Lalitpur, July 16
The Department of Livestock Services has distributed 48,856 doses of semen to dairy farmers with the aim of improving buffalo breeds and increasing milk production. The semen was collected from 15 Murrah breed of buffalo studs. Murrah is an advanced breed of buffalo known for high milk production. It originally comes from the Punjab and Haryana states of India. This buffalo breed is considered very profitable commercially.
Dr Indira Sharma, the department’s information officer, said that so far a total of 130,424 doses of semen have been collected from Murrah bulls received as gifts from the Government of India three years back. She said that 48,856 doses of semen were distributed to various livestock service centres across the country for artificial insemination purposes. According to her, the semen doses were collected from 15 Murrah bulls, including seven at the Animal Breeding Office Pokhara, five at the Animal Breeding Office Lahan, and three at the Animal Breeding Office Nepalgunj.
“Semen collection and distribution of semen from Murrah bulls has been ongoing. Calves have started being born through artificial insemination. But it’s not possible to draw any conclusions right now about how much milk production has increased from artificial insemination of Murrah breed semen and breed improvement,” Dr Sharma said.
A Murrah breed buffalo can give between 4,000 and 5,000 litres of milk in a single lactation period, whereas local breed buffaloes from various regions of Nepal give on average between 1,500 and 1,600 litres of milk. The Department of Livestock Services has stated that with the expansion of artificial insemination technology, high-quality breed buffaloes will be produced, farmers’ production costs will decrease, and milk production will increase, making animal husbandry more commercial.
