Motherhood is a universally cherished experience, regardless of breed or kind or species. Yet sometimes it also results in a great deal of disappointment. But when the Amul dairy’s efforts to get cows pregnant during the first artificial insemination (AI) cycle met with great success, it was all worthy news. This was accomplished using a technique that was created locally as part of the cow breeding initiative at the Ode semen station of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited.
As just one out of three tries to get the bovine pregnant succeeds, the national average conception rate of AI now stands at 3:1. By employing thawing machines that are mounted to the bikes or two-wheelers of AI employees, Amul dairy has already increased the conception rate of cows to 2:1 during the previous couple of years.
By using water that is often heated in regular kitchenware, the AI workers in the Indian dairy industry traditionally defrost the frozen semen (which is at minus 196 degrees) to the proper room temperature before inseminating the cow in heat with it.
“This (boiling water in utensils) was not done in a sanitary or methodical way. Therefore, we first created thawing equipment that can quickly raise frozen semen’s temperature to the necessary 37 degrees. Our AI employees are outfitted with 1,200 thawing units that are attached to the batteries of their bicycles and don’t need a power source to operate. This action enabled us to increase the conception rate to 2:1, according to Amit, managing director of Amul dairy.
“We have also created a tiny camera and gun that are implanted within the animal’s organ to determine the precise position of the semen implantation. The experiments have been ongoing for the last several months, and we have had success in our attempts to conceive on the first try, said Vyas, who added that the results may be viewed on an android phone’s mobile screen.
The new technology, according to Chairman Ramsinh Parmar, would lessen the strain on dairy producers. “A farmer loses somewhere between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000 for every AI cycle that fails. According to him, new technologies will enable farmers to save costs. The milk union has currently created two of these devices. Our goal is to provide our AI staff 1,200 of these devices, according to Vyas.
He said that since the dairy began putting a 2.2 percent mineral combination in the cow feed, the conception rate in female cattle is also improving. “Overall, the illness level has decreased to 10-15 percent,” said Vyas.