Livestock Product Technology

The Department was established in the year 1981 bifurcating the Department of Veterinary Parasitology in Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya having the name of the Department as ‘Animal Products Technology & Marketing’. This name of the Department continued in this University after its establishment from 1995 onwards. At the time of induction and adoption of V.C.I. course curriculum, the name of the Department was changed as ‘Livestock Products Technology’ in the academic year 2008-09. The Department was mainly engaged in Undergraduate teaching programme formulated by VCI till it started the Postgraduate Programme in the department since 1999-2000.  Later on, in the academic year 2002-03, the Ph.D. programme was also started with an initial intake of 2 scholars. Now this Department is imparting Undergraduate, Masters Degree and Ph.D. studies and also undertaking certain research programme in the form of projects .

Research programme is being conducted mainly in the discipline of Livestock Products Technology at the Postgraduate level emphasizing on fresh meat quality, value addition and quality improvement studies on meat and meat products from animals namely goat, pigs and different species of poultry. The thrust area is on quality improvement of chevon from Black Bengal goat species and also on value addition of Duck meat to enhance its quality and acceptability. The Department has conducted some Research Projects on these areas funded by ICAR and DST, W.B which has strengthened the Department’s Research facilities. As a course of development, the Department established a close liaison with Kolkata Municipal Slaughter House at Tangra and with Livestock Development Corporation, West Bengal. The outcome of the Research work has been transformed into development of certain value-added meat products from duck meat along with their economics of production. These results were later on disseminated to the concerned stakeholders, particularly women folk from different SHG by organizing hands-on training like ‘Model Training Course on Value Added Product and Processing’ sponsored by Directorate of Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare. Besides, the technology was transferred to the Directorate of Extension of this University where also training on this subject were organized number of times for the SHG members and for KVK personnel of this zone.

Besides, a sufficient importance on research on storage stability and microscopic changes of cara-beef has been given by different research workers. At Ph.D. level, Nutritional Mapping of Cara-beef carcass has been undertaken to identify nutritional uniqueness of different cuts within a carcass and the results could give the consumers a choice of preference on the basis of meat-bone-fat ratio and nutritional profile on the basis of proximate analysis. Physiochemical studies have also conducted to segregate different parts on the basis of sensory profile. Some effort has also been laid on Black Bengal Goat skin quality, its harvesting technique and also on primary treatment of its preservation, which could be a maiden attempt of research from the department to the very important commercial avocation and trading of Black Bengal Goat skin, especially significant for the state of West Bengal. Departmental research extended its area also on testing egg quality parameters through master’s degree research work.

38 M.V.Sc. students and 6 Ph.D. scholars received their respective degrees with distinction through the Masters and Ph.D. research programmes so far from the department. The main area of the Master’s thesis programmes revolved round the research work on core area of livestock products technology, mainly on fresh meat quality, value addition and quality improvement studies on meat and meat products from animals namely goat, pigs and different species of poultry. The thrust