The Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB) will be upgraded as centre of excellence for conserving indigenous breeds, said Minister for Animal Husbandry K. Raju here on Saturday.
Inaugurating KLDB’s indigenous cow hub project at the Oachira Parabrahma temple ground, he said the government had been implementing many projects to ensure the comprehensive development of agriculture in the Onattukara region.
“Currently there is a dip in the number of indigenous breeds and the government is trying to address the issue. Along with implementing the new breeding policy, discussions are on to develop breeds that can adapt to the changing weather conditions of Kerala,” he said.
The KLDB is currently distributing frozen semen of Vechur and Kasaragod Dwarf bulls to all artificial insemination centres in the State to conserve the breeds.
As part of the efforts to protect indigenous breeds, a large number of Vechur calves were produced in 2017 at Kayamkulam in connection with a special project and the KLDB has been buying calves from there.
Embryo transfer
In a bid to increase the number of Vechur and Sahiwal breeds, the board is also implementing an embryo transfer programme. The Centre had sanctioned ₹2.48 crore for the project which started in 2018 at Mattupatty and six calves were born as part of the project. “Onattukara will be developed as a cow hub by systematically increasing the number of indigenous breeds,” the Minister said. He handed over indigenous calves, free fodder and financial assistance for renovating cattle sheds to the beneficiaries of the project. R. Ramachandran, MLA, presided over the function. Jose James, managing director, KLDB, presented the project.
