Union Minister of Animal Husbandry on Friday met the ‘Vicky Donor’ among the Cows-‘Samadhi’ and ‘Gauri’, who have produced more than 225 calves using IVF technology at JK Trust Bovegejiz Pune.

Both the cows had earned more than Rs 2.5 crore for the Centre (Rs one lakh for a calf) in less than a year by donating their ‘Oocytes’ to produce one of the best cow breeds.

The minister, who is on his visit to Pune, took personal interest in meeting cows ‘Samadhi’ and ‘Gauri’ who have produced 100 and 125 calves respectively in just one year. Both the cows are from a rare native Sahiwal breed cow, which is considered to be one of the best milch cattle breeds of India.

The scientists from Bovegejix extracted Oocytes from the Sahiwal breed cow at the Dr Vijaypat Singhania Centre of Excellence for Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Livestock’.

“I had the opportunity to have first-hand visual experience of the extraction of Oocytes from a Sahiwal breed cow at the Dr. Vijaypat Singhania Centre of Excellence for Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Livestock,” the Minister said after meeting the two ‘Vicky Donor’ cows.

“I had the pleasure of meeting ‘Samadhi’ and ‘Gauri’ Sahiwal mother cows who have produced 100 and 125 calves. Each calf was sold at the cost of Rs. 1 lakh,” the Minister said.

The Minister further emphasized on the adoption of latest technologies to multiply India’s rare native breeds, who are not easily available these days. He also asked to explore the immense possibilities of revenue generation and a sustainable model of production of calves through IVF technology.

Bova Genix had taken the initiative to introduce IVF and ET Technologies for multiplication of genetically superior Cows and Buffaloes with a focus on selected indigenous Cattle Breeds.

The Sahiwal breed derived its name from Sahiwal area in Montgomery district of Punjab in Pakistan. These animals are also known as “Lambi Bar”, “Lola”, “Montgomery”, “Multani”, and “Teli”. The animals are very good for specialized dairy purpose and good herds

Average milk yield of Sahiwal cows is 2325 kilograms but in some cases, the yield is as high as 6000 liters under organized farm conditions. Considering its importance, these breeds are being imported mainly to Australia and were used in developing a synthetic crossbred called Australian Milking Zebu (AMZ) cattle.