(a) To complement and supplement efforts made by the States and Union Territories to enhance infrastructure for indigenous cattle breeding, Government of India has taken following steps under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission to enhance infrastructure for Indigenous cattle breeding:

(i) Strengthening of semen stations: In order to attain quantitative and qualitative improvement in semen production funds has been released to the States for strengthening and modernization of semen stations. So far, funds have been sanctioned for strengthening 47 semen station in the country.

(ii) Sex-Sorted Semen production facility: Sex sorted semen production has been created in the country for production of only female calves upto 90% accuracy. Five semen stations in Government sector (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh) are operational. So far 58.67 lakh doses of sex sorted semen has been produced at Government semen stations assisted under Rashtriya Gokul Mission

(iii) Establishment of IVF labs: For the first time in India, bovine IVF technology has been promoted for the development and conservation of indigenous breeds. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has established 22 IVF laboratories to support the promotion of indigenous breeds across the country. So far, 25895 embryos produced, 14145 embryos transferred and 2105 calves produced.

(iv) Multi-purpose Artificial Insemination Technicians in Rural India (MAITRI): MAITRIs are trained and equipped to deliver quality artificial insemination services at farmers’ doorsteps and so far 38,736 MAITRIs trained and equipped in the country.

(v) Gokul Grams: The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, under Rashtriya Gokul Mission has released funds for setting up of 16 “Gokul Grams” with the aim of conservation and development of indigenous bovine breeds in a scientific and holistic manner. The activity has been discontinued under revised realigned Rashtriya Gokul Mission from 2021-22 to 2025-26

(vi) National Kamdhenu Breeding Centers : The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has established two National Kamdhenu Breeding Centers as repository of germplasm of Indigenous Bovine Breeds and to take up development and conservation of indigenous breeds in scientific and holistic manner  under Rashtriya Gokul Mission. The Northern Region National Kamdhenu Breeding Center has been established at Kiratpur, Itarsi, in Madhya Pradesh and the Southern Region National Kamdhenu Breeding Center has been established at Chintaladevi, Nellore, in Andhra Pradesh.

The State-wise details of the infrastructure projects funded under Rashtriya Gokul Mission is at Annexure-I

(b) The specific measures introduced to support small and marginal farmers including members of dairy cooperatives under the scheme are as follows:

(i) Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme: The programme aims to enhance AI coverage and deliver quality Artificial Insemination (AI) services free of cost at farmers doorsteps using semen from high-genetic-merit bulls, including indigenous bovine breeds.

(ii) Accelerated Breed Improvement Programme (ABIP)

(a)  Sex-Sorted Semen:   This program aims to produce female calves with up to 90% accuracy, thereby enhancing breed improvement and increasing farmers' income. Incentive upto 50% of the cost of sex sorted semen is available to farmers including small and marginal farmers engaged in dairying. Recently indigenously developed sex sorted semen production technology has been launched  and with this technology cost of sex sorted semen will be reduced from Rs 800 to Rs 250/ dose.

(b) IVF Technology: For the first time in India, bovine IVF technology has been promoted for the development and conservation of indigenous breeds. An incentive of ₹5,000 per assured pregnancy out of the total cost of ₹ 21,000 per assured pregnancy is provided to farmers under this program to encourage the development of indigenous breeds.

(iii) Multi-purpose Artificial Insemination Technicians in Rural India (MAITRI): MAITRIs are trained and equipped to deliver quality artificial insemination services at farmers’ doorsteps

(iv) Launch of Indigenously Developed Genomic Chip: For the first time, a genomic chip has been developed and launched under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for indigenous breeds. This common genomic chip is significantly contributing to the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds through identification of High genetic Merit bulls.

The implementation of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and other initiatives by the Government of India have resulted in a significant 63.5% increase in milk production over the past decade, rising from 146.31 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 239.3 million tonnes in 2023-24. During this period, productivity across all animal categories, including descript, non-descript cattle, buffaloes, and crossbred cattle, improved by 26.35%, while indigenous and non-descript cattle saw a 39.37% increase, with productivity rising from 927 kg per animal per year in 2014-15 to 1292 kg in 2023-24. During the same period, Milk production from indigenous cattle surged by 69.27%, growing from 29.48 million tonnes to 49.90 million tonnes, and buffalo milk production increased by 39.73%, from 74.70 million tonnes to 104.38 million tonnes. Additionally, the number of milking animals rose by 30.46%, from 85.66 million in 2014-15 to 111.76 million in 2023-24.

(c) The initiatives being taken by the Department to promote the export of value-added dairy products derived from indigenous breeds are as follows:

(i) National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM): The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) along with NDDB has developed database named as “Bharat Pashudhan” under NDLM of Rashtriya Gokul Mission. This database has been developed utilizing a unique 12-digit Tag ID allocated to each livestock animal, 34.20 crore animals have been registered on the database.  All the stakeholders are connected to the same database through an open source API based architecture. NDLM is an initiative towards maintaining traceability of livestock thereby promoting export possibilities of value-added dairy products derived from indigenous breeds.

(ii) Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme: The scheme is implemented for providing assistance for control of animal diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease, Brucellosis and also to provide assistance to State Governments for Control of other infectious diseases of livestock including dairy animals. Mobile Veterinary Units are established under the scheme to deliver quality livestock health services at farmers doorstep. The scheme is an initiative of the Department towards creating disease-free zones in the country thereby creating market opportunity for export of livestock products.

(iii) Export promotion and certification of livestock products including value added dairy products is mandated to the APEDA and EIC under Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Department has also taken up the issues related to export and market access of Indian Dairy products with various countries bilaterally through various platform such as Joint Working Group (JWG), Technical Working Group etc

This information was given by Union Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 1^st April, 2025.

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