Breakthrough in Climate-Resilient Dairy Research: Gene-Edited Embryos Promise Future of Stable Milk Production

In a groundbreaking advancement for the dairy industry, India’s National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal has developed a gene-edited embryo, signaling a major step towards making milk production climate-resilient. This innovation could ensure steady milk yields even as weather conditions grow increasingly unpredictable due to climate change.

The research team, using cutting-edge CRISPR gene-editing technology, has successfully modified the embryo’s DNA, targeting traits that could protect future generations of milch cattle from the adverse effects of extreme weather. This scientific leap promises to revolutionize dairy farming by ensuring that milk production continues unabated in challenging environmental conditions.

The Next Stage: Implantation and Milking

Following years of meticulous research, the next phase involves implanting the genetically modified embryo into the uterus of a female buffalo, with gestation lasting over 10 months. However, the ultimate test will come when the calf reaches the milking stage.

"It typically takes about five years for a calf to mature and start producing milk," said Dheer Singh, Director of NDRI, explaining the long timeline from embryo to milk production. Once born, the calf will need two to three years to fully develop, followed by another year of pregnancy before milk is produced. Researchers will then be able to assess whether this gene-editing breakthrough truly delivers on its promise of climate-resistant milk production.

CRISPR: A Game-Changing Tool for Dairy

The science behind this project involves CRISPR technology, which allows precise DNA editing. By targeting specific genes, scientists can modify traits like heat resistance, which is already found in indigenous cattle breeds such as the Tharparkar. These breeds are naturally adapted to high temperatures, and their milk production remains stable even during extreme heat.

Researchers hope to map these genes and transfer the traits to cattle that are not naturally resilient, potentially boosting milk yields across the country. With India producing 230.6 million tonnes of milk in 2023, ensuring the sustainability of this essential food source is critical as climate conditions worsen.

Tackling Milk Allergies: Another Gene-Editing Triumph

NDRI’s research doesn’t stop at climate resilience. In a parallel project, the institute is using CRISPR technology to create gene-edited embryos targeting the β-lactoglobulin (BLG) gene. This protein, absent in human milk, is known to cause allergic reactions in about 3% of people worldwide, particularly infants.

By editing this gene, NDRI aims to produce dairy animals that yield milk with reduced allergenic proteins. This breakthrough could open the door to milk products that are not only more nutritious but also suitable for those with milk allergies. Health-conscious consumers may soon benefit from dairy products with a lower allergen content, expanding the market for specialized dairy items.

"By reducing the allergenicity of milk, we can improve public health while offering a product that caters to the evolving needs of consumers," Singh explained.

A Future Shaped by Science and Sustainability

As the dairy industry braces for the challenges posed by climate change, innovations like these are crucial. By combining traditional breeding knowledge with modern gene-editing tools, NDRI is paving the way for a more resilient, sustainable, and health-conscious dairy industry. These advancements could transform dairy farming, ensuring that milk remains a staple food source in a rapidly changing world.

With both climate and health in mind, the future of dairy production is looking brighter, thanks to the pioneering research at NDRI.

Mastitis and Its Management

 Mastitis and Its Management

    Introduction

     Mastitis is the inflammatory condition of the mammary gland and udder tissues. It usually occurs as an immune response to bacterial invasion of the teat canal by various bacterial sources on the farm. It can also occur due to chemical, mechanical, or thermal injury to the cow's udder. It manifests the changes in the milk colour and consistency.

Ø Some important points to be remembered:

F Milk yield reduces abruptly and results in heavy economic losses.

F High-yielding dairy cows are more commonly affected than lower yielders.

F Exotic and cross-breed cows are more prone to mastitis than Indian Zebu Cows.

    Causes of Mastitis

·       Many species of microorganisms have been implicated as causes of mastitis. They are bacteria, fungus, Mycoplasma and virus.

·       The most critical bacterial organism causing mastitis is Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium bovis; E.coli; Pseudomonas pyocyaneus.

·       The infection reaches the mammary gland through the teat canal.

    Symptoms of Mastitis

·       The udder is swelling as a hard mass.

·       Swollen udder with hot and pain while touching it.

·       The animal will not allow touching the udder and kick while touching it.

·       Swollen and reddening of teats.

·       Milk mixed with blood.

·       Milk mixed with yellow or brown fluid with flakes or foul-smelling clots.

·       Reduction in milk yields

·       Increase in body temperature.

