In traditional dairy breeding initiatives, the selection of genetic stock has focused almost exclusively on gross fluid volume, often relying on high-yielding exotic crosses that struggle under harsh climatic conditions. Shankar Chaudhary, Chairman of Banas Dairy, emphasized that the new facility aims to double the productivity of indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds, enabling producers to harvest more milk from fewer, more resilient animals. Rather than prioritizing milk volume alone, the center’s breeding programs evaluate traits including feed-to-milk conversion ratios, tick and parasite resistance, conception rates, somatic cell scores, and milk solids density (fat and solids-not-fat).

This balanced breeding strategy directly addresses the operational economics of India’s smallholder dairy system, where rising feed and fodder costs represent an estimated 70 to 75 percent of total farmgate milk production expenses. A cow selected purely for extreme milk yield often proves economically unviable for smallholders if it requires expensive concentrated rations, extensive cooling infrastructure, and frequent veterinary treatments. By developing genetics matched to agro-climatic zones, the center allows producers in arid and semi-arid tracts to maintain animals that sustain lactation curves during heat waves with lower metabolic stress and reduced feed inputs.

From a bovine genetics and biotechnology perspective, the Bhildi center maintains a germplasm repository comprising more than 15 indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds alongside select crossbred lines. Cattle breeds housed at the facility include Kankrej, Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Tharparkar, Rathi, Punganur, and Ongole, while buffalo lines feature Mehsani, Banni, Murrah, and Jaffarabadi. The center utilizes advanced reproductive technologies—including in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer (ET), and sex-sorted semen processing—to rapidly propagate elite female lines and distribute disease-free, high-genetic-merit bulls across cooperative artificial insemination networks.