues of swift economic progress for new entrepreneurs and socio-economically weaker section, due to high fecundity rate, better-feed conversion efficiency, early maturity, short generation interval and minimal investment of housing and equipment. Apart from being reared through free range management, pig farming has also boomed as a semi-commercial industry with intensive farming methods.

Pig population

Pig population has been recorded as 784.20 million, globally (2022). India has a total of 9.06 million pigs as per the 20^th Livestock Census data. Between the 10^th (1966) and 11^th (1972) Livestock Census, the pig population increased enormously as a result of various breeding schemes that created awareness about the benefits of piggery farming. Later, from the year 2003, a decreasing trend in pig population has been observed. However, in major pig producing states of India (Assam, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Bihar, Karnataka and Mizoram) the pig population as per 20^th Livestock Census had increased from that of the previous livestock census.

Indigenous pigs

About 79.03% of the pig population is contributed by indigenous and non-descript pigs in India. A total of 10 indigenous pigs in India have been recognized by National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources which include Agonda Goan, Doom, Ghoongroo, Gurrah, Mali, Niang Megha, Nicobari, Purnea, Tenyi-Vo and Zovawk. These pig breeds are reared locally by farmers without employing genetic selection and breeding methods which are distributed across the country. They are smaller in size and well adapted to the extreme weather conditions of our country. They mature at an early age and possess good mothering ability, whereby piglet mortality is minimized and survivability is maximised. Most importantly, they possess enhanced disease resistance, which is a significant entity in livestock farming.

Though enhanced disease resistance in these breeds are observed, the production performances are very low when compared to exotic breeds. Hence, Exotic breeds have been imported to upscale the production performance through different Government and non-Government organizations as per recommendation of National Commission on Agriculture (NCA). The highest pig population is found in eastern and north eastern states (72.21%), followed by northern southern (10.68%), central (7.64%), northern (6.79%) and western India (2.69%). The highest population is in the state of Assam (2.10 million), followed by Jharkhand (1.28 million), Meghalaya (0.70 million) and West Bengal (0.54 million). Indigenous pigs (79.03%) are the cornerstone for pork production in the country followed by crossbred and exotic germplasm (20.95%). Though there is a decline of pig population (12.03%) over the last census, but the major pig producing states showed an increase in population. These states include Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Island and Punjab.

Advantages of pig farming

• High prolificacy / fecundity – 8-12 piglets/farrowing and two farrowings/year
• Efficient feed converter / pigs have better feed conversion ratio next to broilers
• Pigs usually attains sexual maturity at an early age of 8-9 months
• Suitable for all farming condition
• Shorter generation interval
• Less capital investment
• Quick Return – market weight of 70-80 kg in 8-9 months of age
• Efficient user of unconventional feedstuffs – Converts damaged feeds which are either not edible or not very palatable to human beings into valuable nutritious meat
• Best suited for integrated farming system viz., Pig – Horti – Agri – Pasture – Sylvi – Fish farming
• Pork is comparatively a cheapest animal protein source. Pig products range from primary commodities such as pork, to processed food products such as sausages and smoked hams to cooked salted ears, eaten as snack foods.
• Demand for pig’s fat in poultry feed, soap, paints and other chemical industries is increasing

Genetic Improvement Programmes:

Major central sponsored breeding programmes

• All India Coordinated Research Project on Pigs (started in 1970-71)
• Mega seed project (started in 2008-09)
• National Livestock Mission

  All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Pig AICRP on Pig started its journey during Fourth Five Year Plan (1970-1971) with the main objective of evaluating the performance of purebred under existing management. By the end of Fifth Five Year Plan, urgent need for improvement of indigenous pig was realized in view of their large number and socio-economic importance. Therefore, to give a multidisciplinary approach in pig production, the technical programme of AICRP on Pig was completely remodelled in the beginning of Sixth Five Year Plan to undertake research first on indigenous pig and then subsequently on the crossbreeding between indigenous with appropriate exotic breeds. At present, 15 AICRP on Pig centres are there.

AICRP on Pigs center

Mega seed project on pigs

The mega-seed project on pig was launched by ICAR in 2008. National Research Centre on Pig is coordinating the Mega-seed Project on Pig. The project is having four centers as follows:

• Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara
• Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi
• ICAR RC for NEH, Nagaland Centre, Medziphema
• State Veterinary Department, Aizawl, Mizoram

The project was launched with an objective to produce and supply quality swine germplasm to the local farmers. In XIIh five year plan another four centers were approved for Mega Seed Project on Pig as follows:

• State Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh
• Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University, Pookode, Kerala
• Animal Resource Development Department, Govt. of Tripura, Agartala, Tripura
• Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwavidyalaya, Durg, Chhattisgarh

National Livestock Mission

National Livestock Mission (NLM) launched in financial year 2014-15 seeks to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders. The scheme is being implemented as a sub scheme of White Revolution – Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana since April 2019. The focus of the scheme is on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in poultry, sheep, goat and piggery including feed and fodder development.

SWOT Analysis of Piggery in India

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