Shafaqna Science: In a significant step towards preserving India’s equine population, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE) successfully produced the country’s first live horse foal via embryo transfer. The female foal, named Raj Sheetal, was born on September 21 at the Regional Station, Equine Production Campus (EPC) in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
The mare was inseminated with frozen semen, and the embryo was flushed after 7.5 days. The embryo was then vitrified using customized cryodevices and stored in liquid nitrogen. After two months, the embryo was thawed and transferred to a synchronized surrogate mare, which delivered the healthy foal, weighing 20 kg.
The team behind this achievement, led by Talluri Thirumala Rao, included scientists Sajjan Kumar, RK Dedar, Jitender Singh, M Kutty, SC Mehta, TK Bhattacharya, and Paswan. They have also successfully vitrified 20 Marwari horse embryos and three Zanskari horse embryos.
ICAR-NRCE Director TK Bhattacharya highlighted the importance of this technology in addressing the decline in India’s equine population. With cryopreservation, embryos can be easily transported, exported, and implanted at a convenient time. SC Mehta, head of the Regional Station, emphasized the need for advanced technologies like this for conserving and propagating elite equine breeds.
India’s equine population has decreased by 52.71 percent between the 2012 and 2019 livestock censuses, making this development crucial for their conservation.
