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Phenotypic Clustering of Indian Donkey Population Belonging to Six Agro- Climatic Regions

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Title Phenotypic Clustering of Indian Donkey Population Belonging to Six Agro- Climatic Regions
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Creator Gupta AK, Kumar S, Pal Y, Brahmane M, Kumar B, Chauhan M, Sharma P, Singh P, Sheokand RN and Aneja DR
 
Subject Indian donkeys; Agro-climatic regions; Phenotypic clusters; Biometric indices
 
Description Not Available
Donkeys support rural livelihoods and low-income farmer’s family by providing economy at minimal maintenance
cost. In India, donkeys constitute about 28% of total equine population but these are non-descript local donkeys without
any breed characterization. This study describes phenotypic diversity among different donkey populations available in
various agro-climatic regions in India including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, J&K, Haryana, Bihar and Himachal
Pradesh for their phenotypic clustering as a distinct breed(s) by considering each population as a separate cluster.
Biometric indices of seven local donkey populations were recorded and compared to French Poitou donkey breed
which revealed that average body length of donkeys from Spiti, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Baramati, Bihar, Haryana and Leh
areas was 97.09, 101.18, 97.60, 103.68, 96.31, 109 & 95.76 cm, respectively, while Poitou donkeys had significantly
higher length(138.79 cm) than indigenous donkey populations. Further height at wither revealed that except leh donkey
population, the rest of the donkeys prevalent throughout different agro-climatic regions met a “small standard’ pattern.
Donkey populations from Leh were fitted in ‘Miniature’ donkey pattern. All local donkeys were well adapted to their agroclimatic
environment and ecology as they were totally dependent upon the grass cover and roughages available within
their reach for meeting their nutritional requirement. Coat colour varied across different regions. Black and brown colours
were prevalent in donkeys from cold desert regions including Leh and Spiti region. Face length of donkeys from Spiti,
Gujarat and Baramati were at par with each other while donkeys from Leh had smallest face length. Cluster analysis
based on biometric indices revealed that exotic Poitou donkeys is an out-group as it formed a distinct cluster while
Indigenous donkeys belonging to various agro-climatic zones were grouped in three clusters namely, C1-miniature or
near miniature donkeys (Leh, Spiti and Bihar regions), C2- small standard ones including donkeys from Rajasthan and
Gujarat while cluster C3 having donkeys from Baramati and Haryana region. Poitou cluster was phenotypically different
from Cluster 1 as Eucledean cluster distance was maximum with donkeys of this cluster, followed by cluster 2 and
cluster 3. This information will be useful for breed classification of these local non-descript donkeys.
Not Available
 
Date 2018-12-01T11:14:46Z
2018-12-01T11:14:46Z
2017-12-02
 
Type Research Paper
 
Identifier Not Available
ISSN: 2332-2543
http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/14952
 
Language English
 
Relation Not Available;
 
Publisher Not Available