Uttarakhand plans genetic enhancement of its indigenous Badri cow

Subject : Environment

Context-

To increase the productivity of its indigenous petite Badri cow, which grazes on the medicinal herbs of the Himalayas, Uttarakhand is now planning for its genetic enhancement.

About the Badri cow-

The Badri breed derived its name from the holy shrine of Char Dham at Badrinath.
Possessing a balanced gait for the hills, this cattle breed is small in size with long legs and varied body colours – black, brown, red, white or grey.
This breed is comparatively more resistant to diseases, mostly due to its eating habits.
It eats medicinal herbs, and is far away from toxic pollution, polythene and other harmful things that cows in the plains are subject to.
Its milk has rich medicinal content and high organic value.
Badri cow products are being sold online by Hetha Organics and Badri Ghee is sold by the Uttarakhand Cooperative Dairy Federation under their brand name ‘Anchal’.

Need for genetic enhancement-

Badri cow is the first registered cattle breed of Uttarakhand which has been certified by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR).
Its milk production capacity is quite less as it gives one to three litres of milk per day.
To make the farmers of Uttarakhand breed Badri and not shift to other high milk-producing alternative breeds like Jersey cows, genetic enhancement is necessary.
Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET), a conventional embryo flush, which is the most common procedure used in advanced cattle breeding will be used for this purpose.

The technology to be used is-

Sex-sorted semen technology to improve production.
Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET) to produce more cattle of high genetic stock.