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Punjab’s first ‘sexed semen’ unit to come up at Nabha

The Punjab government expects that producing only female calves will lessen the financial burden on dairy farmers and they will stop abandoning male calves on the streets. The project is being funded under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

Punjab  stray cattle, stray cattle in punjab, Punjab cows, sexed semen for cows, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, India news, indian express news Male calves are often abandoned or killed after birth. File

GRAPPLING WITH the issue of over a lakh stray cattle roaming the streets, Punjab has planned to install its first US technology-driven “sexed semen” lab cum production facility for cattle at its ‘Semen Station’ in Nabha, Patiala, which is run by the Punjab Livestock Development Board (PLDB).

It will be the first such facility in Punjab where “sexed semen” straws will be produced for dairy farmers so that only female calves are born. The Punjab government expects that producing only female calves will lessen the financial burden on dairy farmers and they will stop abandoning male calves on the streets. The project is being funded under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission on a 60:40 ratio by central and state governments, respectively.

‘Sexed semen’ straws are produced after ‘X’ and ‘Y’ chromosomes from the bull semen are identified and thereafter separated. There are two techniques — semen sorting and killing — to produce sexed semen with ‘X’ chromosome only. Under the sorting technique, ‘X’ and ‘Y’ chromosome sperms are sorted and separated, thereafter ‘X’ are retained and ‘Y’ discarded. In the other technique, ‘Y’ chromosome sperms are altogether killed instead of sorting. Both technologies are currently being pioneered by two US-based companies, who install units after taking royalty amounts.

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Punjab is planning to produce sexed semen straws for both foreign and indigenous breeds.

While US-based Sexing Technologies (ST) is a pioneer in ‘semen sorting’ technology, the other American company, ABS Global, uses a “cutting-edge technique” that involves killing the ‘Y’ chromosome sperms.

Festive offer

Punjab has proposed its first sexed semen production plant at its ‘semen bank’ in Nabha at the cost of approximately Rs 47 crore, of which the first installment of Rs 18 crore has already been sanctioned under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission by the central government.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dr Inderjeet Singh, director, animal husbandry, Punjab and additional CEO, PLDB, said, “We have proposed the state’s first sexed semen straws production unit at government-owned semen station cum bank at Nabha in Patiala where we are already producing high quality bull semen for farmers. It will be on 60:40 sharing basis and state government will also release its 40 per cent share. The first installment of Rs 18 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre.”

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While the government is yet to decide which US firm (ST or ABS) will operate the plant, both are going to be a costly affair as government has to pay royalty of at least $10-13 per straw.

“The initial plan is to produce at least 2 lakh straws a year at our unit. We have to pay royalty of at least $10-13 per straw which may cost around Rs 15 crore for a year. Bulls and other infrastructure will be ours but the entire set-up including machinery and other logistics will be installed by the company,” said Dr Singh.

Sources said that the plant’s initial cost including operations, maintenance and other expenses can run up to Rs 50 crore initially.

Till now, farmers in Punjab at their own level (under Progressive Dairy Farmers Association) and the animal husbandry department had been importing sexed semen straws from the US. The state government was providing it to farmers at subsidised rates.

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In India, there are currently just five sexed semen production plants (of which two are in the pipeline) either under ST or ABS. Two are in Maharashtra (one each operate by ST and ABS), one in Uttarakhand (ST operated) and two are in pipeline at Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat (both proposed to be ABS operated).

“We are yet to decide if the Punjab plant will be ST-operated or by ABS but currently these are the only American companies who are leading this technology. We will soon issue global expression of interest and finalise other terms and conditions. Then tenders will be floated,” said Dr Singh. He added that initially focus will be on producing sexed semen for cows as majority of strays on roads are cattle.

He added that it was too early to say if farmers will be given sexed straw for Rs 100 each as announced by Union Minister Giriraj Singh at the 14th PDFA International and Dairy Expo recently. “Even if we pay royalty of $10-13 per straw to the company, it will cost us at least Rs 750 per straw and 50 per cent subsidy will bring it near Rs 350 per straw. It remains to be seen how it can be worked out for Rs 100,” said Singh.

Of the 25.32 lakh cattle population in Punjab as per the Livestock Census 2019, just 4.26 lakh are indigenous breeds and rest are foreign breeds (such as HF) or cross-breeds.

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Cows are usually abandoned on roads after they stop giving milk. Male calves are also abandoned or killed after their birth.

There are nearly 1.25 lakh stray cattle in Punjab.

First uploaded on: 16-12-2019 at 11:48 IST
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