First Badri Calf Born Through OPU-IVF in Uttarakhand

The correct answer is Uttarakhand. Badri cattle are described as an important indigenous cattle genetic resource of that state and are recognised as its state animal, which is why the conservation of the breed carries both a scientific and a symbolic weight there. The work was carried out jointly by the ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal and G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar, which is itself in Uttarakhand, with financial support from the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council at Haldi. Options A, C and D name other Himalayan states, each of which has its own recognised state animal, and they are offered here because a candidate may remember only that the breed belongs to the hills. Linking the breed name Badri with Uttarakhand, and remembering that the semen was supplied through the Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board, fixes the answer securely.

The correct answer is Sahiwal. Under the programme, oocytes were collected from genetically valuable Badri donor cows through ultrasound-guided ovum pick-up, matured and fertilised in the laboratory with semen from a genetically superior Badri bull, and grown as embryos under controlled conditions. One such Badri embryo was placed in a synchronised Sahiwal recipient cow, which then gave birth to the healthy Badri female calf. The recipient cow simply carries the pregnancy, so the calf keeps the genetics of the Badri donor and bull rather than those of the animal that bears it. Options A, B and D name other well-known indigenous cattle breeds of India, and any of them could have served as a recipient in principle, which is exactly what makes them useful distractors. Another synchronised crossbred recipient cow was also expected to deliver a Badri calf soon after.

The correct answer is ICAR-NDRI, Karnal and G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. The programme was a collaboration between the two, with financial support from the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council at Haldi. It was begun in 2023 on the initiative of Dr M. S. Chauhan, then Vice-Chancellor of the university, and over the following three years the teams established ovum pick-up, embryo production and embryo transfer procedures for this breed. Dr Dheer Singh, Director of ICAR-NDRI, said such advanced reproductive technologies can multiply elite female germplasm faster and support structured breed-improvement programmes. The other options mix genuine agricultural research bodies and universities of the region that were not partners in this work, and they test whether the candidate remembers the exact pair rather than a general sense that a dairy institute and a state agricultural university were involved.