The research work in Animal Nutrition was initiated in 1958 under the dynamicleadership of Dr. G.S. Sidhu, the then State Biochemist, who later on joined asProfessor and Head, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, when PunjabAgricultural University was established in 1962. He had keen interest in AnimalBiochemistry, particularly the feeding aspects of different categories of livestockand established Animal Nutrition Centre. This centre with the addition of newlaboratories formed one of the major components of Animal ScienceDepartment.
Dr. D. Sundaresan, in 1968, established Animal Nutrition Section in theDepartment of Animal Science and started Postgraduate classes in AnimalNutrition. Dr. J.S. Ichhponani took charge of research and teaching work and itwas recognized as one of the leading Animal Nutrition Centre of the country. Thecenter was dedicated to its' founder scientist and named as 'Gurcharan SinghSidhu Aniaml Nutrition Center' on 25th Jan. 1983. In the year 1991, theDepartment of Animal Nutrition and Forages was created and Dr. J.S. Ichhponanitook over the charge as Head of the Department.
In 1998, Department of Animal Nutrition was created in the College ofVeterinary Sciences as per the new guidelines of Veterinary Council of India.Presently, Dr. J.S. Hundal is serving as the Head of the Department, whichcomprises four Professors and three Assistant Professors. The department offerscourses to undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students. Facultymembers regularly undergo advanced training in India and abroad to broaden their perspectives and address emerging challenges faced by farmers and the feed industry.
Research activities in the department focus on developing efficient andsustainable feeding strategies for ruminants, poultry, pigs, horses, and dogs.Ongoing research includes the assessment of the nutritional status of lactatinganimals, improvement of the nutritive value of low-quality crop residues,development of complete feed pellets, and dog foods, and evaluation of non-conventional agro-industrial by-products. Additional areas of research includethe impact of various feed additives on livestock performance, feedingmanagement of high-yielding animals, transition feeding, rumen microbialdiversity, mitigation of enteric methane emissions, and the application ofnutrigenomics to enhance productivity.
The department has developed several farmer-oriented technologies such asuromin licks, bypass fat, and area-specific mineral mixtures for the south-west,central, and kandi zones of Punjab, along with mineral mixtures for swine andfish, and fortified dairy premixes. It maintains strong academia–industrylinkages and has Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with major industrypartners including Nestlé India, Reliance Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Group,Cargill Nutrition, Kemin Industries South Asia, Novus International, and BASF,Germany, to collaboratively develop and field-test practical nutritionaltechnologies.