    Management

Ø Treatment

F The milk from the infected teat should be milked out daily three times and disposed of safely outside.

F NSAIDs are widely used for the treatment of mastitis.

F Aspirin-like drugs reduce the inflammation and pain associated with mastitis.

F It can be treated by intra mammary or systemic antibiotics or a combination.

Ø Prevention

F Hygienic teat management

F Prompt identification and treatment of clinical mastitis cases

F Dry cow management and therapy

F Culling chronically affected cows

F Regular testing and maintenance of the milking machine

F Good record keeping

 

 

 

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Seasonal availability of feeds and fodder

 

Seasonal availability of feeds and fodder and its importance for livestock production.

Introduction:

India has a wide variety of climatic conditions. Different areas of our country face many variations in climate in a day. So, feed and fodder are significant problems for our livestock. Mainly during the dry season (July to October), there is a lack of availability of green feeds to animals. Dairy farmers usually store maize stover for the dry season for their cattle.

In the wet season, grasses like Natural pasture and Napier grass are the most important feed for our livestock.

Some Seasonal Fodder Crops:

Ø    Kharif Crops         :  Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Cowpea

Ø    Rabi Crops            :  Oats, Berseem

Ø    Fodder Grasses     :  Napier, Guinea, Para, Anjan

Ø    Fodder Trees         :  Babul, Subabul, Sesbania

Ø    Improved Begums :  Berseem, Lucerne

Importance of Feed and Fodder for livestock:

Dairy farmers keep livestock to obtain milk, wool, meat etc. Feed is the source for production for all such products and for producing offspring. As we know, food is vital for all living organisms. Such as feed and fodder as necessary for keeping our cattle healthy and strong.

Without proper feed, animals cannot grow well, cannot keep good health, nor can they produce products and young ones properly. That is why we must feed animals with nutritionally balanced and adequate quantities of feedstuffs.

Storage and conservation of Roughage through silage and Hay

 Storage and conservation of Roughage through silage and Hay and their uses in livestock feeding

Introduction:

Feed quantity and quality fodder to the livestock. In the rainy season, green forage is abundant in quantity, which is not adequately utilized. Green forages can be conserved in the form of Hay and silage to feed greens during the lean period.

1.    Hay: Hay is the product obtained by drying in the sun or shade, tender stemmed leafy plant material in such a way that they contain not more than 12-14% moisture.

2.    Hay Additives: Organic acids or acid-forming compounds designed to allow Hay to be harvested at higher-than-normal moisture contents by preventing the microbial activity responsible for spoilage.

3.    Ingredients: Any of the feed items that a mixture is made of.

4.    Silage: Feed preserved by an anaerobic fermentation process.

5.    Silage Additives: Substances are added during the ensiling process to enhance the correct and rapid fermentation of the feed.

Silage Preservation:

Silage is the material produced by controlled fermentation of forages or crop residue with high moisture content.

Ensiling is the term for all physical and chemical changes that occur when forage with sufficient moisture content is stored anaerobically for silage preservation.

An airtight to a semi-airtight structure designed to preserve and store high moisture feeds as hay is known as a silo.

The ideal characteristics of the material for silage preservation are: Dry matter content should be 25-35% and an adequate level of the fermentable substrate 8-10% Dry Matter in the form of water-soluble carbohydrate.

Steps of Silage Formation:

Ñ     Harvest forage at the proper stage of maturity.

Ñ     Chop to the proper length.

Ñ     Control of moisture content in raw materials.

Ñ     Control of water-soluble carbohydrates

Ñ     Filling, Packing and Sealing

Ñ     Additives

Ñ     Feed to cattle

 

Types of silos:

a)    Tower silo

b)    Cellar silo

c)    Trench silo

d)    Stack silo

e)    Plastic silo

Losses during silage making:

The objective of the conservation of forage is to preserve as much of the crop nutrients as possible. However, during ensilage, loss of nutrients occurs.

There are five sources of loss:

a.     Field losses

b.    Oxidation losses

c.     Fermentation losses

d.    Effluent losses

e.     Aerobic deterioration

Evaluation of Silage quality:

High-quality silage is a stable feed made from high-quality pasture, preserved in the absence of oxygen by a high-quality fermentation to minimize any loss of feeding value. It is impossible to produce high-quality silage from low-quality pasture, no matter how good the fermentation is.

·       Quality of the ensiled pasture.

