It works in close liaison with the other ICAR institutes, Central Wool Development Board, Sheep and Wool Marketing Federation, the Department of Biotechnology (GOI), Small Entrepreneurs, NGOs, State Animal Husbandry and Khadi gram and Cottage industries.

[3][4][5] The Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute was established in 1962 at Malpura, presently known as Avikanagar in Rajasthan, India,[6] with a campus covering an area of 1510 hectares and with the principal objective to enhance the productivity of sheep and rabbit through scientific methods by developing and applying new technologies.

[7] The activities of the Institute are spread across three regional centres:[7] The North Temperate Regional Station (NTRS): NTRS was established in 1963 at Garsa, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh and is engaged in research work on high quality germplasm of Gaddi Synthetic for improvement of sheep for fine wool production.

Various crosses like Avikalin, Bharat Merino, Avimaans, Indian Karakul, Awassi X Malpura and Avivastra were developed at this division.

Major projects of the division centers around ram semen preservation, artificial insemination and adjudging the physiological adaptability of different strains developed at the institute.

The division was started in 1962 when the institute was formed and is engaged in basic and applied research on various aspects of wool and other animal fibres.

The section, started in 2002, has a mandate to organise research on sheep genomics, reproductive biotechnology, disease resistance and molecular parasitology.

It conducts research at the molecular level on various traits to identify genes/markers for application in the development of commercially viable breeds.

It attends to the matters such as pasture development, agroforestry, soil and water conservation and management and improvement of fodder cultivation.

The Priority setting, Monitoring and Evaluation cell is the documentation centre of CSWRI and is responsible for the following activities: Network Project on Sheep Improvement (NWPSI) was initiated on to undertake survey, evaluation and improvement of indigenous sheep breeds under native environment.

Different breeds of sheep are being improved through selection and inter-se mating for wool and mutton production.

The technical programme aims at improvement of indigenous sheep breeds under farm conditions wherein the male lambs are first ranked using selection index.

The institute has also done research work with results in developing scientific breeding techniques of Malpura, Marwari, Magra and Chokla sheep.

[16] The Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU) is the information and knowledge management hub of CSWRI and the unit is mandated to: CSWRI, recognised by the Government of India as a central research institute, is equipped with National Knowledge Network (NKN) connectivity @ one gigabit bandwidth, Internet connectivity to all Divisions & Sections through Broadband, Wired Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network and a secure Fortigate gateway system.

CSWRI holds patent rights several technological developments in the fields of cattle rearing and related areas.