NEW DELHI: The government has taken a series of steps to protect indigenous breeds of a cow under the Gokul Mission and in the next five years local breeds will be on par with foreign ones, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh said.
Replying to a query raised by actor Ravindra Shyam Narayan Shukla (Ravi Kishan) in the Question Hour, Singh said steps are being taken to increase the productivity of cows.
The minister said animal husbandry is more profitable than farming.
He said steps like progeny testing programmes and pedigree selection programme for the production of high genetic merit bulls of indigenous breeds, the establishment of embryo transfer technology and in-vitro fertilisation laboratories have been undertaken.
Sexed semen production facility for production of females calves by eliminating male calves has also been undertaken, he said.
"In the next five years, indigenous cow breeds will be on a par with foreign breeds," he said.
Replying to another question on stray cattle, Singh said agriculture is a state subject.
In this regard, he lauded the Uttar Pradesh government and said it has 4000 cattle shelters to deal with the situation.