100 calves from a single cow? Pune NGO plans IVF using ‘Gauri’ as donor

An NGO is planning to produce 100 calves from a single cow in a year through in-vitro fertilisation. The J K Trust has two IVF-Embryo Transfer laboratories at Vadgaon-Rasai near Pune, and Gopalnagar near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, which undertake IVF and ET in cows.

“Till date, 54 IVF embryos were produced from the two oocyte aspirations conducted on Gauri in May 2019. We have initiated the transfer of embryos of Gauri and few recipients are already pregnant,” said Dr Shyam Zawar, CEO, JK Trust and chief scientist of the initiative.

Zawar added that the aim was production of 100 calves from Gauri within one year. “Our work on indigenous breeds and efforts towards the rapid propagation of superior indigenous animals is in line with the Centre’s Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM). This assumes strategic importance considering that a cow normally produces a maximum of 8-10 calves in her entire lifespan,” he said.

The results prove that cattle IVF and ET technology, which is being widely used in the west, can be customised and adapted to suit Indian climatic conditions, Zawar said, adding that the programme was an example of using technology for the rapid propagation of superior genetic merit animals at a faster pace.

JK Trust is an NGO working in the animal husbandry field for several decades. It operates more than 3,000 Integrated Livestock Development Centres across 11 states covering nearly 32,000 villages and 3.2 million farmers, the NGO said in a statement.