New Delhi, September 12 (H.S.): A major breakthrough has been achieved in the conservation and genetic improvement of Uttarakhand’s indigenous Badri cattle breed with the birth of a healthy Badri female calf through advanced reproductive technologies, including ovum pick-up (OPU) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The calf was born on September 11, 2026, at the Academic Dairy Farm.

A key aspect of this achievement is that an embryo derived from a Badri cow was transferred into a Sahiwal cow. Following the successful embryo transfer, the Sahiwal recipient cow gave birth to a healthy Badri female calf. The Badri cow is the state animal of Uttarakhand and is regarded as an important indigenous animal genetic resource of the state.

The experiment was carried out jointly by the ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (ICAR-NDRI), Karnal, and Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar. The project received financial support from the Uttarakhand State Council for Biotechnology, Haldi.

Dr. Dheer Singh, Director of ICAR-NDRI, said in a statement on Saturday that advanced reproductive technologies such as OPU-IVF can be used to produce a large number of embryos from genetically superior female animals. This can help accelerate the multiplication of elite Badri germplasm compared with conventional breeding methods.

The research programme was initiated in 2023 under the initiative and leadership of Dr. M.S. Chauhan, the then Vice-Chancellor of GB Pant University. Subsequently, scientists from Pantnagar University and ICAR-NDRI worked towards developing OPU-IVF, embryo production and embryo transfer technologies specifically for the Badri cattle breed.

Oocytes Collected from Superior Badri Cows

As part of the programme, oocytes were collected with the help of ultrasound from genetically valuable Badri cows. The oocytes were matured in the laboratory and fertilised using semen from a genetically superior Badri bull sourced from the Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board.

After the embryos were developed under controlled laboratory conditions, they were transferred into suitably prepared Sahiwal and other recipient cows at the appropriate stage. Through this process, a Sahiwal recipient cow successfully gave birth to a healthy Badri female calf.

According to the scientific team, another prepared crossbred recipient cow is also expected to give birth to a Badri calf within the next five to seven days.

For the conservation and genetic improvement of the Badri breed, scientists are now also working on cloning superior and higher-yielding Badri cows. During the course of the research, they have successfully developed cloned Badri embryos.

In the next phase, there are plans to transfer embryos produced through OPU-IVF and cloning into suitable recipient cows of Sahiwal, crossbred and Badri breeds. The objective is to rapidly multiply elite Badri germplasm and promote the long-term conservation and genetic improvement of this indigenous breed.

Scientists believe that combining modern reproductive technologies with indigenous genetic resources could contribute to sustainable livestock development in the Himalayan region.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar