Pariksha SaathiICAR reports successful OPU-IVF birth of a Badri calf
Scientists have produced a healthy female Badri calf through Ovum Pick-Up and In Vitro Fertilization (OPU-IVF), the Agriculture Ministry announced. The calf was born on 11 September 2026 at the Academic Dairy Farm after a Badri embryo was transferred into a Sahiwal cow acting as the recipient. The work is a joint effort of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, and G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, funded by the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council, Haldi, under a programme begun in 2023. Badri cattle, an indigenous genetic resource of Uttarakhand, are recognised as the state animal. In the procedure, oocytes were collected from selected Badri donor cows by ultrasound-guided ovum pick-up, matured and fertilised in the laboratory with semen from a genetically superior Badri bull obtained through the Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board, grown into embryos and transferred into synchronised recipient cows. Because several embryos can be produced from one elite female, the method can multiply superior germplasm faster than conventional breeding. A second, crossbred recipient was expected to deliver a Badri calf within about a week, and the team has also produced cloned Badri embryos for transfer in the next phase. NDRI Director Dr Dheer Singh said the result lays a foundation for structured breed-improvement and conservation programmes for the breed.
Drafted with AI assistance from a live web search; a second AI pass confirmed the official link above and checked a sample of the facts against it. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
In India, new livestock breeds are formally registered by the ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal. Badri was registered in 2016 as Uttarakhand’s first recognised cattle breed. Conservation and development of indigenous bovine breeds is supported nationally under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, launched in December 2014.
Reference: ICAR note on the 2016 registration of new breeds, including Badri cattle
Check yourself: the calf was born to a Sahiwal cow. Does that make it a Sahiwal calf?
No. The embryo came from a Badri donor’s oocyte fertilised with a Badri bull’s semen; the Sahiwal cow was only the recipient (surrogate), so the calf is genetically Badri.
Revision task: list the three roles in this item: donor (Badri cow), sire (Badri bull) and recipient or surrogate (Sahiwal cow), and say which one decides the calf’s breed.
Test yourself
Badri cattle, whose OPU-IVF calf was born at the Academic Dairy Farm in September 2026, are recognised as the state animal of which state?
Show the answer
Answer: Uttarakhand
Badri cattle are an indigenous genetic resource of Uttarakhand and its state animal. The calf, born on 11 September 2026 through Ovum Pick-Up and In Vitro Fertilization (OPU-IVF), was carried by a Sahiwal recipient cow in a joint effort of ICAR-NDRI Karnal and GB Pant University, Pantnagar.
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