: Representatives of the ‘Milk Mission project’ from the University of Pennsylvania met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Wednesday.
On the occasion, Mr. Naidu said that the government was focussing on saving the pure Ongole breed bull and the Punganur dwarf cow from extinction. Artificial insemination in animal procedures were successful in only 50 per cent cases.
However, the milk production was 8 to 10 litres in animals born with the AI procedure, he said.
Mr. Naidu explained to the representatives of the ‘Milk Mission Project’ the steps taken by the government to address the issues in the dairy industry. Agriculture and allied sectors, especially animal husbandry, were chief contributors to the State’s GSDP.
Advanced tech
Representatives from the University of Pennsylvania told the Chief Minister that the introduction of genetics would result in superior animal production performance and high genetic IVF embryo would allow mass production of female buffaloes. The introduction of advanced technologies such as sexed semen technology would increase cattle reproduction.
It was decided that these representatives would take up the responsibility to train dairy farmers, veterinary doctors and also scientists from agricultural universities on the best practices to be adapted in nutrition and management.
The joint collaboration between the Andhra Pradesh government and the University of Pennsylvania is said to improve the dairy industry and enhance the sustainability of dairy farms across Andhra Pradesh.
Professor of Animal Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Dr. David Galligan, Assistant Professor Dr. Deepti Pitta, and Director Dr. Victor Absolen Medina were present.
