Animal science experts are hopeful of producing more cloned buffalo calves over the next few months. This, despite the fact that the world’s first cloned buffalo calf, born in Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), did not survive beyond six days.
This assumes significance in the light of the fact that the successful launch of cloning is expected to boost yields in the country’s dairy industry.
A senior official with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that the scope of scientific research in cloning will be expanded to include cattle as well. The official said that one of the advantages of the tested cloning technique is that a calf of the “desired sex” could be obtained.
“We need buffaloes with high milk yields for augmenting our milk production over the next few years,” said K M Bujarbaruah, deputy director general (animal science), ICAR. Buffaloes contribute more than 53% of the 104 million tonne annual milk production in the country.
Bujarbaruah said that there were no flaws in ‘hand-guided cloning technology’, and that scientists are trying to ‘perfect or fine tune’ the technology. The cloned female buffalo calf died due to pneumonia on February 12, 2009.
“The indigenously developed cloning technology will be made available to the rest of the country after successful experimentation,” Bujarbaruah told FE. Earlier he had said that there is an acute shortage of ?outstanding? bulls in the country, and the hand guided cloning technology could help produce buffaloes.
India, which is home to more than 56% of world buffalo population, suffers from the scarcity of the superior quality of animal.
This is posing huge challenges in substantially increasing country’s milk production.
According to ICAR, out of around 100 million livestock in the country, 47 millions are buffaloes, 11 million are cross breed and 45 million belong to indigenous cattle varieties.
On a global scale, India has about 16% of the world’s cattle population, 56% of buffalo population and 16.2% of goat population.
According to data from the ministry of agriculture, contribution of livestock to total GDP has increased from 4.8% during 1980-81 to about 6.5% during 2002-03 and is currently at 5.3%.
The contribution of livestock to agriculture GDP has gone up from 13.8% in 1981 to 23.8% during 2002- 2003.
According to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), milk topped in the value of agricultural output in India at Rs 2,00,000 crore.
Milk accounted for approximately 18% of the value of agricultural output in the country.
Also, as per APEDA’s figures, export of processed milk products increased from Rs 358.69 crore during 2004-05 to Rs 395.15 crore during 2006-07.
The exports were made mostly to countries like Bangladesh, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Egypt.
Earlier, last Thursday, scientists at the Animal Biotechnology Centre at NDRI claimed that they had developed the world’s first cloned buffalo calf. However, within hours of the claim, AK Srivatava, director, NDRI, said that “the female calf has died due to pneumonia”.