(FreedomBeacon.com)- It seems China wants more Chinese cows.
Researchers recently cloned three Holstein Friesian cows in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Chinese scientists successfully used a cloning technique to reduce their country’s reliance on imported dairy cows.
Scientists from Northwest A&F University utilized a sample from one super cow’s ear to make the clones. According to a Global Times story, only five of every 10,000 dairy cows in China are reportedly very productive and attempts to clone more cows might significantly boost the nation’s dairy output. To increase its herd of very productive cows, China has tried to conserve the genes of the relatively few animals that are regarded as super cows. In terms of structure and skin texture, the new calves resembled one another, according to a news release from Northwest A&F University.
The demand for goods like milk and other crops is rising as China’s middle-class population expands. However, a People’s Daily tabloid Global Times report claims that China must import 70% of its dairy cow population from outside. The cloning project aimed to increase the nation’s access to dairy products and lessen its dependency on imports.
The cloned cows were produced by selective breeding of a Holstein Friesian known as a “super cow,” a dairy cow with very high milk output. The super cows can have up to 36,000 pounds of milk per year. China expanded its dairy imports from the United States. AgriPulse said China’s dairy imports would increase by 75% in 2021.
According to project director Jin Yaping, the embryos were implanted in low-production surrogates using reproductive technology in combination with cloning technology. Thanks to a mix of reproductive and cloning techniques, three successful calves were produced.
About 50 of the 120 cloned embryos from the first experiment were inserted into the surrogates.
Since the clones were successful, Jin said it would take several years for researchers to create a herd of more than 1,0000 super cows. Jin referred to the initiative as a “strong basis to address China’s dependence on foreign dairy cows.”
The Global Times story claims that researchers are conducting groundbreaking research involving maize, soybeans, broiler chicks, and breeding pigs.
