Question

What is artificial insemination? Mention two ways in which it is useful in the breeding of dairy animals.

Answer 1

To make the dairy farming/business a profitable one, good productions as well as good reproduction are two important elements. One of the most significant reproductive technologies introduced by the dairy industry is artificial insemination.

Complete step by step answer:
Artificial insemination (AI) is regarded as the process of gathering the semen of the most suitable and superior bull and inserting it into the female genital tract of a cow.
In this process semen from the desired animal form ( e.g., bull) is obtained and preserved by chemical or freezing methods. During its highest fertility period, this conserved semen is then inserted into the genital tract of the selected cow. There is then a natural reproductive phase and a hybrid of desired characters is the progeny thus acquired.
It was most commonly used for breeding of dairy cattle and buffaloes. AI is the tool that possesses the capacity for the economic and rapid dissemination of elite males over a wide geographical region to a wide number of females in a short period.
The following are the two ways in which it is useful in the breeding of dairy animals.
- The semen collected can be diluted and extended to produce hundreds of doses of semen from a single ejaculate that can be conveniently transported from one location to another, facilitating multiple female inseminations in various geographical locations and storing semen for long periods.
- High- quality semen is available all the time, but a high- quality bull may not be available at all times in all places. It increases the efficiency and profitability of the dairy business.

Additional information: Artificial insemination's other benefits include,
- It is possible to control the spread of diseases.
- No maintenance criteria for breeding bulls. The maintenance budget for breeding bulls is thus saved.

Note: From time to time, different semen collection techniques have been devised. The new modern techniques gradually replaced the older unsatisfactory approaches. There are three different approaches.
- Using an artificial vagina
- By Electro- stimulation technique
- By massaging the ampullae of the ductus differences via the rectal wall.