The Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday inaugurated an in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre for boosting milk production in the state. Launching the centre, chief minister Raman Singh said that government will spread the use of this technology across the state so that the entire state can benefit from this scheme.
The newly launched JK Bova Genix in Gopalnagar village of Jajgir-Champa district will focus on producing IVF embryos on a large scale from indigenous cattle breeds. Singh, after the launch spoke to media and said, “JK trust is doing an amazing job for Chhattisgarh and the nation. They are producing good breed of cattle using IVF technology. Even local breeds can give more milk. This can bring about a change in Chhattisgarh. We can experiment on local varieties of cows.” He added, “The IVF is an expensive technology; it is just like test tube babies. Both embryo and sperm are kept in nitrogen to preserve it for over 100 years.”
Singh also elaborated his plans to open more veterinary colleges and universities to enhance the scientific temperament and aid research facilities in the state. “We have also started a mobile unit. We would like to spread it across Chhattisgarh. We would like to involve even veterinary colleges and universities in it. We are looking forward to signing an MoU so that we take it to all the districts of the state,” he said.
The IVF technology involves creating embryos using the ova from donor mother’s ovary of indigenous cow breeds like Gir and combining it with male semen of the same breed. The embryos created in lab are later transplanted into surrogate cows to produce high pedigree cattle.
Artificial insemination technique is one of the assisted reproductive technologies that the Centre is promoting to conserve indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds.
