Bhubaneswar, May 15: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) will set up a bull sperm bank in Mayurbhanj to enhance the quality of livestock in the state.
The state government will provide 127 acres to NDDB at Kathpal near Baripada, the district headquarters town of Mayurbhanj, to set up the sperm bank. This is a collaborative venture between the board and the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (Fard).
The centre would cater to the needs of farmers in Odisha, Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and North East. This will be the second such facility in the country after Bidaj in Gujarat.
“The board is ready to start the centre as soon as the land transfer documents are ready and an agreement is signed with the Odisha government. It will ensure better supply of quality sperm for local livestock and increase milk production in the state,” said Fard secretary Satyabrata Sahu.
Odisha has a frozen sperm bank at Khapuria near Cuttack with production capacity of 10 lakh doses of sperm per annum, but there is no scope for expansion due to urbanisation. The new centre will have the capacity to produce about 35 lakh doses per annum.
The Perspective Plan-2020 of the Fard department has projected a need of 25 lakh doses of sperm per year by 2020. The NDDB regional centre would, therefore, go a long way in equipping the state with supply of more and better quality sperm.
“We have an understanding with NDDB to get quality sperm at subsidised rates. Now, we procure sperm doses from the board at Rs 12-15 per dose. Once the centre comes up, we will get it at a cheaper price. NDDB will provide the technology and infrastructure and the Odisha government, land,” said Sanat Mishra, chief executive of Odisha Livestock Resources Development Society (OLRDS).
Mishra said the location would ensure complete bio-safety measures. As per guidelines of the ministry of agriculture, if a bull is infected, then the semen could affect an entire livestock population.
“An isolated location was needed as per protocol,” Mishra added.
Fard joint secretary Raghunandan Mishra said the location would be free of noise pollution and have sperm producing laboratory, quarantine and rearing sheds and semen dispatch centre.
