Guwahati, Aug 22: The world’s first female calf of Assam’s indigenous Lakhimi cattle breed has been born through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) at the Assam Veterinary and Fishery University, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday.
The calf was delivered at the IVF Laboratory of the College of Veterinary Science at Khanapara in Guwahati. The laboratory functions with support from the Rashtriya Gokul Mission of the Central government.
According to university sources, the embryo was developed in the laboratory using oocytes collected from a pure Lakhimi donor cow and semen from a pure Lakhimi bull. The embryo was later transferred into a crossbred recipient heifer. The heifer carried the pregnancy to term and gave birth to a healthy female calf.
Chief Minister Sarma shared the news on X, calling it an important development for Assam’s livestock sector. He said the success would help in conserving indigenous cattle breeds, improving disease resistance, increasing milk production and raising the income of dairy farmers.
“She may be a tiny calf, but she carries a huge milestone for biotechnology in our State,” Sarma wrote. He congratulated the team of veterinary scientists and professionals who worked on the project.
Lakhimi is the only cattle breed of Assam that has been officially registered as indigenous. The animals are known for their ability to withstand the humid climate of the Brahmaputra valley, their resistance to common diseases and their capacity to survive on locally available feed. Over the years, the pure Lakhimi population has declined because of widespread crossbreeding with other high-yielding breeds. Conservation of the remaining purebred stock has therefore been a concern for both the state government and animal husbandry experts.
Scientists at the university believe that IVF technology offers a practical way to increase the number of pure Lakhimi animals without diluting their genetic characteristics. By producing multiple embryos from selected elite cows, the technique can speed up genetic improvement programmes that would otherwise take several generations through conventional breeding.
This is not the first IVF success at the Khanapara laboratory. In March this year, the same team produced Assam’s first IVF-born calf, which belonged to the Gir breed and was born at a dairy farm in Sonapur under field conditions. At that time, researchers had indicated that pure Lakhimi and Lakhimi-cross calves were expected in the coming months. Saturday’s birth confirms that the laboratory has now mastered the technique for the state’s own indigenous breed.
Officials of the Assam Veterinary and Fishery University said the latest success strengthens the institution’s capacity in assisted reproductive technologies. They hope the experience gained will help expand similar work across the Northeast, where several indigenous livestock breeds face the risk of genetic dilution.
The birth of the pure Lakhimi IVF calf is being viewed as a practical step towards protecting Assam’s native cattle resources while supporting the gradual modernisation of the state’s dairy sector.
