Livestock Researchers Develop Improved Technologies

One major key to achieving greater competitiveness, whether in the local or foreign markets, is improved technology. This applies to crops as well as to livestock production.

New techniques, for instance, can result in faster growth of animals, In the case of dairy animals, the improved technologies can produce higher milk yields.One such improved technology developed by researchers of the Philippine Carabao Center is what is called in vitro buffalo embryo production.

This involves the collection of ova or eggs from a superior female animal and then having them mature in the laboratory. These are eventually fertilized with sperm from an equally superior animal.The fertilized embryos are then transferred to surrogate mothers where they will develop into animals carrying the superior genes of the embryo and sperm donors.

With the used of this technology, the production of superior animals can be made much faster compared to the natural way. For example, a purebred Murrah buffalo will only produce one calf a year if made to reproduced naturally.The calf produced will not be able to reproduce until it is two years older. In other words, it could be a very slow process.

To import a lot of purebred buffaloes for breeding would be very expensive, hence not practical.The in vitro technology makes multiplication of superior animals fast because so many embryos could be collected from a superior mother buffalo everytime it gets in heat. The embryos fertilized in the laboratory could then be transferred to surrogate mothers, which could be ordinary carabaos.

The resulting offspring are what the scientists call test tube buffaloes. Several such test tube buffaloes have been produced through embryo transfer using embryos processed in the laboratory.One of them was born of a native carabao owned by Buddy Castillo, a 27-year old farmer cooperator of the Philippine Carabao Center in Nueva Ecija. Named Irfan, the test tube buffalo has been proven to superior to its native counterpart.

Castillo reported that at 1.6 years old, Irfan was really big.It will take a native carabao three years to attain the weight. Moreover, Castillo said that his Irfan can easily fetch Php30, 000 if he is going to sell it. On the other hand, a native carabao of the same age, he could only fetch about Php7, 000.

By the way, the first purebred test tube buffalo in the Philippines (perhaps in the world) was born on April 5, 2002. And since it was also the birthday of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the buffalo was named Glory after the president. One other first (perhaps in the world) that was achieved at the PCC was the birth of a twin test tube buffalo calves to a purebred Bulgarian Murrah buffalo.

Zac B. Sarian, September 26, 2004, Philippine Panorama, Manila Bulletin

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