Directorate of Research (Vety.)

Doom’, a native variety of pig of Assam, has been registered as a breed with accession number ‘INDIA_PIG_0200_DOOM_ 09006’ by the Breed Registration Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. The ‘Doom’ pig is the first livestock of Assam ever registered as a breed. The registration certificate of the breed of pig was presented on 23.8.2016 by Secretary of Department of Agricultural Research & Education (DARE) and Director General of ICAR at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

Lakhimi, a native variety of Cattle of Assam, has been registered as a breed with accession number ‘INDIA_CATTLE_0200_LUIT_03041’ by the Breed Registration Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. The certificate was formally given on 10^th January, 2018.

Pati Duck, a native variety of Duck of
Assam, has been registered as a breed with accession number ‘INDIA_DUCK_0200_PATI_11001’ by the
Breed Registration Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), New Delhi. This is the only
recognised breed of duck in entire India.

Luit, a native variety of Swamp
Buffalo of Assam, has been registered as a breed with accession number ‘INDIA_BUFFALO_0212_LUIT_01014’ by the
Breed Registration Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), New Delhi. Ceremony for distribution of certificate was held on 12^th
December 2018

Assam Hill, a native variety of Goat
of Assam, has been registered as a breed with accession number ‘INDIA_GOAT_0213_ASSAMHILL_06031’ by the
Breed Registration Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), New Delhi.  The certificate was
formally handed over to the scientist on 12^th December, 2018

1.   
The method of making calcium phosphate nanoparticle adjuvanted
outer-membrane protein vaccine and poly-lactide co-glycolidemicroparticle
adjuvanted outer-membrane protein vaccine has been sent to the Patent
Facilitation Cell of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi.

2.    A noval  polyherbal formulation
with adaptagenic property and a method to prepare the product   - submitted to DBT on 22.7.2016

    Pig husbandry is playing an important role in livelihood programme of rural masses. Pig rearing venture is more popular in tribal dominant places of North Eastern India. Farmers in rural areas mostly keep pigs under free-range or scavenging condition. Genetic potentialities of these country pigs are poor in terms of litter size and growth performance. As such genetic improvement is the need of the hour. Artificial insemination is key tool to improve genetic pool of indigenous variety so as to add value to the pig production industry. However, this innovative technology is facing a hurdle in carrying semen from processing unit to the end user level. The semen collected from a highly potential boar needs to be carried in a controlled temperature to restore viability of spermatozoa. Thus newly designed Piggy flask under the DBT-NECBH project on “Farmers’ friendly innovative mechanical devices for boosting profitable pig production and improving animal welfare in rural North Eastern States of India” can meet up this urgently felt need of the pig farmers. Viability of spermatozoa maintained at around 17℃ during its transportation period. The sperm will be destroyed if the temperature goes below 14℃ or above 18℃.

    The device Piggy Flask works on the principle of the Peltier effect that, when an electric current flows through a circuit comprising dissimilar conductors, thermal energy is absorbed from one junction, and is discharged at the other, making the former cooler. It is designed to carry biological at constant 17oC under un-interrupted battery bakeup upto 5 hours. The primary application is to use for transportation and storage of Boar Semen at controlled temperature (17˚C) without losing biologically active property of Boar Spermatozoa in liquid phase. This device is initially validated at CVSc, Khanapara and validation in other institutes is in process.

    As artificial insemination is of great economic value for the pig industry, thus proper development of all supporting tools can be helpful in a great way. Under this project other two items-a). Piggy carrier and b) Multipurpose restraining crate are also developed. The tools like the Piggy carrier can transport pigs in convenient way from one place to another. Development of suitable restraining devices for multipurpose uses can be another innovative means for handling pigs in humane way. Thus proper development of these tools can be a great step forward in the development of the pig industry at rural settings. 

A group of Scientists from Department of Veterinary Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Khanapara developed a “Thermostable Live Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine AAUPSD44C” that could remain effective at ambient temperature without refrigeration. In the glorious history of AAU, this is an achievement for the first time in terms of development of a prophylactic biological against Newcastle disease (Ranikhet disease), one of the most economically important viral diseases of poultry. The team started their work in this direction since 2014. Recently, on January 2023, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) has been signed between AAU and Ventri Biologicals Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India (VH group) on technology transfer and validation of the biologicals with an aim to commercialize the same in future. This unique thermostable vaccine will aid in avoiding vaccination failure due to disruption in the maintenance of cold chain of vaccines. It is a great honour and privilege for the team and AAU to have collaboration with the VH group, the largest fully integrated poultry group in Asia. The AAU has transferred the technology to the VH group against an amount of Rs. 10 lakh and 2.5% royalty for five years. This kind of collaboration with such a company with professional and business excellence would be a golden opportunity for AAU to accelerate revenue growth through innovative technology development in future.