Two more buffalo clones, assisted by Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute?s (NDRI) indigenously evolved low-cost ?hand-guided cloning technique?, will be born by the end of this year.
NDRI director, AK Srivastava told FE that the two mother buffaloes are halfway through their pregnancy, and the calves are expected to be born by November-December. The gestation period of buffaloes is approximately ten months.
On June 6, the first successful buffalo clone of the country?Garima?celebrated her first birthday at NDRI. Srivastava said that the calf is normal and healthy, and will be ready for breeding in a few months.
Garima is being regarded as a major success story in the history of dairy research in the country. After her birth, she was kept in an intensive care unit, under close monitoring round-the-clock. Srivastava pointed out that NDRI scientists have kept a check on Garima?s biochemical, hematological and physiological parameters. ?We have found her to be completely normal on all counts,? he said.
Garima?s health was a major issue for NDRI scientists, because the first buffalo calf cloned at the institute, ?Samrupa? had died of pneumonia when she was six days old. Buffalo cloning, the first experiment of its kind in the world, is being done as part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project, initiated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The cloning project is being carried out under the ministry of agriculture, and NDRI has got a grant of Rs 7 crore for the purpose.
?Our purpose is to ensure an increase in the number of high-yielding buffaloes. India?s Murrah breed of buffaloes is the best in the world, and we can increase the number of high-yield animals only through faster multiplication of their germplasm. Garima is a successful example of our low-cost cloning technique. We will standardize and refine this technique further to produce more male and female buffalo clones through which we can get a good generation of elite animals,? Srivastava added.