India's first batch of IVF buffalo calves born amidst Covid-19 lockdown

J K Trust, a social initiative of Raymond Group, on Thursday announced the birth of India's first batch of IVF buffalo calves at a farm near Pune which it said will help multiplication of superior animals.

The five calves were born from four buffaloes at Sonawane buffalo farm in Daund district near Pune. Also, this is the first case of twin buffalo calves born through IVF in the country, J K Trust said in a statement.

These calves are of the Murrah breed, which is one of the world's most renowned buffalo breeds.

This first of its kind initiative was pioneered by JKBovagenix, an NGO working in the field of animal husbandry and is currently implementing 'Cattle and Buffalo Breed Improvement Programme' across the country.

The organisation has been producing calves from cows through IVF and now has found success in producing calves from buffalo by deploying assisted reproductive technology (ART).

I am delighted with the milestone achieved by JKBovegenix under the aegis of Raymond Group to produce buffalo calves through IVF. This is one of its kind initiatives that upholds the potential to give a significant boost to our national dairy production.

It is imperative that in today's context we conserve our indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds, as the milk given by them contain higher nutritional value to fight diseases, Raymond Group chairman and managing director Gautam Hari Singhania said.

Also, increasing the Indian dairy produce can usher in more growth at the grass-root level across Indian villages, he added.

J K Trust has been pivotal for establishing 94 IVF pregnancies from a Gir Donor cow 'GAURI' in a span of 16 months (from April 2019 to July 2020), the statement said.

This initiative will pave the way for rapid multiplication of superior animals at a much faster pace.

India has more than 109 million buffaloes that are 56 per cent of the world's buffalo population. India is also home to Murrah, one of the world's most renowned buffalo breeds and using ART in buffaloes can enable India to multiply the population of genetically superior buffaloes resulting in higher quantity milk yield.

"Though IVF in buffaloes is comparatively more difficult than cows, the latest ART needs to be popularized and should be used in buffaloes," J K Trust CEO Shyam Zawar said.

JKBovaGenix has been instrumental for the first IVF calf in India from frozen IVF embryo (named as Krishna) on January 9, 2017.