Sperm Sexing of Dairy Cattle:Economics, Animal Welfare and Technological Challenges

There is a growing need for sexed semen of cattle in India. Farmers prefer female calves of cows or buffalos than male calves as they can produce milk in the future which is economically more beneficial. Very few bulls are required for breeding in herds and they are no more required in agricultural fields due to mechanization of cultivation and transportation. Therefore these extra bulls/oxen are often sold at low prices to the meat industry. This is an animal welfare concern and can also cause communal tensions due to differences in belief systems of religious sects. At present there is no indigenous technology for producing sexed semen although artificial insemination with nonsexed semen is a well-established method of breeding among cattle farmers. The imported sexed semen is not easily available and also not affordable for most Indian farmers. There is a need for the development of cost effective indigenous sperm sexing techniques as an alternative to fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Recent developments in microfluidics and BEMS (bio electromechanical systems) may hold the key to the development of a portable device for semen sexing with minimal tampering of the sperm structure.