It is difficult to forecast the There are 25 s contributed by distinguished contributors who have made valuable contributions to the field of conservation of animal biodiversity and improvement of livestock. The topics covered are ranging from cattle genetic resources, strategic action plan for sustainable management, conservation and genetics improvement, breeding strategies to improve milk productivity, production systems and breeding policies for genetic improvement, application of biotechnological tools for conservation and improving of animal genetic resources, bioinformatics and genome analysis in conservation, heat stress management etc.

The book presents conventional and modern breeding technologies in the vital areas of animal breeding, to stimulate more research, and to rapidly pass such modern techniques to scientific community. Various conventional breeding technologies used for selection and faster multiplication of superior cattle and buffalo germplasm have contributed significantly to increase in milk production, which were mainly due to the technologies developed in the areas of quantitative genetics and reproductive biology. These included methodologies for selection of females based upon their expected producing ability and young males based on the performance of progeny. Emerging developments in the areas of molecular marker systems in animals, genome maps, methods of detecting Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) linkages, Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) etc., are latest tools to be used in breeding programmes for enhancing the rate of genetic progress. These modern techniques could be of great help for those traits, for which the conventional technologies have limitations in their use. Therefore, integration of molecular markers with conventional breeding technologies involving pedigree and phenotypic information are probable future breeding tools for genetic improvement of livestock and poultry.

This book attempts to describe applied breeding methods for different domestic animal species as currently implemented. In this book, brief history of population genetics, domestication of livestock species, classification of breeds, economic characteristics of different livestock species & poultry and their importance, basic statistics, qualitative and quantitative inheritance, gene and genotype frequency and factors influencing gene frequency, values and means of population, methods of estimation and uses of heritability and repeatability, correlations, selection, response to selection, basis of selection, progeny testing, open nucleus breeding system, sire evaluation, methods of selection, breeding or mating systems, heterosis or hybrid vigor definitions and current livestock and poultry breeding programmes have been discussed in different s. The subject matter has been dealt with in a logical sequence so that the reader is conveyed from simple to more complex interpretation with relative ease. It is felt that the reader which are likely to comprise mostly of graduate and post graduate student of animal breeding and researcher will be able to get a deeper insight and better perceptions into the realm of the dynamic science of animal breeding.