Sex-sorted semen to ensure 90% female calves, more milk in Maharashtra

NAGPUR: If there are laws preventing gender-based selective elimination of the girl child, here is a state government scheme that ensures doing away with an unwanted male progeny — but for cattle.
The state government has come up with a scheme under which farmers can get sex-sorted semen for artificial insemination of cows and buffaloes at highly subsided rates.The technology separates male sperms from the spermatozoa, this leads to a 90% chance of the animal delivering a female calf.
The government is not only viewing it as a means to increase milk production but also a solution to illegal cattle smuggling following the beef ban. The Maharashtra State Animal Husbandry Board has entered into an agreement with Genus Breeding India Private Limited (ABS India) to buy 6.80 lakh sex-sorted semen doses, at Rs 575 per dose. Based at Pune, this is a subsidiary of UK bovine genetics major Genus PLC. The semen will be made available at a subsidized rate of Rs81 to the farmer. The scheme is an initiative of animal husbandry minister Sunil Kedar.
The state press release said according to 2017 census there 89.04 lakh cows and buffaloes in the state. Out of these, artificial insemination is done on nearly 25 lakh cattle. This produces 13 lakh calves, out of which half are male.
The idea is that male calves are no longer needed as much as earlier so the birth rate can be controlled. With mechanization of agriculture, bullocks are no longer needed for ploughing as it was earlier. These days a male calf born to a cattle rearer has become a burden. The animal is either sold illegally to the slaughter house, or left to stray. Illegal sales leads to clashes with cow vigilantes and cases of violence. “Instead, if there are more chances of having a female calf, it would help the rearers increase their income through higher milk production, and also prevent illegal sale for beef. The farmers would prefer to keep the cows with them,” said a senior official in the state’s animal husbandry department.
The technology is already available and is also encouraged under centre’s National Gokul Mission. The sex-sorted semen is available from two companies. Genus Breeding emerged as the lowest bidder in the tender process following which the agreement has been entered into with it, a source said. Earlier, the plan was to get a transfer of technology, which could not materialize due to intellectual property rights (IPR) issue.
Even as the technology was available, it could not find enough takers due to affordability. The companies charge Rs1,000 to 1,200 per dose. It takes around three doses of artificial insemination for ensuring pregnancy. Since it involved a substantial cost, farmers avoided it, said an official.
Now, under the subsidy scheme, a single dose will be available for Rs81. Out of the Rs575 to be paid to Genus Breeding, Rs 261 will come from the centre, Rs174 from the state and another Rs100 either from milk unions operating in a given area or the state’s animal husbandry board.
Replying to a question, regarding regions like Vidarbha where farmers still depend on bullocks for farming, state’s principal secretary (animal husbandry) Anoop Kumar said it is an optional scheme. Moreover, in the first phase only 2 lakh doses will be made available.
Sajal Kulkarni, an independent activist taking up herders’ issue, said it would have been better if the technology was developed in the country itself. Instead of increasing the population of cows, the government should stress on fodder management and better pricing for milk, he said.