T. K. Mohanty

• BSc Chemistry (Hons) B.V. Sc (AH) M.V.Sc. Ph.D. (Vet. Gynae. and Reproduction )
• Principal Investigator at National Dairy Research Institute

Vaccination-induced allergic reactions in bulls raise both body and testicular temperatures, leading to germ cell damage, epididymal dysfunction, accelerated testicular ageing, and increased sperm abnormalities that ultimately degrade semen quality. This study aimed to ameliorate vaccination stress and improve semen quality using meloxicam and leva...

Metritis, an inflammatory uterine disorder occurring within 21 days postpartum, poses significant global challenges to dairy herd management. This review comprehensively examines the incidence, diagnostic criteria, clinical manifestations, economic implications, and emerging management strategies for metritis in dairy animals. The classification of...

Sperm motility is the prime functional attribute for semen quality and fertility of the bull. However, the bull’s age directly affects the semen quality, and the bull’s fertility and productive life decline with age. Even though research on age has been conducted in the past, it is still unclear how old a bull should be maintained at artificial ins...

Milking machines aim to efficiently harvest high-quality milk while ensuring animal comfort and protecting against mastitis. The present study focused on 128 and 125 teats of Sahiwal cows and Murrah buffaloes by measuring the teat morphometric parameters and comparing them with the dimensions of the teat cup liner size of the milking machine. The i...

Bull fertility is a multi‐factorial trait and is affected by many factors, such as nutrition, genetics, and epigenetics. Superior quality male germplasm with high genetic merit helps to improve the livestock production trait. To achieve the target of livestock production, the availability of superior male germplasm is a great concern. In developing...

Male fertility is the ability of sperm to fertilize the egg, sustain embryo development, and produce viable offspring. Several factors determine the fertilizing capacity of mammalian sperm, including season and vaccination of breeding bulls. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of FMD vaccination on semen quality and sperm fertility ma...

Our study aimed to enhance cryoprotection and improve post-thaw sperm quality by using a new freezing protocolthat combines trehalose and glycerol.The semen ejaculate from each bull was collected and split into three aliquots.Split one was the control group (C), in which semen was extended in a tris fructose egg yolk glycerol (TFEG) extender and un...

In India, where dairy production leads globally, infrared thermography (IRT) and short milking tube thermography specifically are vital for managing mastitis. Therefore, the present study focuses on thermal imaging of the udder and short milking tube (SMT) of the milking machine during the peak milking process of Sahiwal cows and Murrah buffaloes d...

Mastitis, a production disease with multiple etiologies, inflicts significant economic losses among dairy farmers around the globe. In this study, an attempt has been made to detect mastitis through a Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN)-based deep learning model using 7615 udder thermograms of 40 Murrah buffaloes. The ther-mograms were grouped sepa...

Mastitis is a global threat that challenges dairy farmers’ economies worldwide. Sub-clinical mastitis (SCM) beholds the lion’s share in it, as its visible clinical signs are not evident and are challenging to diagnose. The treatment of intramammary infection (IMI) demands antimicrobial therapy and subsequent milk withdrawal for a week or two. This...

The dairy industry must adhere to stringent international standards due to the growing demand for healthy, high-quality, and affordable dairy products worldwide. To ensure the quality of raw milk, key markers such as Bulk Milk Somatic Cell Count (BMSCC) and Total Bacterial Count (BMTBC) have become standard benchmarks. However, mastitis, the most c...

In the present study, thermal images of the short milking tube of the milking machine representing four udder quarters independently attached to a milking animal, along with pre-milking and post-milking udder and teat thermograms, were taken using a hand-held digital infrared thermal camera (DarviDTL007) during morning milking of lactating Murrah b...

Sperm mRNA transcriptional profiling can be used to evaluate the fertility of breeding bulls. The aim of the study was to compare the modified RNA isolation methods for higher RNA yield and quality from freshly ejaculated sperm of cattle and buffalo bulls. Ten fresh ejaculates from each Sahiwal (n = 10 bulls × 10 ejaculates) and Murrah bulls (n = 1...

