PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Pantnagar
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. As a result of the team’s efforts, a Sahiwal cow has given birth to a Badri female calf produced from a superior-quality Badri embryo through OPU-IVF technology.
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.
First, superior Badri cows were selected from the Badri cattle unit of the university’s Academic Dairy Farm, the GBPUAT sources said. Oocytes were collected from these cows through the Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) technique. The collected oocytes were matured in the laboratory for 24 hours. Subsequently, the mature oocytes were fertilised in vitro using superior-quality Badri bull semen obtained from the Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board through the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique. The fertilised oocytes were then cultured under controlled laboratory conditions for seven days, resulting in the development of Badri embryos.
In the final stage of the research, these laboratory-produced Badri embryos were scientifically transferred into the uteruses of Sahiwal and crossbred cows at the Academic Dairy Farm. One of the Sahiwal cows gave birth to a female calf of the Badri breed, possessing superior characteristics on September 11. In addition, another crossbred cow is expected to give birth to a Badri calf within the next 5–7 days, the university sources said.
Under the project, work is currently also underway on the cloning of superior Badri cows with high milk-production potential.
Buoyed by the achievement, the vice-chancellor, GBPUAT, Shivendra Kumar Kashyap visited the Academic Dairy Farm and congratulated the team of scientists from the university and NDRI, Karnal.
“Pantnagar University has been continuously working towards the conservation and genetic improvement of important animal and crop breeds in accordance with the policies of the Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand. Conservation and genetic improvement of the Badri cow is particularly important as it is the only registered cattle breed of Uttarakhand,” he added.
