Ahmedabad, Mar 12: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has flown 50 young pregnant buffaloes, accompanied by a veterinary expert, by a chartered flight from Ahmedabad to Bangkok as a gift to Thailand. The herd would form the foundation stock for upgrading the local buffaloes there to produce more milk in subsequent generations. A small urea molasses block plant has also been airlifted to churn 1.5 metric tonnes of feed supplement per day, says an NDDB press release issued here on Wednesday.These buffaloes, belonging to the Mehsani breed, producing an average of seven litres of milk per day with 7 per cent fat and 9 per cent solid non-fat (SNF), were purchased from the farmers of Mehsana district and selected by a four-member experts team from Thailand which visited India in January. They were tested negative for all diseases, confined to a quarantine for 30 days before loading on to the aircraft.
The gift was promised to Thai king Bhumibhol Adulyadhej by NDDB chairperson Amrita Patel and formerchairman V Kurien during their visit to Thailand in July last, on an invitation of the latter to replicate the Amul or Anand success story in Thailand.
NDDB also proposes to gift 500 doses of frozen semen each of Murrah and Mehsani breeds of buffaloes, 300 doses of Holstein Friesian breed of cattle and 1,000 pads of Mastitis strips for farmers to detect inflamation of the udder.
Two vets of Government of Thailand are undergoing training at present at NDDB laboratory in frozen semen and embryo transfer technology, the release adds.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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