A success story benefitting cattle breeders in Madagascar!
In Madagascar, a rural development aid project is a first with a calf from a 100% Original Braunvieh embryo!
Alizée Sauron, International Project Manager
The Aga Khan Foundation has set up a project to support rural development in Madagascar. Madagascar covers an area of 587,000 km2, slightly larger than France. In the field of genetic improvement, the aim of the project was to bring about innovation by introducing new breeds of cattle (brown breeds) – using semen and embryos – that are better adapted to the Malagasy setting, as well as by using new artificial insemination techniques.
Within this context, Swissgenetics was able to help strengthen Dr Vonona's artificial insemination skills. His training at Moudon, Switzerland, supplemented by field visits and support by our inseminators as well as by a course on embryo transfer, enabled him to consolidate the knowledge he had already acquired in Madagascar. He was also able to learn about semen and embryo production in our laboratories and obtain a solid grounding in Swiss breeding strategies (Swiss genetic programmes, herd books and data collection) and learn about the different breeding objectives of cattle breeders, so that he can better advise breeders and pass on his knowledge to other inseminators by giving courses in Madagascar.
The genetic improvement component used semen from bulls tested in Switzerland and Original Braunvieh embryos. Swissgenetics focuses primarily on bulls that are suitable for the country's production system, with positive traits for limbs and the mammary system. The bulls tested are "reliable values" guaranteeing a high degree of security in terms of their genetic stock. Embryo transfer is also healthwise the safest way of developing the country's genetics.
Swissgenetics sent Dr Rainer Saner to implant the embryos on site, in order to ensure that the embryo transfer was successful. Dr Rainer Saner has been carrying out embryo transfers at Swissgenetics since 1991, flushing more than 4,000 cows and transferring more than 20,000 embryos.
HEIDI MILKA was born in this way in Madagascar! The owner is very happy to have had a female, and that it was a very easy birth. We wish her every success with the Original Braunvieh, which is a typical dual-purpose breed for milk and meat. This pure Swiss breed is robust and highly adaptable. Thanks to its high fertility and exceptional longevity, the Original Braunvieh is well suited to all systems and conditions. Sound limbs and tough hooves – very useful in difficult topographical conditions – are additional assets.
