Sri Vijaya Puram, November 5: The Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services (AH&VS), Andaman & Nicobar Administration, has registered a historic achievement in livestock development with the birth of the first three female calves produced through Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT) in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This pioneering initiative, launched earlier this year in collaboration with NDDB Dairy Services, marks the first successful implementation of advanced Embryo Transfer Technology under island conditions. The Department of AH&VS has entered into an agreement with Natern Dairy Services, a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), to establish “High Genetic Merit” crossbred pregnancies in local cattle by transferring embryos produced through the in vitro technique. The scheme is being implemented under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission with the objective of establishing 220 pregnancies over a period of two years.
These calves will have the potential to produce an average of 15 litres of milk per day. Implementation of this scheme is part of the Department’s initiative to improve the productivity of local cattle and increase the availability of fresh milk. The Department has been implementing crossbreeding through artificial insemination to upgrade the local cattle, which takes 3–4 generations or 10–12 years. By using ETT, the period has been reduced to 3–4 years. Moreover, these high-genetic-merit cattle and their offspring will ensure the establishment of a dairy herd with high milk yield capacity and will gradually replace the low-yielding animals.
Since the launch in February 2026, five phases have been completed, in which 112 embryo transfers have been carried out. Pregnancy has been confirmed in 29 recipient animals, while another 34 animals are awaiting confirmation.
The first ETT female calf of the Islands, named “Shri”, was born on November 1 at Kamraj Nagar. The second female calf, named “Navya”, was born at Manglutan, and the third female calf, named “Sasi”, was born at Port Mout. All three calves are reported to be healthy, and the calvings were normal.
The Department of AH&VS has congratulated the beneficiary farmers and the veterinary teams involved in the successful implantation, pregnancy monitoring and calving. Livestock farmers are encouraged to come forward and avail the benefits of Embryo Transfer Technology and other advanced breeding services available at the nearest veterinary institutions. The Department remains committed to scaling up the programme across more areas in the coming phases, ushering in a new era of advanced dairy development in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, a press release from the Department of AH&VS said.
