CHENNAI: A new project on “Biotechnological strategies for productivity enhancement of Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)” has been sanctioned with a budget outlay of `38.41 lakh by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, for implementation in Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai.
Emu is a flightless bird, though native to Australia presently reared throughout India for the production of oil, leather and meat.
The emus are primarily monogamous and seasonal breeders. This limits further development of emu farming and slows down genetic improvement.
One of the problems with emu farming is gender determination of the chicks, juvenile and immature birds, as the male and female emu birds exhibit similar phenotypic appearance and simple visual and traditional methods of sexing do not give confirmatory results.
The most accurate method of gender determination developed to date in birds is molecular sexing at DNA level. Artificial Insemination technology that allows large number of females sired by a single male leading to a substantial reduction in the cost of keeping males also results in greater rate of genetic improvement.
This suggests that in commercial emu farming the current practice of keeping one male for every female and allowing natural mating process means wasting the male’s reproductive potential and costs heavily to initial investment.
Planned breeding for achieving desired improvement in traits of choice can be undertaken and it is apparent that the cost of rearing emu birds can be reduced to about half or more if successful artificial insemination technique and sexing technologies are developed, through the new project.
The farmers who wish to start emu farms are advised to approach the University Research and Training Centres located in their district for technical inputs.