Success Stories

On July 28, 2016, Dr Abhijit Mitra, Director, ICAR-NRC on Mithun called on Sri TR Zeliang, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Nagaland at the residential office in Kohima and briefed him about the achievements of the Institute. The discussion of the meeting focused on a number of issues namely registration of mithun as a food animal under the FSSAI; inclusion of mithun rearing as a profitable venture in the Vision-2030 of Nagaland; establishment of mithun farms under the Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry of Nagaland; a celebration of an event, possibly an annual ‘mithun day’, across the NE states and need of bankable schemes for mithun husbandry. Hon’ble Chief Minister lauded the ICAR-NRCM for its continual scientific efforts towards understanding mithun production and health. He also kindly agreed to take up a Cabinet note to discuss the issue of registration of mithun as a Food animal with FSSAI. The intervention and guidance of the Hon’ble Chief Minister will immensely benefit...

It is traditionally believed that mithun, a unique domesticated animal of the North-Eastern hilly region, can be reared only under a free-range forest rearing system. But with the decreasing forest coverage in the region, it is imperative to find an alternative rearing system. The package of practices for alternative semi-intensive mithun rearing system, developed by the Institute, has already been practised successfully in the Institute’s Mithun Farm. On 30th April 2016, Dr H. Rahman, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR, New Delhi launched the alternative semi-intensive system of mithun rearing under farmers’ fields at Molvom village of Medziphema block, Dimapur, Nagaland. On this occasion, under Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), nine mithun cows and one mithun calf were distributed among three farmers of Molvom village viz., Mr Laljon Misao, Letthang and Veikhochong.

The shy nature of mithun bull and a less pronounced oestrous sign of mithun female make semen collection and artificial insemination (AI) in mithun a tiresome task. Nevertheless, AI is an important step for the implementation of any genetic improvement programme. A team of Scientists of the Animal Physiology and Reproduction section developed a protocol for the freezing of mithun semen using a controlled bio-freezer. In order to address the problem of detection of estrus in mithun, successfully validated the ‘Ovsynch’ protocol for timed AI. Subsequently, the collection of semen using an artificial vagina was also standardized. During this year, in order to implement 100% AI in the Mithun Farm, estrus synchronization and timed AI was introduced. Estrus synchronization of 28 mithun cows was carried out. Out of these animals, 24 (85.71%) exhibited estrus behaviour. 19 animals were inseminated with frozen-thawed Mithun and 14 (73.68%) were confirmed as pregnant on the basis of...

"MOHAN", the first mithun calf was born through embryo transfer technology (ETT) from a cryopreserved embryo at the National Research Centre on Mithun, Jharnapani, Nagaland, India on May 12, 2012. The embryo was preserved in liquid nitrogen (-1960C) for 100 days. This is the third successive birth of a mithun calf through embryo transfer. The first calf named "BHARAT" was born on March 27, 2012, and the second calf "PRITHVI" on May 11, 2012, survived only for two days due to premature delivery. The ETT programme was initiated at the Institute around five years ago and this is the third success in mithun. The scientists of the College of Veterinary Sciences, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati and  NRC on Yak, Dirang (Arunachal Pradesh) have also made significant contributions to this endeavour. The ETT will help to multiply and propagate the quality germplasm of this magnificent species. Additionally, the standardized protocol for cryopreservation of mithun...

World’s first-ever Mithun calf through embryo transfer technology was born at the National Research Centre on Mithun, Medziphema, Nagaland on March 27, 2012. Embryo transfer technology (ETT) being one of the best tools for faster multiplication of quality germplasm, the scientists were working to standardize the techniques for mithun for the last five years.  Mithun (Bos frontalis), a rare bovine of Southeast Asia is mainly confined in four different States viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram of North-eastern Hill region of India.  Presently,  the free-range system of mithun rearing in its natural habitat (forest) results in inbreeding as well as crossbreeding with the local cattle thereby loss of quality mithun germplasm. To address the issue of inbreeding and crossbreeding, the scientists of the Animal Physiology section of the institute have successfully applied the Artificial Insemination (AI) technique both at the farm and the field (Khonoma...