American semen falls short on promise of delivering female calves

The animal husbandry department had last year imported 5,000 doses of sexed semen from leading artificial insemination cooperatives in the US. The animal breeding solution guaranteed 90 per cent female offspring. The Punjab Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association was its largest importer in the country with nearly 20,000 doses.

However,the sperm count in the costlier sexed semen is one-tenth of the normal. So,against a conception rate of up to 45 to 50 per cent in a dose of normal semen,it averages to less than 30 per cent in second and subsequent pregnancies with sexed semen. In the first pregnancy,the success rate has been up to 40 per cent.

The difference in cost is 10-fold. Each sexed semen dose costs a dairy farmer between $20 to $25 (Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500) as against $2 (Rs 120) for normal semen. The animal husbandry department says the problem lies with the semen sorting technology. “The sperm count in sexed semen is 2 million compared to nearly 20 million in normal semen. In sexed semen,lots of sperm is wasted during chromosome sorting —- the X (female) chromosomes of bulls are separated from the Y (male) and the latter are simply discarded. Since millions of sperms are wasted,it brings the conception rate down,” says animal husbandry director H S Sandha.

Despite the low conception rates,many still line up for the sexed semen. The department this year would be placing an order for 30,000 doses. The stock,says Sandha,will last for six months to one year. “We will be importing more this year. The well-to-do dairy farmers are aware of the low conception rate but still do not mind paying up as they feel they will recover the cost if it helps breed a female calf,” Sandha adds.

However,the Punjab Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association,which has 6,000 members,contends that the sexed semen comes with the recommendation that it is “most effective” in the first calving owing to the low sperm count. “In the first calving,the conception rate through sexed semen is as high as 65 per cent. So it helps ensure that the first calf is a female. It is not only ensuring more females,it is also helping farmers in breed improvement as the semen is procured from the best bulls in the US. It is very popular among progressive dairy farmers and 40 per cent of farmers associated with us have opted for it,” says association president Daljit Singh.

But it has sparked a desi versus videsi debate in Punjab with the Gausewa Board — formed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to humour its ally,the BJP — opposing such imports that claim to guarantee female progeny. “Sexed semen is just a hype created by large multinational coperatives. The department has wasted crores of rupees on importing it but when we ask the officials if it is producing more cows,they have no answers. When it cannot guarantee a female calf,is it not a total waste of money?” asks Kimti Bhagat,the board chairman.

Bhagat is part of a four-member committee formed by the CM this year under former BJP minister Tikshan Sud to frame a policy for finding a shelter for stray cows. He also blames the imported breed for the rise in the population of strays. “Unlike our indigenous varieties such as ‘Sahnewal’ which can bear children and give milk for 15 to 17 years,the imported breeds like Holstein and Jersey give more milk but have fewer child-births and lesser years of lactation. They are then left to starve on the roads,” he adds.

American semen falls short on promise of delivering female calves

However,the Punjab Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association,which has 6,000 members,contends that the sexed semen comes with the recommendation that it is “most effective” in the first calving owing to the low sperm count. “In the first calving,the conception rate through sexed semen is as high as 65 per cent. So it helps ensure that the first calf is a female. It is not only ensuring more females,it is also helping farmers in breed improvement as the semen is

procured from the best bulls in the US. It is very popular among progressive dairy farmers and 40 per cent of farmers associated with us have opted for it,” says association president Daljit Singh.

But it has sparked a desi versus videsi debate in Punjab with the Gausewa Board — formed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to humour its ally,the BJP — opposing such imports that claim to guarantee female progeny. “Sexed semen is just a hype created by large multinational coperatives. The department has wasted crores of rupees on importing it but when we ask the officials if it is producing more cows,they have no answers. When it cannot guarantee a female calf,is it not a total waste of money?” asks Kimti Bhagat,the board chairman.

Bhagat is part of a four-member committee formed by the CM this year under former BJP minister Tikshan Sud to frame a policy for finding a shelter for stray cows. He also blames the imported breed for the rise in the population of strays. “Unlike our indigenous varieties such as ‘Sahnewal’ which can bear children and give milk for 15 to 17 years,the imported breeds like Holstein and Jersey give more milk but have fewer child-births and lesser years of lactation. They are then left to starve on the roads,” he adds.