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Sahiwal Cow Gives Birth to Badri Calf via IVF in Uttarakhand
Confirmed
In Short: Researchers in Uttarakhand have successfully produced a healthy Badri calf using in vitro fertilization technology, marking a significant step in preserving and improving the native cattle breed.
ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) researchers in India have achieved a milestone by using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to produce a healthy female Badri calf, a native breed found in Uttarakhand, the agriculture ministry announced on Saturday.
The calf was born on September 11 at an academic dairy farm after an embryo created through Ovum Pick-Up and In Vitro Fertilization (OPU-IVF) was implanted in a Sahiwal cow, a different breed used as a surrogate.
Advanced reproductive technologies such as OPU-IVF can help multiply elite female germplasm at a faster rate,' said Dheer Singh, director of the ICAR-NDRI institute, adding that the birth lays the groundwork for broader breed-improvement programs.
A second surrogate cow is expected to give birth to another Badri calf within five to seven days, according to the ministry statement.
What's confirmed
- ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) researchers in India have achieved a milestone by using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to produce a healthy female Badri calf, a native breed found in Uttarakhand, the agriculture ministry announced on Saturday.
- The calf was born on September 11 at an academic dairy farm after an embryo created through Ovum Pick-Up and In Vitro Fertilization (OPU-IVF) was implanted in a Sahiwal cow, a different breed used as a surrogate.
- Advanced reproductive technologies such as OPU-IVF can help multiply elite female germplasm at a faster rate,' said Dheer Singh, director of the ICAR-NDRI institute, adding that the birth lays the groundwork for broader breed-improvement programs.
- A second surrogate cow is expected to give birth to another Badri calf within five to seven days, according to the ministry statement.
What's still developing
- Badri cattle are a small, hardy breed adapted to hill terrain and are designated the state animal of Uttarakhand.
- The project was carried out by the ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal and G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, with funding from the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council.
- Scientists collected oocytes (egg cells) from selected Badri donor cows using ultrasound-guided extraction, then fertilized them in the laboratory with semen from a Badri bull sourced through the Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board.
- READ MORE : Pezeshkian meets Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Balkrishna and others The team is also working on cloning high-yielding Badri cows and plans to transfer both IVF- and cloning-derived embryos into a range of surrogate cows in the next phase of the project, it added.
- First, superior Badri cows were selected from the Badri cattle unit of the university’s Academic Dairy Farm, the GBPUAT sources said.
- A joint team of scientists from the department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology and National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal has achieved a genetic improvement of the Badri cattle breed.
- The research team included Shiv Prasad, Sunil Kumar and Mridula Sharma from the Department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Pantnagar University; Naresh L Saloker and M K Singh from the department of Biotechnology, NDRI, Karnal and Sanjay Sharma, director, Uttarakhand Council of Biotechnology, Haldi.
- The research has been carried out over the past three years under a research project funded by the Uttarakhand Council of Biotechnology, Haldi.