Kerala: ‘Test Tube’ Gir Calf Born in Indigenous Cattle Farm

KOCHI: A dairy farm in Vaikkom with 145 indigenous Gir cows, considered the biggest of its kind in India, is now home to a calf born using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Embryo Transfer (ET) technology. While there is nothing new to the use of tech, this is the first time it was used to create a ‘test tube’ Gir calf in a private farm in the state.

While the farm Aamro Dairies, a venture by NRI businessman Murali Nair with investments in logistics and aviation training, took the help of JK Bovagenix of Singhania group for the IVF-ET, they are in the process of developing a lab that would offer multiple breeding facility to farmers in the state, thereby increasing the state’s potential for boosting volume and quality of milk. The calf born on Thursday was a male and they used an ovum picked up from a farm in Pune and imported Sobero pool from Brazil.

“This would be of immense help to farmers trying to develop indigenous breeds in the state. We have entered into technical collaboration with a Brazilian company who will be training our staff. Once that is done we can offer the facility to all kinds of cattle,” said Murali Nair. In normal courses, a farmer can dream of having a maximum of eight Gir calves in a lifetime, but with the use of IVF-ET tech the number can go up to 150 a year.

“When I use ovum pick up, which can be done every five or six days, I’ll get 30 ovums every month. These ovums every month. These ovums when fertilized in the lab would give you fifteen to twenty good quality embryos. We can produce in a year 100 to 150 calves a year,” said Jayadevan Namboothiri, assistant director, animal husbandry department.

While a Gir cow on an average lactates 2,750 to 3,500 litres of milk, progeny from IVF-ET breeding would produce upto 9,000 litres, which is comparable to exotic breeds like Holstein. Murali Nair said when he started out in 2018 and had planned a small farm with six cows. “I started with Gir, which is one of the best milch cows in the world as it gives you the A2 milk. Now I have 145 cows and a well developed niche market,” said Nair. Aaamro also has a diverse range of products including yoghurt, ghee and condensed milk all derived from A2 milk. “Embryo Transfer ensures that the best genetics is created in our farm. If there are 10 cows in my farm and only two are best, instead of waiting for this cow to give birth every year, I can create multiple calves from the same progeny with high milk yield in a shorter time period,” aid Murali Nair.

The farm, which has branded products as A2Mate, has facilities for DNA extraction and chromosome mapping of all cows. It also uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines for viral disease identification and Near Infrared (NIR) tech for assessing the quality of silage and cattle feed to avoid presence of Aflatoxins and pesticides.

Read: Breeding Policy for Buffaloes and Cattle Revised

Source: The article is extracted from The Times of India, June 26, 2020.