Only Female Calves or Heifers Will Born with the Use of Sex Sorted Semen

Promoting artificial insemination in cattle, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh said on Wednesday that “it will help reduce lynching”.

Explaining the benefits of using sex-sorted semen the minister said that artificially inseminating cows using semen from genetically superior bulls would also improve the fertility and milk production capacity of the calves they produce, thus incentivizing farmers to keep them longer rather than abandoning them.

“This will help reduce lynching,” he told in front of media and stressed that if cattle were not left to stray, then the possibility of such problems would be lowered.

The mechanization of agriculture has already led to the increasing obsolescence of bulls. Bans on cow and cattle slaughter, as well as instances of cow-related vigilantism and lynching, have led to a collapse in the value of non-productive cows as well, forcing farmers to abandon them. Stray cattle have become a menace and cause major problems in many States, destroying crops and causing accidents in the road.

Stressing over the problem of stray cattle, Mr. Singh also said the government was exploring models to deal with the issue and hoped to provide solutions within the next six months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch a major six-month drive to promote artificial insemination in cattle in on  11^th September over 600 districts which have less than 50% coverage of the technology. Currently, the national coverage is only 30%, though some states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu use artificial insemination rates for more than 70% of their cattle.

A senior Ministry official explained that a nominal investment of ₹350 per pregnancy would result in extremely high returns. Artificial insemination can triple milk production rates, especially for the vast majority of non-descript indigenous cows, and improve the overall quality of the cattle.

Only four centers including two owned by the government currently have engaged in producing such semen. The Union Minister said that the government would soon open 11 such centers across the country to promote widespread adoption of the technology and reduce costs. “To begin with, we are targeting 30 lakh doses per year,” he said.