Indigenous breeds of goat, pig from Nicobar gets recognition

Port Blair, Aug 29 (PTI) The National Bureau of AnimalGenetic Resources has recognised Teressa Goat and Nicobari pigfound in the Andaman and Nicobar islands as new breeds,officials said today. The recognition of these breeds is significant as measuresfor its conservation, preservation and propagation can now betaken up with funding from the central government, officialsof the union territory said. The breed can be developed to suit national andinternational markets which will present avenues forentrepreneurship and export of disease free germplasm andprogenies. Teressa Goats, as the name suggests, are mostly found inTeressa island and is reared for its meat by the tribalfarmers of Nicobar archipelago. These goats are generally tall, brownish or black or whitein colour with white and black patches. The Nicobari pig is also indigenous to Nicobars and hasdistinctive characteristic compared to the other recognisedbreed of pigs in India. An adult pig weighs between 26 to 61 kg. Nicobari pigs are reared more for their role in thetradition than economics by the tribal populace of Nicobar. The department of animal husbandry and veterinaryservices, and the animal sciences division of Central IslandAgricultural Research Institute (CIARI), Port Blair, hadjointly taken up the conservation and propagation of thesebreeds. The breed characterisation was conducted and geneticprofile was completed following which an application toregister the breeds was submitted, officials said. PTI NIK MDDBS