India-Brazil Technical Cooperation for Higher Production of Indigenous Breeds

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh met a 5-member delegation from Brazil led by Dr. Jose Ribamar Felipe Marques, Director, Buffalo Research and Development, Brazil. The main objective of this meeting was to promote technical cooperation between India and Brazil for the rapid growth of the production and productivity of indigenous breeds. 

On this occasion, the Minister said that the help of Brazil will be sought in Embryo transfer technology (ETT), promotion of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), sex-sorted semen production of Indian indigenous breeds, and training of professionals in the country so that the production and productivity of indigenous breeds can be increased rapidly. He explained that by adopting modern breeding technologies and implementing scientific breeding programs, Brazil has achieved an increase in the productivity of indigenous breeds of India. In this way, genomic chips developed by Brazil can be very useful for implementing a genomic selection for our indigenous breeds. 

Shri Singh informed that in the latest development in breeding techniques, four animal breeding Centers of Excellence (COE) are being set up for ETT, IVF, sex-sorted semen, genomics and training of skilled manpower. These centres will not only serve as training centres but also work as centres of research and development. Germplasm produced at these centres will be made available to all the states. Two Excellence Centers in Kalsi Uttarakhand and Central Agricultural University, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Motihari are being established with the help of Brazil.