Infertility is one of the primary factors for cattle reproduction in the present scenario. Reproduction-related immunoinfertility mainly involves immunization against the antigens related to reproductive hormones (LHRH, GnRH, Gonadal steroids, PGF2α and oxytocin), spermatozoa, seminal plasma and ovum. Anovulation, delayed ovulation, sperm immobiliz...

Early detection of sub-clinical mastitis via thermogram analysis by using a part of the milking machine without disturbing the dairy animal can be a milestone in precision farming. In the present study, thermal images of the short milking tube of milking machine representing four udder quarters independently attached to a milking animal, along with...

The most coveted title of "The largest producer of milk in the world" is persistent in the hands of India for several decades. The said title is made possible through the constant efforts made by the Government of India through the implementation of productivity enhancement and development programmes from time to time to upsurge milk production. Th...

Semen dilution and cryopreservation alter the homogeneity of seminal plasma, resulting in a non-physiological redox milieu and consequently poor sperm functionality. Considering the concentration-specific bimodal action of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation of sperm functions, cryopreservation media supplemented with optimized concentrations can i...

The vaccination of productive animals has been identified as a critical intervention area. The extent of milk production loss following foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), hemorrhagic septicemia and black quarter (HS + BQ), Theileriosis, and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) vaccination needs analysis. So, the present study collected milk productio...

Background: Cryopreservation is an important technique for the long-term storage of semen for artificial insemination (AI). Buffalo spermatozoa are sensitive to cryopreservation procedures because of the presence of a high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the plasma membrane. Objective: To study the effect of different concentrations of...

The medicinal properties of Moringa oleifera are utilised worldwide, especially its antimicrobial activity, based on which several preparations are available in the market. The present study evaluates the antibacterial activity of aqueous extracts of moringa leaf, pods, gum powder, and seed oil against specific microbial cultures. Also, the zone of...

The present study quantitatively characterized the proteomic changes in bull spermatozoa induced by the cryopreservation process. We performed high-throughput comparative global proteomic profiling of freshly ejaculated (before cryopreservation), equilibrated (refrigerated storage; during cryopreservation), and frozen (ultralow temperature; after c...

A novel strategy, focused on the induction of sub-lethal oxidative stress to optimize sperm cryosurvival, has been used before cryopreservation. The present study compared the effect of preconditioning with various concentrations of nitric oxide-donor (sodium nitroprusside, SNP) and peroxynitrite-generator (3-morpholinosydnonimine, SIN-1) on in vit...

Earlier, it was said that a bull is half of the herd because of its half contribution towards the genetic makeup in each subsequent generation. Nowadays, bulls are considered more than half of the herd because of the extensive use of frozen semen samples in artificial insemination. Bull’s low fertility accounts for a major economic loss to livestoc...

Although seasonal variations in semen quality and fertility have been studied to a considerable extent in breeding bulls, the effect of climatic variables on sperm functional competency has not been understood in detail. The present study analyzed sperm functional parameters in breeding bulls, over a period of 1 year, and assessed the effect of cli...

The study compared efficacy of three sperm selection techniques in improving freezability of low-quality Murrah buffalo bull ejaculates. Sephadex (SEP), Sephadex ion-exchange filtration (SIE), and 40/80% BoviPureTM (BP) gradient centrifugation protocols were standardized (ejaculates, n=24). In Experiment-I, Sephadex G-75, G-100, and combined Sephad...

Estrus detection is a major problem in buffaloes because of the poor expression of estrus signs leading to low reproductive efficiency. Salivary transcripts analysis is a promising tool to identify biomarkers; therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate their potential as estrus biomarkers. The levels of HSD17B1, INHBA, HSPA1A, TES tra...

The research was based on a survey done in 2019 across Odisha’s eastern and southern coastal plain zones to assess sustainability among dairy farms based on various scientific management practices adopted by the farmers. The sustainability index was constructed using primary data acquired through a random sampling approach from 120 dairy households...

