Govt to import Gir bull semen from Brazil

| TNN | Feb 10, 2016, 06.23 AM IST
The bulls whose semen are to be imported are descendants of those gifted to Brazil by the maharaja of Bhavnagar before Independence.The bulls whose semen are to be imported are descendants of those gifted to Brazil by the maharaja of Bhavnaga... Read More

Gandhinagar: The state government has decided to import from Brazil 10,000 doses of Gir bull semen as the cow population of this prestigious breed has declined in Gujarat.

Interestingly, the bulls whose semen are to be imported are descendants of those gifted to Brazil as a goodwill gesture by the maharaja of Bhavnagar before Independence.

Gir cows have long been the pride of Gujarat with their very high milk yield. The obsession with Jersey cows and indiscriminate breeding has led to the decline of Gir cow population in the state to nearly seven lakh out of the two crore milk-giving breeds.

Brazil, on the other hand, was careful to preserve the breed and now has a sizable population of Gir breed cows and bulls.