Karnataka farmers using breeding tech to get female calves

Karnataka artificially inseminated 37.93 lakh bovines out of which eight lakh calves were born

Preference for female calves and implementation of anti-cow slaughter legislation are pushing farmers to opt for sexing of bull semen in Karnataka. Male calves have become a burden since farmers can neither milk them nor sell them to the beef industry.

According to experts, sexed semen, a technology where the farmer gets to choose the gender of the calf -- in this case female calf, has both positive and negative impacts on the dairy industry. While a section of experts believes it could increase milk production, others say tampering with natural selection could lead to several issues including gender imbalance.

In July-August 2022, the Karnataka Livestock Development Agency (KLDA) of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying released 20,000 sexed semen doses for artificial insemination. Of these, 14,000 have been inseminated. Their results will be out in June or July.

In 2015-16, the department had released 9,000 doses of sexed semen on an experimental basis. This resulted in a 30 per cent conception rate (a normal rate of conceiving in bovine) and 95 per cent success rate in selected gender.

According to the National Dairy Development Board, Karnataka artificially inseminated (not sexing) 37.93 lakh bovines (both cows and buffaloes) out of which eight lakh calves were born. Of them, 4.06 lakh were male and 3.93 lakh female.

Sharanu Sannakki, a farmer in Samshi village in Dharwad, says bulls have become a burden for farmers after agriculture became mechanised. "Monthly maintenance of each calf costs around Rs 1,000. A cow can calve three to four times in her lifetime and if the cow has two male calves, then it would result in losses as we can neither milk them nor sell them to the beef industry," he says.

In the natural selection process, experts say, the probability of male-to-female calf ratio varies from 50:50, 60:40 or 70:30 in favour of males.

Dr Ganesh Hegde, Regional Research Officer at Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and Information Centre, Sirsi, says dairy farming is becoming a commercial industry and farmers are seeking more female calves for better income. "With sex-sorted semen insemination, farmers can now decide on having only cows," he says.

Currently, there are only two multinational companies in India that are providing sexed semen to farmers. While each dose costs Rs 675 to Rs 1,000, the Union and state governments have subsidised it to Rs 100 per insemination. Holstein Friesian (HF) or Jersey cows' sexed semen is available now.

Karnataka has six artificial insemination production units out of which four are operated by KLDA, one by Central Frozen Semen Production and Training Institute (CFSPTI), and one by the Karnataka Milk Federation. CFSPTI in Bengaluru is among the 12 central breed improvement institutes in India that have been working on sexing of bull semen.

Dr B Arun Prasad, Joint Commissioner CFSPTI, says trials are under way to provide sexed bull semen of indigenous breeds to farmers. He claims that this can help in producing cows that are resistant to diseases and that provide a good quality, quantity of milk. "Currently, multinational companies are providing only sex semen to our laboratories and not the technology. We are working on sex sorting of semen of indigenous bulls," he says.

The problems

Uppinangady-based veterinarian Dr Krishna Bhat says, "There is a further need to study the consequences that this technology can have on the behaviour of cattle. Over the last 40 years, I have witnessed that artificial insemination has impacted the 'heat system' and bellowing of cows due to non-physical conceptualisation."

Bhat believes that sexing may affect the oestrous cycle of cattle, conception and production of milk.

KLDA Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Deepak J N says not all breeds of cows will be artificially inseminated with female sex-sorted semen, as maintaining a good number of bulls of certain breeds is necessary. "Use of female sex-sorted semen in artificial insemination will turn out to be beneficial for breeds like Jersey, Holstein Friesian and Malanad Gidda, where the bulls have limited use."

Khillari, Krishna Valley, Amrithmahal, Hallikar and other indigenous breeds will be spared from the use of female sex-sorted semen as the males are being used for draught purposes, he says.