Unified Genomic Chip

About Unified Genomic Chip:

• It is aimed at helping farmers identify high-quality cattle early and enhance dairy farming efficiency in India.
• The chip comes in two versions
  • The ‘Gau Chip’ for cattle and the ‘Mahish Chip’ for buffalo. 
• It is developed by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), under the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
• Purpose: The purpose of this chip is to help farmers make informed decisions on animal selection by identifying young, high-quality bulls at an early age.
• Benefit: The chip is tailored for Indian cattle breeds and will help improve the quality of cattle and enhance the dairy farming sector.

Key points about the Sex Sorted Semen Technology

• Sex Sorted Semen is the 'gender selected' semen used by Artificial Insemination (AI) for cattle and buffaloes to produce more than 90% selected gender (females). 
• It is very effective in breed improvement and till now it was manufactured by multinational companies.
• The National Dairy Development Board under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, has developed the indigenous technology of sex-sorted semen worth Rs. 250.
• Technology used: IVF technology (commonly known as test tube baby technology) is also being used for this purpose.
• DAHD target: It has now planned to produce a minimum of 10 lakh sexed semen doses annually for the ongoing artificial insemination (AI) programme.