NDRI to produce 25 clones of elite buffaloes in 4 years

KARNAL: Having successfully produced sixteen cloned calves, researchers at India’s premier National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI, Karnal) have now been given the task of creating at least 25 clones of elite buffalo bulls under its annual cloning technique.

The ₹5.74-crore project, assigned by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), is aimed at improving the buffalo breed with frozen semen and increasing milk production across the country.

As per information, a team of about 200 professionals and scientists of the NDRI, in collaboration with the Central Institute for Research on Buffalo (CIRB), Hisar, will be producing at least 25 elite bulls in the next four years. It is likely to be a challenging task as the success rate of this technique is only 1%.

Talking to HT, Dr Prabhat Palta, the head of animal biotechnology division of the NDRI, said, “This technology could go a long way in helping faster multiplication of superior milch buffaloes in India. Though India has the world’s largest population of buffaloes, which contribute to about 55% of the total milk production in the country, the percentage of elite animals is very low and there is an urgent need to enhance the population of these elite buffaloes.”

He, however, said, “Though creating a clone is not difficult but the survival rate of such animals is very low.”

Dr Palta also said NDRI scientists in Karnal have successfully found a method to produce cloned embryos from tissues obtained from dead animals, including buffalo, cattle and dog.

It is pertinent to mention here that NDRI had produced Garima, the first cloned buffalo calf in February, 2009. After that the NDRI produced several calves of both genders. “There is an acute shortage of good bulls and technology of cloning will decrease this gap between supply and demand of breeding the bulls,” said Dr Palta.