This technology may be used for faster multiplication of elite germplasm and resurrection of endangered horses or valuable/desired horse germplasm.
Continuing their success in producing the foal through Embryo transfer, scientists at Equine Production Campus, Regional Station, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines, Bikaner, Rajasthan for the first time in the country have produced a horse foal using an admixture of two technologies viz. frozen semen technology and Embryo transfer technology.
During the process of producing the viable embryos, frozen semen from a stallion was used for artificial insemination and the embryo was recovered from the inseminated mare on the 7.5th day after ovulation. The recovered embryo after flushing was transferred to the estrus-synchronised surrogate mare. The mare delivered a healthy female foal at 3:40 AM (IST) on 4th October 2023. The weight of the foal at birth was 35 Kg. This foal developed through these assisted reproductive technologies has been named ‘Raj-Himani’.
This technology may be used for faster multiplication of elite germplasm and resurrection of endangered horses or valuable/desired horse germplasm. The combination of semen cryopreservation and embryo transfer technology in the production of foal will greatly benefit the farmers, equine rearers involved in racing, sports and other commercial activities for replicating their own elite horses or elite animals having reproductive disorders.
Dr. TK Bhattacharya, Director, ICAR-NRC on Equines said the population of equines in India is dwindling at a faster rate India and infertility and non-reproducing mares are also one of the reasons for this. The technology could also be applied to those animals which do not respond to the conventional infertility treatment regimes, he added.
Dr. SC Mehta, Head, Regional Station, Equine Production Campus, ICAR-NRC on Equines, Bikaner said the technology would have a tremendous impact on the conservation and propagation of superior indigenous horses in the country.
This embryo transfer foal using cryopreserved semen was developed by Dr TR Talluri, Sr. Scientist and his team of ICAR-NRC on Equines (Dr Yash Pal, Dr SC Mehta, Dr RA Legha, Dr RK Dedar, Dr Sajjan Kumar, Dr. Jitender Singh, Shri Paswan and others).
