The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) plans to import about 80 Holstein Friesian and Jersey bulls from Denmark as part of strategy to improve the genetic potential of Indian cows under the National Dairy Plan (NDP).

“We have already arrived at what needs to be imported and already contracted. We need to bring them from Denmark,” said NDDB Chairman, T Nanda Kumar. These high genetic merit bulls are selected based on the milk yields that their mothers have given — anything above 30 litres per day, he said.

Boosting productivity of the Indian cattle through genetic improvement is a key component of the World Bank-funded NDP, being currently implemented by NDDB. “We are right now importing over 80 bulls and will review going ahead,” Nanda Kumar said. The bulls will be acclimatised for the Indian climatic conditions for at least six months, before being given away for cross breeding.

“The idea is you bring in genetic improvements and the breeds here will give more milk,” he added. Previously, India had imported HF and Jersey bulls from Europe.

India ranks first in milk production, accounting for close to a fifth of the world output, but productivity of the cows is low. The average productivity of indigenous cows stood at 2.36 litres per day in 2012-13, while that of cross breeds stood at 7.02 litres per day.

Over the last decade, the Indian dairy sector has grown at an average of 4.04 per cent against the world average of 2.2 per cent. Per capita milk availability in India stands at 296 grams per day, higher than the world average.

Infrastructure strengthening The NDP aims at improving productivity of milch animals, strengthening and expanding village-level infrastructure for milk procurement, and providing producers greater access to the market in the dairy sector. The number of milch animals increased from 62 million in 2000 to 83.15 million in 2012.

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