Namethe methods employed in animal breeding. According to you which oneof the methods is best? Why?
Animalbreeding is the method of mating closely related individuals. Thereare several methods employed in animals breeding, which can beclassified into the following categories:
(A) Naturalmethods of breeding include inbreeding and out-breeding. Breedingbetween animals of the same breed is known as inbreeding, whilebreeding between animals of different breeds is known asout-breeding. Out-breeding of animals is of three types:
(a). Out-crossing:In this type of out-breeding, the mating of animals occurs within thesame breed. Thus, they have no common ancestors up to the last 4-5generations.
(b). Cross-breeding:In this type of out-breeding, the mating occurs between differentbreeds of the same species, thereby producing a hybrid.
(c). Interspecifichybridization: In this type of out-breeding, the mating occursbetween different species.
(B) Artificialmethods of breeding include modern techniques of breeding. Itinvolves controlled breeding experiments, which are of two types:-
(a). Artificialinsemination: It is a process of introducing the semen (collectedfrom the male) into the oviduct or the uterus of the female body bythe breeder. This method of breeding helps the breeder overcomecertain problems faced in abnormal mating.
(b). Multipleovulation embryo technology (MOET): It is a technique for cattleimprovement in which super-ovulation is induced by a hormoneinjection. Then, fertilization is achieved by artificial inseminationand early embryos are collected. Each of these embryos are thentransplanted into the surrogate mother for further development of theembryo.
Thebest method to carry out animal breeding is the artificial method ofbreeding, which includes artificial insemination and MOET technology.These technologies are scientific in nature. They help overcomeproblems of normal mating and have a high success rate of crossingbetween mature males and females. Also, it ensures the production ofhybrids with the desired qualities. This method is highly economicalas a small amount of semen from the male can be used to inseminateseveral cattle.