6 days ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Subsidised sex-sorted semen scheme to boost dairy prospects
VIZIANAGARAM: In a significant move to improve milk production by increasing the number of female calves, the Andhra Pradesh Livestock Development Agency (APLDA) is going to supply Sex Sorted Semen (SSS) at a 70% subsidy from July 1 to dairy farmers under the Accelerated Breed Improvement Programme (ABIP).
'Use of sex sorted semen will be a game changer not only for enhancing milk production but also limiting the stray cattle population,' Joint Director of Animal Husbandry, Dr YV Ramana, told TNIE.
Conventional artificial insemination offers only a 50% chance of producing female calves, while sex-sorted semen raises that probability to over 90%. These high genetic merit calves also promise higher milk yields. Vizianagaram has about 3.06 lakh breedable livestock, of which nearly 60% go through heat cycles annually. The department conducts about 2.2 lakh inseminations a year, resulting in around 83,000 calves.
