User talk:Mubashiralirather

Kashmir Merino sheep: In J&K crossbreeding was brought into practice from 1942 as per the recommendations made by Professor Alfred F. Baker in 1931 (Anonymous, 2004). With the result Kashmir Merino was evolved around 1960 at Sheep Breeding and Research farm Reasi Jammu by crossing native ewes viz; Poonchi, Gaddi and Bakerwal with Australian Merino Rams and F1 ewes so produced were bred to Delain rams (imported from U.S.A). Inter-se mating of F2 was done and continued till a breed (Kashmir Merino) with steady and uniform characters was evolved (Anonymous, 2004 and Dixit et al. 2006). Due to involvement of many native and exotic breeds; the Kashmir Merino sheep are highly variable in their morphological and production performance characteristics (Dixit et al., 2006). The breed is comparable to some of the finest wool breeds of the world with a fiber diameter of 20.94±0.09 µ (Das et al., 2014) to 21.01 ± 0.03 to µ (Sheikh et al., 1986) and besides attaining a higher body weight than native breeds. Most of the animals have 50 to 75 per cent of exotic inheritance for fine wool (Acharya, 1982; Tomar, 2004). The breed is found in every pocket of Kashmir valley and is well adapted to geophysical conditions of the state with a population of more than 11.15 lakhs (Anonymous 2018) Dr. G. A. Bandey was the brain behind evolution of Kashmir Merino breed of sheep. In recognition of his remarkable achievements in taking sheep husbandry sector to new heights, he was conferred I.A.S. in 1974-75 and awarded gold medal in 1978. Above all, he was awarded the country's highest civil award viz; Padamshri in honour of his contribution and dedication in the field of sheep development (Anonymous, 2004).