After the success in setting standard limits of somatic cell counts (SCC) in the milk of indigenous cattle and Murrah buffalo of the National Research Institute (NDRI) farm, the scientists of NDRI, here, have started work on developing a set of reference values of SCC of all dairy breeds of the country.
The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, has sanctioned project Generation of milk somatic cell reference values and intelligent predictive modelling for monitoring mammary profile and milk quality of indigenous dairy animals.
Scientists will screen high and low-producing dairy animals from various parts of the country to set desirable milk SCC levels in the indigenous breeds. They will also set a computer-stimulated predictive model to identify the risk factors associated with higher somatic cells.