ICAR - National Research Centre on Pig | Pig Research and Production in Guwahati, Assam

AICRP on Pig website	Brief History	Objectives	Technical programme	Salient Achievements

Brief History of AICRP on Pig

1.	AICRP on pig started its journey during IVth five year plan (1970-1971) with the main objective of studying the performance of purebred exotic pigs under existing managemental conditions at the following research centers:
I.	ANGRAU, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
II.	AAU, Guwahati, Assam
III.	JNKVV, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
IV.	IVRI, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh
	In 1992-93, two more centres at Kattupakam (Tamilnadu) and Mannuthy (Kerala) was added in the AICRP network. During the year 2000-2001, two more centres at ICAR Research Complex, Goa and BAU, Ranchi were started to study the performance of indigenous pig for two generations followed by their crossbreeding with Large White Yorkshire boars. During the XI plan two more centres of AICRP were approved, namely College of Veterinary Science (CAU) at Aizawl, Mizoram and Nagaland University, Medziphema. JNKVV, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh center was discontinued from AICRP programme since April, 2013. Most recently, during the XII plan five more new centers were approved and started functioning in 2014-15. All existing AICRP centres on pig as listed below are coordinated by ICAR-NRC on Pig.
	• Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati • Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi • Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University, Mannuthy • Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati • Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Science University, Kattupakkam • Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar • ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Old Goa. • Central Agricultural University, Aizawl, Mizoram • SASARD, Nagaland University, Medziphema. • Krishi Vigyan Kendra, NRC on Pig, Dudhnoi, Goalpara, Assam • Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Island • Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur • Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station, Kolkata, West Bengal • ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Tripura Centre, Agartala, Tripura • ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani, Shillong, Meghalaya
	ICAR-NRC on Pig is engaged in coordinating the research and development of the AICRP centers both in terms of technical and financial aspect in consultation with Council.

Objectives of AICRP on Pig
2.	Original objectives and modification thereof:
	During IVth and Vth five year plan, the research work was carried out with the exotic breeds of pig (viz. Large White Yorkshire at Tirupati and Jabalpur, Landrace at Khanapara and Izatnagar) with the following objectives: • To assess various genetic parameters of economically important traits of existing exotic breeds (Landrace and Large White Yorkshire) of pigs in India with respect to production, reproduction and efficiency of feed utilization. • To investigate the effect of protein energy ratio on production of pigs and to evolve a low cost and reasonably economic pig feed for different region. • To study the occurrence of pig diseases with a view to derive suitable control measure against the same.
	By the end of Vth five year plans, urgent need for improvement of indigenous pig was realized in view of their large number and high economic importance to the rural population. Simultaneously breeding needed to be put in place to evolve a suitable type of pig having optimum efficiency of feed conversion in farm as well as rural condition. Therefore, to give a multidisciplinary approach in pig production, the technical programme of AICRP on pig was completely remodeled in the beginning of VIth five year plan to undertake research first on indigenous pig and then subsequently on the crossbreeding between indigenous female with appropriate exotic breed with the following objectives: • To study the performance of indigenous pigs under optimal managemental conditions • To produce crossbred by crossing indigenous gilts with exotic boars and to assess their performance in respect of their efficiency of feed conversion, production and reproduction • To evolve economic pig ration with locally available feed ingredients, conventional and unconventional • To select animals from within half breeds with faster growth on economic ration(s) to produce superior strain of improved pigs. • To study the incidences of various diseases in pigs, so as to suggest areas for undertaking research to provide optimum health care. The above technical programme was followed till Xth plan.

