Sexed sorted semen: Importance in the Dairy Sector of India

Sexed sorted semen: Importance in the Dairy Sector of India

Tapendra Kumar¹, Pramod Kumar², Maya Mehara³

1. d. Scholar, Department of veterinary gynaecology & obstetrics, College of veterinary & animal science, Bikaner (RAJUVAS), Rajasthan
2. Assistant professor, Department of veterinary gynaecology & obstetrics, College of veterinary & animal science, Bikaner Rajasthan
3. V.Sc Scholar, Department of veterinary Public health, College of veterinary & animal sciences, Bikaner Rajasthan

Introduction

Sexed Semen for Dairy sector is a relatively new concept, but having grown in popularity over the past few years. Sexed semen technology is one of the breed improvement efforts in cattle and buffalo although this technology is only sporadically implemented, dairy farms appear to be quite interested in this new tool. Although sexed semen has been offered commercially for some time, the dairy industry has been slow to adopt it. The demand for sexed semen has increased due to concern about the slaughter of unwanted male dairy calves and a potential lack of dairy replacements and beef cattle. It is possible to explain this technology as one that selects embryos for gender in order to produce offspring of the desired sex by sorting the X and Y carrying chromosomes.

The United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, researchers in Livermore,California, and Beltsville, Maryland, were the first to do sex sorting. The system was later patented under the name “Beltsville Sperm Sexing Technology,” and in 2001 Sexing Technologies (ST), Texas, acquired a licence to utilise it commercially in the United States. In many European states, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, and Japan, among others, Sexed semen now commercially produces sex-sorted semen.

How sexed sperm developed?

By identifying differences between sperm that carries X and Y sperm are sorted. In cattle, the X-chromosome (female) has nearly 3.8% more DNA than the Y-chromosome (male). The X- and Y-bearing sperm are separated using the difference in DNA content.

The most efficient way for semen sexing has been found to be flow cytometry-based sorting. Over the years, the technology has been improved to the point that sex sorting can now be done with a purity of more than 90%. The method has been successfully patented, standardised and commercialised in the USA, Europe, and other nations.

Sexed semen can also be used for artificial insemination without risk. The conception rate with sexed semen is apparently 10 to 15 percent lower than with conventional semen because the concentration of sperm in the sexed semen straw is significantly lower than that of the conventional semen straw and the sorting process itself damages the sexed sperm.

What are the advantages of using sexed semen?

1. Farmers are able to conserve resources by producing exclusively female calves rather than undesired males.
2. Maintaining a superior fleet of bulls with superior genes for the purpose of future reproduction can be valuable for dairy farmers.
3. The dairy farmers can raise the herd more quickly and internally with the application of sexed semen. The amount of undesired male dairy calves is also reduced owing to this technology.
4. Importing heifers from outside is a cost-effective way to strengthen the herd without running the threat of spreading diseases.
5. Heifers are known to benefit from the technology more. Compared to heifer calves, dairy male calves are more likely to have dystocia. Dystocia cases can be reduced with the use of this technology.
6. Only viable sperm are available because dead, dying, or damaged sperm cells are eliminated during the sorting process, allowing the sexing of semen to be successful even at low concentrations than conventional semen.
7. Also helpful in the production of superior breeding bulls as India has limited elite cattle and buffalo bulls.

What are the limitations of using sexed semen?

1. Expensive sex-sorting equipment
2. Inadequate sorting speed and efficiency
3. Operate sex sorting equipment only with highly skilled professionals.
4. Shear force, electrostatic charge, droplet production, and abrupt stop all cause harm to the sperm.
5. Approximately 50% of sperm is wasted
6. Decreased ability of the sorted sperm to be frozen
7. Excessive price for the product, which also includes the cost of the IP (Rs. 1500-4500 per dose verses Rs. 15-20 per dose for conventional semen).
8. Sex-sorted semen has a 10–15 percent lower conception rate than conventional semen. Given the poor artificial insemination coverage (20–25 %) and low artificial insemination conception rate in India, this element will be much more important (25-35%).
9. The process of insemination with sexed semen is not standard. This is a further cause for concern because conventional semen contains 20 million sperm each dosage, whereas sexed semen has 2 to 4 million sperm per dose. Under Indian conditions, managing lower sperm concentration will be challenging.

Availability of sexed semen in India

The first and only bovine semen sexing lab in India is the Sex Sorted Semen produced by the Brahma Genetics Facility. sexedULTRA technology, BAIF is available and is manufacturing and distributing sexed semen for Holstein, Jersey, Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi, Crossbreeds, and Murrah and Mehsana buffaloes. In 2017, ABS India implemented Genus IntelliGenTM technology at Brahma, near Pune in Maharashtra.

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