Jammu:
A team of scientists from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana are working on a project to clone the famous pashmina goat, the success of which is expected to give boost to the dwindling trade in the sought-after fur.
Under a World Bank aided project, the scientists from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and National Dairy Research Institute will use somatic cells from the ear of a goat to produce the clone.
"The work on cloning of pashmina goat has begun under an ambitious World Bank aided project - National Agriculture Innovation Project - in joint partnership between National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)," Assistant Director Research, Animal Sciences, SKUAST, Dr Farooq Ahmed said.
Sanctioned by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the project comprises four components and has been granted Rs 9 crore aid by the World Bank. Out of this, SKUAST will get Rs 1.80 crore and rest will be given to NDRI, Dr Ahmed said.
The project 'Value Chain on Zone Free Cloned Embryos Production and Development of Elite Germ Plasma Pashmina' hopes to change the pashmina production scenario in the state.
Dr Ahmed said a six-member team will use somatic cells of the goat to clone the cell to produce new pashmina goat using a hand-guided cloning technique and the four-phased project would run for next three years.
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