·       Quality of the fermentation

·       Colour of silage

·       Smell of silage

·       Moulds and Yeast

Summary of silage quality

Parameters	Very Good	Good	Fair	Poor
pH	3.5-4.2	4.2-4.5	4.5-4.8	<4.8
Butyric Acid	No	Trace	Little	High
Ammonical Nitrogen (% of N)	<10	10-15	15-20	<20
Colour	Yellow Green	Green or Brown	Tobacco brown to dark brown	Black
Fleig's Value	44-50	30-36	20-29	<19

 

Hay:

Hay refers to forage harvested, dried, and stored as 85-90% dry matter. Hay is a dry leafy fodder, green in colour and free from moulds. It should contain less than 15% moisture.

Principles of Haymaking:

Haymaking aims to reduce the moisture level of the green crop to a level low enough so that it can be safely stored in mass without undergoing fermentation or becoming moldy. Drying of forage inhibits the action of plant and microbial enzymes. The process of drying the green crop without significant changes in aroma, flavour and nutritional quality of forage is called "curing". This involves reducing the moisture content of green forages so they can be stored without spoilage or further nutrient loss. Green forage with 80-85% dry matter preserves most nutrients.

Suitable crops for making Hay:

Crops with thin stems and more leaves are better suited for haymaking as they dry faster than those with thick stems and small leaves.

Examples: Oats, Lucerne, Maize, Sorghum, Napier grass, Cowpea etc.

Steps for making Hay:

Ñ     Forage is cut before it fully matures to maximize its nutritional value.

Ñ     Leaves are more nutritious than the stems, so when cutting forage, it is essential to cut with as much leaf and as little stem as possible.

Ñ     Dry the forage at 15 per cent moisture content.

Ñ     Chopping forage into small pieces after drying.

Ñ     Store on a well-drained site.

Hay Quality:

·       It should have a typical aroma of the fodder from which it has been prepared.

·       It should be free from foreign materials.

·       It should maintain the leafiness of original fodder.

·       This should possess reasonable green colour.

·       This should be palatable to animals.

Factors affecting hay quality:

§  Stage of maturity

§  Leafiness

§  Colour

§  Foreign materials

§  Smell

Characteristics of Good Quality Hay:

·       Hay should be nutritious.

·       Good Hay should be leafy.

·       Hay should be green in colour.

·       Hay should be soft and pliable.

·       Hay should be free from weeds and stubbles.

·       The moisture content in Hay shouldn't exceed 15%.

Benefits of Hay:

·       It can be kept for a more extended period.

·       Availability of nutritious feed to the animal during the scarcity of fodder

Storage of Hay:

·       Hay must be stored in a dry environment.

·       Hay can be baled and stored under cover or can also be stored by creating hay stacks.

Objectives of making Hay and Silage:

The objective behind making the Hay and silage is to preserve forage resources for the dry seasons or winter to ensure continuous regular feed for livestock, either to sustain growth, fattening or milk production, or to continue production under challenging periods when market prices are highest.

 

 

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Artificial Insemination

 

    Artificial Insemination

Artificial insemination is the process of collecting sperm cells from a male animal and manually depositing them into the reproductive tract of a female.

'or'

Artificial insemination is the process by which semen is deposited inside the female's reproductive tract by means of instruments.

 

AI is the first great biotechnology applied to improve the reproduction and genetics of farm animals. AI is the primary tool for animal breeders to propagate superior germplasm more quickly and efficiently. AI technology is the prime factor behind the dairy industry's success and India's top position in milk production.

    History and Development

Artificial insemination is a technique in which semen with living sperm is collected from the male and introduced into the female reproductive tract properly with the help of instruments.

·       The first scientific research in A. I of domestic animals was performed on dogs in 1780 by the Italian Scientist Lozano.

·       In 1936, Brownell was inseminating cows in the Cornell herd.

·       In 1938, A. I Cooperative was established in New Jersey, modelled after Danish System.

    Advantages

F Increase the usefulness of a superior sire to an extraordinary degree.

F Services of superior sire are greatly extended.

F It helps in better record keeping.

F Old, heavy and injured sires can be used.

F There is no need to maintain a breeding bull for a herd; hence the cost of maintenance of a breeding bull is saved.

F Increases the rate of conception.

    Disadvantages

F Requires well-trained operations and unique types of equipment.

F Requires more time than natural services.

F Lack of understanding of A.I.

F Markets for bulls will be reduced.

F Necessities the knowledge of the structure and function of reproduction.

 

 

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