Technical programme of AICRP on Pig

3. Revision of Technical Programme in XIth Plan:

The technical programme was further refined in view of the objective of the programme at AICRP meet at College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Manuthy in June, 2007 as follows:
1. Inter-se-mating in small population is not appropriate. Replacement of males must be practiced to avoid inbreeding.
2. Early weaning as early as 4 weeks of age should be practiced providing all nutritive feed supplements in creep ration
3. Region based shelter management should be adopted and for that extra fund may be provided
4. Integrated farming system may be adopted in order to economize production and transfer to field unit. Stocking density per hector area of land for pig cum fish may be calculated
5. Efforts need to be adopted to reduce overall mortality below 10% level. Meteorological data need to be recorded in order to forecast the disease outbreaks so that appropriate prevention measures can be adopted.
6. Region based suitable developed economic feed formula(e) is(are) yet to come up for adoption as package of practice. Search should continue, but it should not be a component of replacement in feeding formula for pigs under AICRP research units.
To further streamline and maintain uniformity among different centers, and finalization of work plan of new centers, lastly, details technical programme against the objective was recommended at AICRP Scientists' meet at ICAR-NRC on Pig, Guwahati in October, 2014.

Salient Achievements of AICRP on Pig

4. Salient Achievements of the AICRP till Date

Significant achievements have been made in respect of pig breeding, nutrition, reproduction including endocrinology, production, health management practices, extension education and technology dissemination. Necessary details about the same areas under:

A. Animal Breeding & Production:
Breeding programmes were developed to generate the following genotypes/genetic groups:

• Improved indigenous pigs
• Crossbreds having 50:50 inheritance from Landrace and indigenous pigs
• Large White Yorkshire crossbreds having 50% indigenous inheritance
• Crossbreds having 75% Large White and 25% indigenous inheritance
• Landrace crossbreds having 25% indigenous inheritance
• Hampshire crossbreds carrying 25% and 50% indigenous inheritance
• Landrace X indigenous half-breds from reciprocal crosses
• Exotic pig viz. Landrace, Large White Yorkshire and Hampshire could be successfully raised and multiplied under organized farm conditions.
• Genetic improvement of indigenous pig through pure breed selection programme was conducted in all eight centres of AICRP under different agro- climatic conditions.
• Litter size at birth and weaning showed continuous improvement over the years. Similarly, the growth rate and body weight at 32 weeks was also increased significantly.
• However, the genetic improvement of indigenous breed through pure breed selection programme has been slow.
• All groups of crossbred had higher litter size and weight, growth rate and better feed conversion efficiency than indigenous pig.
• Large White Yorkshire crossbred (75%) and Hampshire crossbred (75%) had higher value of litter traits than their respective 50% crossbred.
• Pig can be utilized effectively as a component in integrated farming system which shall act as an insurance cover. Significant improvement on economic gain could be observed under integrated farming system.
• The crossbreds had lower back fat thickness and higher lean cuts in their carcasses than the indigenous pigs.

B. Pig Husbandry and Management:
Some salient features of achievements made and technologies generated in various aspects of pig husbandry and management are as follows:
• Collection of boar semen and artificial insemination: Technology was developed for collection of boar semen using a dummy. Artificial insemination technology by using liquid semen has been standardized and widely been used in different centres.
• Artificial milk feeder: To feed orphan piglets when suitable foster dams are not available, artificial milk feeder was developed which can be recommended to breeder farmer.
• Sprinkler system: This was designed and installed in the open pig styes for alleviating summer stress in pigs. This can be recommended to commercial farmers rearing more than 250 pigs in tropical areas where there are chances of heat stress. Wallowing can be avoided in this system, thereby saving water and labour.
• Pressure cleaning system: The system helps considerable savings in labour and time in cleaning of sheds and ensures effective cleaning of pens. In this system cleaning of a pen can be done in 4-5 minutes against 10-15 minutes in traditional system. This can be recommended for larger commercial breeding farms rearing more than 200 numbers of breeding stocks. Labour can be saved up to 1/3rd of the normal requirement in commercial farms.
• Automatic waterers: It ensures continuous drinking water availability to pigs. It can be fitted at varying heights from the floor for various categories of pigs (25 cm for weaners, 65 cm for growers and 85-90 cm for sows and boars).

