In order to increase the numbers of female cows in Bihar, the state government is planning to adopt artificial insemination process. The step is being taken to expand the milk production and also to stop the practice of abandoning males calves by their owner once they become of no use for them.
According to a report in The Indian Express, for the project starting this financial year, Bihar government is providing 45% subsidy to those farmers who are adopting the artificial insemination technique for their cows. Only females calves are born through “sorted semen straw”. As per the experts, this method has a success rate of 90 percent.
Animal and Fisheries Department undersecretary Umashanker Prasad in a letter, on the new scheme, to Principal Accountant General, dated April 26, 2017, stated every year about 24 lakh to 27 lakh cows undergo special insemination.
“It is generally found that farmers are not interested in keeping male calves. As a result, male calves become stray animals and damage standing crops. The state government is of the opinion that growth in cow population should be encouraged for an increase in milk production.”
The Bihar Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (BAIF) Development and Research Foundation have been assigned the job of providing sorted semen to farmers at every panchayat. Farmers will have to pay 55 percent of the total cost and the remaining will be borne by the government.
In two years, 40,000 cows will be artificially inseminated for which government will be giving Rs 2.20 crore in subsidy.The six districts selected for the pilot project are Bhojpur (Ara), Nalanda, Gopalganj, Saran (Chhapra), Buxar and Gaya. The project will be expanded in other districts also depending on the success of the pilot project.
