Baba Ramdev's Patanjali plans to use artificial insemination to produce 92 per cent female calves

NEW DELHI: Baba Ramdev could emerge as India’s champion gau rakshak or cow protector. And no, he won’t be leading any vigilante squads.

Artificial insemination will be his weapon, along with semen from Brazilian bulls and technical support from US and Dutch experts.

The programme will involve sex selection as its unique selling point — producing 92 per cent female offspring.

The preponderance of milch cows will mean fewer animals that could end up in the slaughter house, or so goes the argument. While bulls that have no practical use are liable to be slaughtered, breed improvement through the programme will ensure that milch cattle will have longer productive lives drastically increasing their chances of living out their natural life spans rather than being killed for a paltry sum.

Ramdev’s company Patanjali, rapidly emerging as a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) powerhouse, is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) later this month with Dutch outfit CRV BV, which also has a unit in Brazil. So, what’s so special about bulls from that country?

Ghar Wapsi
“The Brazilians back in the 1940s visited India and taken indigenous cows, which over a period with selective breeding, balanced nutrition and care, had produced a rich pedigree of female and male calves,” said Yashpal Arya, who heads Patanjali’s dairy unit.

“With the use of technology and identification, the Brazillians have maintained a bloodline of proven bulls.” A proven bull is one whose female offspring, as many as 2,000 of them, are analysed over a period of time to ascertain if they have matured into high milk-producing cows.

“Hence, these bulls (in Brazil) are basically Indian indigenous bulls but born and brought up in Brazil.” But it will be ghar wapsi only of the semen, not the bulls themselves.

Ramdev explained there’s another aspect to the programme. “Nasal sudhaar (breed improvement) is the need of the hour,” he told ET. “More milk-producing cows will only add to improvement of the economy.

We need to improve the pedigree of cows by giving them rich feed and taking proper care of them.” Patanjali will establish an ecosystem for the programme by signing MoUs with owners of gaushalas, private cow farms and franchise farms.

A team has already identified gaushalas in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gurgaon that have agreed to artificial insemination and breed improvement. Arya said two kinds of semen will be imported, with the “sexed” version priced at twice the conventional variety. “It is the sexed semen acquired by the help of technology that ensures that 92 per cent of the total calves produced by artificial insemination will be females,” Arya told ET. The project will be executed in four stages, a company executive said.

“Firstly, setting up a breeding goal for indigenous cow population in franchise farms. Secondly, improving genetic level of the indigenous cow population by artificial insemination. Thirdly, identification and registration of cows by giving them unique identification numbers and recording their milk production. Lastly, setting up a bull station and genomics laboratory where ‘proven’ bulls will be identified,” he said.

The company will also look to indigenise the programme. “Patanjali will attempt to come up with a swadeshi technology for breed improvement of cows in the country,” said the person cited above.