Sheep Breeds

India has more than 40 registered sheep breeds, ranging from fine-wool Himalayan types to the hair sheep of the southern plains. Sheep supply wool, mutton, manure and skins from land too dry to farm.

Showing 14 of 14 Sheep breeds

Nali Wool

Nali

Rajasthan, Haryana

Producer of the finest carpet wool in India, with a dense fleece that makes it the leading wool breed of the north-western plains.

Wool: 1.5–2.5 kg per year in 2–3 clips

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Chokla Wool

Chokla

Rajasthan

Widely regarded as producing the best carpet wool in the country, with a fine, dense fleece and a distinctive bare reddish-brown face.

Wool: 1.0–1.5 kg per year; fibre 25–30 microns

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Magra Wool & Mutton

Magra

Rajasthan

A striking desert breed with the most lustrous white wool in India — its fleece is used for high-value carpets and rugs.

Wool: 1.0–1.5 kg per year

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Marwari Wool & Mutton

Marwari

Rajasthan, Gujarat

The most numerous sheep breed of Rajasthan, recognised by its black face. It is a migratory breed that survives the harshest desert conditions.

Wool: 1.0–1.5 kg per year; carpet grade

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Jaisalmeri Wool

Jaisalmeri

Rajasthan

A tall, elegant desert sheep, well built for long migration and known for good carpet wool from very sparse desert grazing.

Wool: 1.0–1.5 kg per year

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Malpura Mutton

Malpura

Rajasthan

A fast-growing mutton breed of eastern Rajasthan, used as the base for the Avikalin and other improved sheep developed at CSWRI Avikanagar.

Mutton-focused; wool ~1 kg per year (coarse)

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Muzaffarnagari Mutton

Muzaffarnagari

Uttar Pradesh

The largest sheep breed of northern India and one of its most prolific, kept primarily for mutton in the western UP plains.

Mutton-focused; wool ~1 kg per year (coarse)

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Shahabadi Mutton & Wool

Shahabadi

Bihar

The native sheep of the Shahabad region of Bihar, kept for mutton and coarse wool by smallholder and landless flocks in the Gangetic plain.

Wool: ~0.5–0.8 kg per year (coarse); reared mainly for mutton

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Chottanagpuri Mutton

Chottanagpuri

Jharkhand, Bihar +1

A small, extremely hardy sheep of the Chotanagpur plateau, maintained by tribal households on forest and wasteland grazing.

Wool: ~0.4 kg per year (very coarse); kept for mutton

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Deccani Mutton & Wool

Deccani

Maharashtra, Karnataka +2

The dominant sheep of the Deccan plateau, herded by the Dhangar community in large migratory flocks that fertilise farmland as they move.

Wool: ~0.5 kg per year (coarse); mutton is the main product

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Nellore Mutton

Nellore

Andhra Pradesh

India's tallest sheep and a true hair sheep with almost no wool. It is regarded as one of the finest mutton breeds in the country.

Mutton-focused; no commercial wool

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Mandya Mutton

Mandya

Karnataka

Famous across India for producing the most tender and flavourful mutton — Bannur mutton commands the highest price in the country.

Mutton-focused; premium meat quality

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Garole Mutton

Garole

West Bengal

A micro-sheep of the Sundarbans with worldwide scientific importance: it carries the FecB (Booroola) fertility gene, which has been used to raise lambing rates in sheep across the globe.

Regularly gives 2–3 lambs per lambing, twice a year

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