Question

Which breeding is used to overcome inbreeding depression?

(a) Out-crossing

(b) Cross-breeding

(c) Interspecific hybridisation

(d) Inbreeding

The question was posed to me in a job interview.

My doubt is from Animal Breeding in section Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production of Biology – Class 12

Answer 1

Correct option is (a) Out-crossing

To explain I would say: Continued inbreeding, especially close inbreeding, usually reduces fertility and even productivity. This is called inbreeding depression. Whenever this becomes a problem, selected animals of the breeding population should be mated with unrelated animals of the same breed. This is called as outcrossing and it often helps to overcome inbreeding depression.