About National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI)
- The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), headquartered at Karnal, Haryana, is India’s leading dairy research organisation, functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It was accorded Deemed-to-be-University status in 1989.
- The institute traces its lineage to 1923, when it began in Bangalore as the Imperial Institute for Animal Husbandry and Dairying; it was renamed the Imperial Dairy Institute in 1936 before shifting to Karnal in 1955 and adopting its present name.
Origin and Institutional Evolution
- Founded in 1923 in Bangalore as the Imperial Institute for Animal Husbandry & Dairying; Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya trained there for two weeks in 1927 on modern cattle management.
- Renamed the Imperial Dairy Institute in 1936, relocated to Karnal in 1955 and renamed National Dairy Research Institute; the original Bangalore campus continues as the Southern Regional Station.
- An Eastern Regional Station was established at Kalyani, West Bengal, in 1964; the institute came under ICAR administration around 1966/1970 and gained deemed-university status in 1989.
Cloning and Assisted Reproduction Breakthroughs
- Samrupa: world’s first cloned buffalo calf, produced in February 2009.
- Garima: world’s second cloned buffalo calf, born June 2009 via hand-guided Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) from Murrah buffalo ear tissue; later gave birth naturally to Mahima in 2013.
- Ganga: India’s first cloned Gir female cattle calf, produced in 2023 to conserve an indigenous breed.
- Badri OPU-IVF calves: produced with G. B. Pant University using Ovum Pick-Up and In-Vitro Fertilisation to multiply Uttarakhand’s indigenous Badri cattle.
- Karan Fries: a synthetic, heat-tolerant, high-yielding breed developed by crossing Holstein Friesian bulls with indigenous Tharparkar zebu cows.
Conclusion
From its 1923 origin in Bangalore to its present status as a Deemed University at Karnal, NDRI has combined dairy research with pioneering reproductive science, from the world’s first cloned buffalo calf Samrupa to the recent Badri OPU-IVF calf produced with GBPUAT.
Its three-division structure, national referral laboratory and regional stations make it India’s principal institution for dairy production, processing and extension research under ICAR.
| This concept has been elaborately discussed in the following article – – Badri Cattle |