C. Animal Nutrition:

Energy protein ratio for optimum production:

• 18.2 to 18.5 kcal energy per g CP for Landrace and Large White grower pigs.
• 20.4 to 21.3 kcal energy per g CP for finishing exotic pigs.
• A diet with 15.44% CP and 3.0 MCal DE per kg feed for indigenous grower pigs.
• For crossbred pigs, ratio of 16% C.P. and 3000 kcal digestible energy per kg of feed was found to be optimal.

Locally available feed resources like root crop (tapioca, sweet potato etc.), brewery waste, used tea leaves and other vegetable wastes like cabbage, collocassia etc. could be used for developing economic ration for pig.

Various alternate sources of energy and protein were identified
• Energy sources: rice polish, molasses, tamarind seed, wheat bran, tea waste, pine apple waste, jackfruit waste and cashew apple.
• Protein sources: silk worm pupae, sunflower cake

Economic ration was developed by partial or complete replacement of costly ingredient of the standard ration with the alternate feed sources.

• Replacement of maize with 20% tamarind seed and 5% molasses or 30% tamarind seed and 10% molasses increased average daily gain and lowered cost/kg body weight gain.
• Cabbage is an important vegetable crop of North East India. Generally 50 to 70% of the biological yield cabbages are used as human consumption and remaining portion is discarded as waste which is primarily the green leaves. This waste can be fed to grower and finisher pig replacing 10% of the concentrate mixer in the daily feed allowances.
• Graded replacements of maize with 40, 30 and 12 parts of rice polish/supplemented with zinc sulphate) were found to be superior in terms of ADG, feed per kg gain and cost of ration per kg gain for Large White grower pigs.
• Replacing maize partly or completely with 20% tamarind seed and 5% molasses or 30% tamarind seed and 10% molasses was found to give higher ADG (423 g) and lower cost/kg gain as compared to ADG 401 g under the standard ration.
• In pregnant and lactating gilts, maize (36% in standard ration) could be replaced with 30% rice polish or tamarind seed along with 20% molasses without affecting the performance characteristics.
• An economic ration was developed by graded replacement of maize with wheat bran.
• In indigenous grower pigs, 20 parts of maize can be replaced with bagasse and molasses mixture without any adverse effect on FCR.
• In crossbred finisher pigs, tamarind seed waste replaced up to 75% of maize without any detrimental effect on performance, carcass-characteristics and nutrient utilization.
• No significant difference in ADG (420 Vs 408 g) and FCR (4.13 Vs 4.26) when GN cake in the standard ration was replaced with sunflower cake in crossbred growers.
• Replacement of wheat bran up to 50% level with de-caffeinated tea waste lowered the cost of production in crossbred pigs.

Supplementation of yeast culture product containing useful enzyme improved average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency by 5 and 8%, respectively.

Chelated mineral could be supplemented at a dose of 0.05% along with Dicalcium Phosphate in diet for better growth and feed conversion efficiency in pig.

Fish meal can be replaced with dried cuttla fish waste silage without causing any deleterious effect on growth, feed conversion efficiency or carcass quality.

Dried Cuttla fish bone meal could be used as calcium supplement in the ration for growing pigs replacing calcium carbonate.

D. Pig Reproduction and Endocrinology
• Indigenous pigs compared unfavourably with exotic pigs in respect of litter size and weight at birth, weaning, growth rate, efficiency of feed utilization and lean meat production.
• All groups of crossbreds had higher litter productivity, growth rates and efficiency of feed utilization than the indigenous pigs.
• Large White and Hampshire crossbreds carrying 75% exotic inheritance had higher values of litter traits than those respective half-bred.

E. Health Management
• Health calendar was maintained by all the AICRP centers
• Reduced disease outbreak, pre and post weaning mortality could be achieved in most of the AICRP centers for better health care and management.