RANCHI: Milk farmers in Jharkhand will soon be able to choose a pack of semen that would ensure birth of female calf, thereby reducing the burden of rearing male calf or bull which becomes useless for those who are not into farming.
Jharkhand Milk Federation (JMF) under the state animal husbandry department is all set to enter into an agreement with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) that has indigenously developed the Artificial Insemination (AI) technology of sexed semen that ensures birth of female calf last year.
NDDB had already worked to provide dairy farmers with ‘sexed semen’ in states like Bihar, Assam and some states in South India.
Managing director, JMF, Sudhir Singh said that AI technique was earlier used for improvement of breed and milk production, but choice of gender was not available. “Non agricultural farmers are also venturing into milk farming and they do not require humped bull, otherwise used for tilling farmland,” he said.
Singh said that sexed semen is specially processed semen of bulls from which ‘Y’ chromosomes in sperm cells, which lead to the birth of a male calf, are either removed through a ‘sorting’ process or killed. Semen which has only ‘X’ chromosomes can ensure that a female calf is born.
“This choice would save a lot of money and burden of the farmers as they would have the guarantee of getting female calf which would grow up to a milk producing cow.
The AI facility was available in the state earlier and Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) used to operate centres across all the districts. The BAIF centres, however, provided semen for breed improvement, thus targeting more milk production. For some technical reasons the arrangement with BAIF was discontinued by the state government almost five years ago.
India is world’s largest milk producer, with 22% of global production. Jharkhand still lags in milk production. Farmers have repeatedly raised the demand for AI centres so that they can obtain quality semen for their cows. JMF officials said that the demand for female calves by farmers encouraged them to approach the NDDB for a solution.
NDDB has been providing guidance to JMF and assistance to milk producing farmers in the state over the past 10 years. The agreement with NDDB is about to expire and the state cabinet has already approved proposal to renew the MoU with NDDB for another five years.
State secretary for agriculture and animal husbandry Aboobacker Sidiqque said that the state is going to sign a fresh MOU with NDDB before March 31, 2024. “NDDB officials would give a presentation about the new AI technology involving sexed semen in next 10 days and a chain of AI centres is proposed to be opened for the farmers,” he said.
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