Banaskantha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited the Embryo Transfer Technology and In Vitro Fertilisation (ET-IVF) laboratory and inaugurated the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre (BBBRC) at Bhildi in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, aimed at improving cattle breeds, increasing milk productivity and strengthening the dairy sector, IANS reported. He also interacted with women dairy farmers during the visit.
Source: IANS via The Freedom Press
The inauguration is the centrepiece of the development package worth more than Rs 14,000 crore being launched in Banaskantha during the Prime Minister's two-day Gujarat visit on October 30 and 31 — a visit and project list that had been announced a day earlier. Two train services were also flagged off as part of the day's programme.
First centre dedicated to the Kankrej breed
According to the Gujarat Chief Minister's Office release, Banas Dairy has established the BBBRC across 127 acres at Bhildi at a cost of Rs 324.77 crore as a Centre of Excellence for animal breeding. The centre is the country's first facility dedicated to the Kankrej cattle breed, an indigenous breed of Gujarat, and will work on genetic improvement and advanced reproductive technologies.
Source: Gujarat CMO release via WebIndia123
Rural Voice reported that the centre will deploy in-vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer technologies with an annual embryo production target of 25,000, and that its breeding programme will cover indigenous cattle breeds such as Kankrej, Gir, Sahiwal and Tharparkar, along with buffalo breeds including Mehsani, Banni, Jaffrabadi and Murrah.
Source: Rural Voice
Three Banas Dairy projects worth Rs 407.56 crore
From Bhildi, the Prime Minister also inaugurated two other Banas Dairy projects virtually — a French fries processing plant at Sanadar in Vav-Tharad district built at Rs 51.65 crore and an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) at Palanpur built at Rs 31.14 crore — taking the three dairy projects to a combined Rs 407.56 crore. He also laid the foundation stones for two new Banas Dairy Bio-CNG plants at Tharad and Radhanpur.
The CMO release said Rs 38.83 crore has been sanctioned for the breeding centre under the Central Government's Rashtriya Gokul Mission, including Rs 2 crore for donor animals, with technical support from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). The project has been approved under the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) scheme and is financially supported by NABARD.