UB Faculty of Animal Science Lecturers Apply IB with Semen Sexing to Get the Sex of the Calves as Expected

Injecting marriage, or in medical terms called artificial insemination (AI), is an effort to increase the number of sperm (semen) that can reach the fallopian tubes, resulting in fertilization and pregnancy. This method is also applied to livestock for produce offspring with superior genetic quality.

IB is carried out on livestock using two methods, namely IB with sexing semen and IB with non-sexing semen. The sexing technique is to separate X and Y spermatozoa to produce children according to the desired sex. While non-sexing, the spermatozoa were given a diluent and then stored frozen; the offspring obtained had a 50:50 chance between males and females.

According to a lecturer at the Faculty of Animal Husbandry Universitas Brawijaya (Fapet UB), Aulia Puspita Anugra Yekti, S.Pt, MP, M.Sc, the advantages of using sexing semen for AI beef cattle can increase the chances of giving birth to male offspring. So that it can increase farmers’ income because the selling price of bulls is higher than female cattle.

Along with Fapet UB lecturers who are members of the livestock reproduction laboratory and Group Research –Red Meat Producers (RG-RMP), he conducted counseling activities for the Widji Kamulyan livestock group in Senggreng Village, Malang Regency, Friday (8/10/2021). The team consisting of Prof. Trinil Susilawati, Prof. Nurul Isnaini, Prof. Sri Wahjuningsih, Prof. MN Ihsan, and Dr. Nanang Febrianto conveyed about IB semen sexing technology and the factors that influence the success of IB.

“The implementation of AI semen sexing has been carried out in the Tuban Regency area and has resulted in a high percentage of pregnancy. So we hope that this technology can be adopted for breeders in Senggreng Village, Malang Regency.” said Aulia,””who became the chairman of this service program.

Meanwhile, Prof. Nurul Isnaini explained the factors that influence the success of AI, including frozen semen quality, physiology of female cows, knowledge of farmers in detecting signs of lust in livestock, and the ability of inseminators (IB officers).

Meanwhile, the success of AI, as stated by Prof. Sri Wahjuningsih depends on the ability of farmers to manage reproduction optimally. This is done by providing feed according to the parent’s needs, managing the cage environment and sanitation, and preventing disease.

On that occasion, Prof. Trinil Susilawati socialized the Movement Back to white cows or Ongole Peranakan (PO) cattle. The goal is to increase the success of AI because local cattle have advantages in resistance to parasites, environmental conditions and have good reproductive performance.

“Hopefully, this activity can provide knowledge about the factors that influence the success of AI which is very important to implement. So that later breeders can reduce errors in the AI process. And together we return local cattle as superior cows as breeders.” concluded Aulia (APAY / dta)