Center of Excellence for Breed Improvement of Animals

• 20 Jul 2022

Why in News?

• On July 19, 2022, Haryana's Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister J.P. Dalal told the media that a Center of Excellence would be set up in Hisar with the help of Brazil to make the farmers of Haryana self-reliant and to improve the breed of animals.

Key Points

• Minister J.P. Dalal said that a Center of Excellence would be set up in Haryana in collaboration with Embrapa, Brazil for the development of indigenous breed of cows. Gir germplasm (semen/embryos) will be imported from Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders (ABCZ).
• In addition, the possibilities of exporting quality Murrah germplasm to Alta Genetics, a genomics company from Brazil, will be explored.
• Members of the Indo-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce have been invited to explore business opportunities in the agriculture sector in Haryana. There will also be joint research and exchange of technologies like Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT) and In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) besides further strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship in the field of dairy development and improvement of indigenous cattle breeds in the state.
• The Minister said that a centre will also be opened in the state by a Canadian company to increase the amount of protein in the animal feed, under which a delegation of this company will visit Haryana soon and then a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed.
• Giving information about his visit to Brazil, Minister J.P. Dalal told that in the year 1911, the Raja of Bhavnagar had donated Gir breed cows to Brazil and after that Brazil worked in the breed improvement of these cows.
• It is worth noting that the Girlando breed has been developed by improving the Gir cow breed in Brazil, which gives an average of 15 liters of milk, in which 99 percent of the genetics are found from the Gir cow of India.