Manipuri duck ‘Meitei Nganu’ registered as indigenous breed by ICAR

Imphal, Jan 16: The Manipuri duck – locally known as ‘Meitei Nganu’ or ‘Eshing Nganu’ – has been registered as a distinct indigenous breed.

The breed was registered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal, Haryana, following approval by the Breed Registration Committee in its 13th meeting held on November 12 last year at New Delhi.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR, officials of the Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal, stated.

CAU Assistant Professor Dr M Norjit Singh said, “The Manipuri duck was among 13 indigenous livestock and poultry breeds approved.”

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan formally handed over the breed registration certificate to CAU officials during the Animal Breed Registration Certificate and Breed Conservation Award Distribution Ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday, Dr Norjit Singh said.

With the registration of Meitei Nganu as an indigenous duck breed, a total of four indigenous breeds from Manipur have been registered at the ICAR-NBAGR, Karnal, Haryana. The other three indigenous breeds are Manipur pony, Manipur chicken Kaunayen, and Manipur black pig, he added. Kaunayen, which is reared mainly for cock fights, was registered as the 17th chicken breed in the country in June, 2016.

When enquired about the demand for registration of Manipur’s ‘Haofa’ – an indigenous dog breed which is found in Ukhrul district, Dr Norjit Singh that he had already submitted an application in this regard.

As many as 13 indigenous and three synthetic breeds of livestock and poultry in the country were approved during the November meeting. The breeds include Medini cattle (Jharkhand), Rohilkhandi cattle (Uttar Pradesh), Melghati buffalo (Maharashtra), Palamu goat (Jharkhand), Udaipuri goat (Uttarakhand), Nagami mithun (Nagaland), Mala chicken (Jharkhand), Kodo duck (Jharkhand), Kudu duck (Odisha), Kuttanad duck (Kerala), Manipuri duck (Manipur), Nagi duck (Assam) and Rajdigheli geese (Assam), Karan Fries synthetic cattle (Haryana), Vrindavani synthetic cattle (Uttar Pradesh) and Avishaan synthetic sheep (Rajasthan).

Till date, 242 indigenous animal breeds, including 55 for cattle, 22 for buffalo, 43 for goat, 46 for sheep, eight for horses and ponies, nine for camel, 15 for pig, four for donkey, five for dog, two for yak, 21 for chicken, nine for duck, two for geese, and one for mithun; three synthetic breeds of cattle, and one synthetic breed of sheep have been registered by the Bureau, official sources said.