First genetically improved “embryonic cow” in Zhejiang born in Taishun

On October 9, Yunlan Pasture in Liufeng Township, Taishun County welcomed a new member - an“embryonic cow” bred through embryo transfer technology. This is the first fine breed“embryonic cow” of southern China dairy cattle produced by Zhejiang’s Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Milk Quality Research of Dairy Cows using embryo transfer technology. All the first 14 transplanted“embryonic cows” will come into the world one after another in recent days.

Once born, the cow got an exclusive“ID card” for tracking, monitoring and inspection - a yellow tag hanging from both ears, which contains such basic information as gender and date of birth. In the pasture pen, this recently born small cow was seen with a fine figure and strong hooves.

In January this year, Zhejiang issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Seed Industry Development in Zhejiang Province which envisions a strong modern seed industry and a large province with special varieties. Since then, Zhongxing Animal Husbandry Company under Zhejiang inm Food, in conjunction with Zhejiang University, built the Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Milk Quality Research of Dairy Cows in Zhejiang Province, and carried out embryo transfer project at Yunlan Pasture in Liufeng County. From the purebred Australian Holstein and Jersey cows, which have good shape and production performance, the“donor” cows with 10% genetic performance were selected to produce embryos in vivo, and through embryo transfer technology, the embryos were transferred to the“recipient” cows with the bottom 25% genetic performance, thus blocking the inheritance of inferior genes and rapidly activating the high yield potential of the herd.

“A high-yielding, excellent cow, following traditional breeding techniques, can produce three excellent offspring over her lifetime, while using embryo production and transplantation technology, she can produce nearly 50 offspring over her lifetime,” explained Xiao Weiming, the head of the laboratory. The embryo production and transplantation technology marks a leapfrogging innovation in the efficient expansion technology of good breeding cows in Zhejiang as it frees the province from relying on imported cows for breeding high-yielding cows.

The Duntou Gaochang Natural Village in Liufeng Township, Taishun County that homes the Yunlan Pasture used to be a typical hollow village due to its high altitude, inconvenient transportation and other factor constraints. With the landing of the inm Company specialized in pastoral farming, however, especially after 2011 when the company introduced 434 purebred Holstein and Jersey cows, this small mountain village started to put on a new outlook. The“cattle” industry is enriching the village and bringing the village to a path of common wealth.

According to Xiao Weiming, most of the cows in Zhejiang generate about 9 tons of milk per year, while with the application of embryo production and transplantation technology, the cattle produced by low-yielding cows can give 13 tons of milk per year, which can help farmers increase their income by about 53,000 yuan. In the future, the local dairy farming industry will see rising economic gains thanks to the“embryonic cow” technology, and farmers will achieve increased production and income. (ZhongXin)