By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 30, 2019: THE Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme (N.A.I.P) which was launched by Prime Minister September 11, 2019 covering 600 chosen districts including aspirational districts as identified by NITI Aayog has pickedup pace. The rate of Artificial Insemination is continuously increasing and has reached an average of 25,000 animals per day so far. The NAIP is a campaign mode genetic upgradation programcovering all breeds of bovines to enhance the milk production using low cost breeding technology for improving genetic merit of milch animals with high quality seed. The gestation period for getting the benefits from the AI bovine is approximately three years.

3.8 Lakh Artificial Inseminations have been performed under this programme benefitting more than 3.7 lakh farmers as on November 29, 2019. The aim of the program to inseminate over 1 crore bovines in 6 months & ear-tag them with ‘PashuAadhaar’ which is a unique identification provided to the animals so as to enable the Government to identify and track the animals uniquely with all details such as the breed, age, gender and owner details. Every cow and buffalo under AI will be tagged and can be tracked through the Information Network on Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) Database. 

Out of the 28 participating States, High Performing States include Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. States that have been lagging include Chattishgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh. In the State of West Bengal, the programme is yet to start.  North Eastern States except Sikkim are lagging behind and need to expedite the progress so as to ensure that the people in their States can benefit from the programme.Overall A.I coverage in the selected districts is expected to enhance from the present level of 18% to 45% of the breedable bovine females under this programme.