Agri Min inaugurates IVF lab for cattle in Palampur

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, January 8

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Chander Kumar Chaudhary inaugurated an In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) laboratory at Palampur. Himachal Pradesh government has given funds amounting to Rs 1.91 lakh for the setting up of this lab in the premises of the animal husbandry complex at Palampur.

Speaking on the occasion on Tuesday, Chander Kumar said, “The indigenous cattle can adapt very easily to the local environment as against crossbred cattle, the Himachal government will now promote indigenous cattle for milk production even though the milk production of crossbred cattle is known to be higher”.

“As there are less milk-producing indigenous cattle, the state government has decided to adopt the ovum pick-up and in-vitro fertilisation (OPU-IVF) technique to increase the population of such cattle. We need to promote these breeds as it will give additional income to small farmers and at the same time, good quality milk to the citizens,”he said.

“The IVF technique will be a boon for increasing the indigenous cattle population for milk production. At present, the IVF technique is a little expensive but once the number of cows increases, the technique will become cheaper, with farmers being able to adopt it at nominal costs,” Minister said.

The minister asked the veterinary scientists to take this technique to the farmers to make it more popular in the state instead of confining it to the labs. He said at present, milk was being bought from the adjoining states. The veterinary experts should make earnest efforts to boost milk production in the state. They should also take technical support from Veterinary and Animal Sciences College of Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University.

Speaking on the occasion, local MLA Ashish Butail thanked the minister for setting up the lab in Palampur.