Like Kamdhenu: Assam to use sex-sorted semen to breed only cows, no bulls

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has the state will be will start artificially inseminating its cattle using sex-sorted semen so that after 10-20 years, only superior breeds of cows, and no bulls, will be born.

"The veterinary department has told me that we can go for artificial insemination in cattle using sex-sorted semen. This would mean that 10 to 20 years later, the cattle breed will be only cows, and no bulls," Sarma said.

The use of sex-sorted semen allows the sex of the offspring to be pre-determined.

According to a report in PTI, Sarma invoked figures of Hindu mythology to suggest that historically cows have been more in number than bulls because of the benefits one can derive from them. "If we look at Hindu parampara or ancient history, there is reference only to female cattle, like Kamdhenu, and how we were benefited with milk. That means there must have been something which ensured that cows were more in number than bulls," the chief minister said.

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Sarma also announced plans to construct cow shelters in tea garden areas to house seized cattle safely. He said the cow dung collected from the seized cattle can be used as fertilisers in the tea gardens.

The chief minister made these comments during a discussion on a special mention brought by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator Aminul Islam.

Sarma had tabled the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, in the state assembly on the first day of the Budget session. The legislation seeks to ban the transport of cattle from any place within Assam to places outside the state “where slaughter of cattle is not regulated by law”.