The high cost of embryo transfer (et) technology is a major constraint in its wider application in India, say a galaxy of experts working in the field of cattle development. The need of the hour, says Dr. Narayan G. Hegde, president of the Pune-based baif Development Research Foundation, is to develop genetically superior bulls so that small and marginal farmers all over the country can benefit. baif has just completed a five-year, Rs2-crore research project on genetic improvement of rural dairy livestock for sustainable livelihood, which was co-funded by the science and technology ministry's Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (tifac). Outstanding performing cows, explains baif research director Suresh B. Gokhale, who was the principal coordinator of the project, can be multiplied by producing more embryos from them and using the bull calves born to them for artificial insemination to produce a large number of progeny capable of producing more milk. The project actually resulted in the production of 10 exotic bulls of better quality, whose semen can lead to the birth of crossbred daughters capable of adding nearly 11,000 tonnes of milk a year in baif's operational areas alone. But it's breeding better bulls -rather than cows - that are more important, Hegde says. "The production of an elite calf through et costs between Rsl5,000 and Rs20,000," he points out. "With the focus on bull production, it is possible to make the best use of such elite bulls to cover a large number of cows through production of over 50,000 doses over a period of two to three years. Therefore, the benefit of one bull can reach over 50,000 farmers and the high cost can be spread." And this can improve the productivity of their female offspring to as high as 2,000 litres per lactation, making et economically viable. Producing elite cows from et, on the other hand, makes them very expensive. "Even if the cows are productive, it may benefit only a few farmers who can afford them," he adds. The technology is, however, 'exorbitantly' expensive, as participants at a tifac-baif workshop on application of et technology in cattle development point out. This is primarily due to high cost of hormones, consumables, equipment and accessories that need to be imported; and the import and customs duties are high. The experts - including tifac executive director Anand Patwardhan, Indian Dairy Association president Animesh Banerjee, scientists, field practitioners and veterinarians from livestock development boards, veterinary research organisations and military farms all over the country - suggest that the finance ministry be requested to permit duty-free imports. Efforts should also be made for indigenous production of hormones and accessories, et technology should be integrated with the National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (npcbb) and regional et centres set up. The present ban on the import of live animals and frozen semen should also be relaxed to allow the import of superior germplasm. The import of embryos is safe and free from any risk of communicable diseases, the experts point out. But as it may be difficult for individual institutions to go in for such imports, the centralised agency should take on this responsibility, too. Military dairy farms, which have over 22,000 high-productivity cattle, can benefit from et technology by incorporating them into the npcbb. The Union government should set up a centralised agency as a public-private partnership for the scientific production of breeding bulls, which is currently done "in an unscientific and unplanned manner" at farms operated under the Union and state governments. And the government should enact legislation so that only bulls produced and certified by this agency are used in the breeding programme. The tifac-baif project, Hegde points out, has created a foundation for taking up further research while establishing a centre of excellence in baif