author(s)
Ezhil Vadhana P, Ameya Santhosh, Pooja GS, Vani A and Sushil Kumar

abstract
Sheep being the major source of income for majority of farming community, holds indispensible position in the livestock and livelihood security of farmers. Major source of income in sheep farming is gained through meat and wool production which can be increased by improving the reproduction efficiency of animals. Selection and Breeding are the two major and basic tools involved in improving the reproduction efficiency. Most of the economic traits have quantitative inheritance, governed by minor genes, however few fecundity genes are exception. Major genes linked with fecundity and fertility have been identified by many researchers. FecB, one among them is chiefly involved nowadays in many introgression programmes. Since low heritability of reproduction traits severely hampers the selection, direct selection is very difficult. Marker assisted selection using these major genes linked with reproduction traits can be a best alternative for conventional method of selection.