Govt’s big artificial insemination mission to boost milk productivity

New Delhi: Laying the foundation stone of the frozen semen station in Maranga, Purnea, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Radha Mohan Singh said that the frozen semen station is being set up at a cost of Rs 64 crore under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission with 100 percent contribution from the Central Government. Out of this, Rs 20 crore has already been released.

Mr Singh further stressed on the fact that the artificial insemination techniques can increase milk production and productivity. “Currently, the artificial insemination is being done by CMOFED (Sudha) in Bihar. For artificial insemination, semen from high genetic merit bulls is needed,” he said.

The Minister stated that this is the government after Independence that has been taking concrete steps for the welfare of farmers at the grassroot level. He elaborated: “To improve the condition of farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a resolve to double their income by 2022 and in order to achieve this, the Ministry of Agriculture along with the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries is working wholeheartedly.”

Mr Singh elaborated that the frozen semen station in Purnea will be the first state-of-the-art semen production center of the country. The center will develop highly modern bull shade, semen processing lab, feed and godown, agricultural equipment, and other facilities. In this, 300 high genetic merit bulls will be kept and 50 lakhs of semen dose will be produced per year. Red Sindhi, Bachaur, Gangatiri, Sahiwal breeds will also be kept. With the establishment of this semen station, milk productivity of cows and buffaloes will increase rapidly in the state.

The Minister said the Rashtriya Gokul Mission was initiated in December 2014 with an aim to conserve and develop indigenous breeds. Proposals from Bihar under Rashtriya Gokul Mission in 2015 and 2017 have been approved with a sum of 133.26 crore. Under the scheme, Rs 52.40 crore has been released to the state.