The productivity of dairy animals in India needs to be improved to feed the growing population in the decades ahead. Sperm sexing offers a promising breeding strategy to meet the increased demand for food production and nutritional protection. Application of sexed sperm in the breeding of indigenous cattle and buffalo would help to protect endanger...

The production of In-vitro embryos is a reproductive biotechnological technique that has great potential to speed up genetic improvement in cattle and is also an important research tool for livestock farming. In-vitro embryo production is a procedure of production of embryos artificially in a laboratory by three biological steps i.e. in vitro m...

Laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) together with other reproductive biotechnologies in sheep possesses the capabilities to accelerate the genetic gain as well as reduce generation interval. It is a highly efficient and less invasive technique for the collection of the oocyte from the follicles of live animals. Oocytes from prepubertal animals can...

In India, milk is the single largest commodity among agricultural produce, the smallholder dairy farmers contribute the maximum (70-80%) of it, and 95% of small holder rear 1 to 5 milch animals only. Dairy farming generates 80 million employments in the rural household and provides income throughout the year. To keep pace with the country's ever-in...

Sperm mRNA transcriptional profiling can be used to evaluate the fertility of breeding bulls. This study aimed to compare the modified RNA isolation methods for higher RNA yield and quality from freshly ejaculated sperm of cattle and buffalo bull for further transcriptome analysis. Ten fresh ejaculates from each Sahiwal (n = 10 bulls x 10 ejaculate...

Pyometra (pus in the uterus) is a common disease entity in intact female dogs during the luteal phase. Progesterone appears to be a crucial component in the pathogenesis of pyometra. Pyometra in canines results from hormonal imbalance; sequelae of cystic endometrial hyperplasia. Although the etiopathology of its primary aspect is unknown; however,...

Accurate determination of estrus is essentially required for efficient reproduction management of farm animals. Buffalo is a shy breeder and does not manifest overt signs of estrus that make estrus detection difficult resulting in a poor conception rate. Therefore, identifying estrus biomarkers in easily accessible biofluid such as saliva is of utm...

The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of over dilution of semen with tris extender on motion and functional attributes of bull sperm post‐thaw. Ejaculates (n = 24; mass motility ≥3+) were collected from bulls (n = 4) using artificial vagina, diluted to 20, 15, 10 and 5 million spermatozoa/0.25 ml, and cryopreserved. The results reveale...

Motile sperm cell separation is important in sample preparation for both artificial insemination and cryopreservation of semen. A novel microfluidic device consisting of an inlet microchannel, a separating reservoir and two outlet microchannels was developed to enrich the motile sperm cells of cattle semen samples. Sperm separation was performed in...

Almost all species at the time of origin were seasonal breeders for assurance of feed to their young ones for better survival. But as domestication started this phenomenon is no more applicable for most of the species. Goats of the temperate regions are still seasonal breeders. Period of sexual quiescence can be minimized by different strategies li...

Estrus detection is a major problem in buffaloes because of poor expression of estrus signs and higher incidences of silent estrus especially during summer season. Salivary transcript analysis is a noninvasive and promising tool for biomarker discovery. Hence, present study was carried out to evaluate the potential of salivary transcripts as estrus...

Estrus detection is a major problem in buffaloes because of poor expression of estrus signs and higher incidences of silent estrus especially during summer season. Salivary transcript analysis is a noninvasive and promising tool for biomarker discovery. Hence, present study was carried out to evaluate the potential of salivary transcripts as estrus...

Background: Estrus detection is a major problem in buffaloes because of the poor expression of estrus signs leading to low reproductive efficiency. Salivary transcripts analysis is a promising tool to identify biomarker; therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate their potential as estrus biomarker. Methods: The levels of HSD17B1, INH...

The epididymis is a complex organ where spermatozoa acquire motility and the ability to fertilize the egg. Ejaculated spermatozoa undergo several functional and physiological modifications by several factors, especially seminal plasma proteins that are constructed by the caudal epididymis and accessory sexual glands during ejaculation. During e...

Heat stress may occur in those animals that are exposed to extreme environmental conditions i.e. 47 oC during summer months. Those cattle and buffaloes that have poor heat dissipation and have less sweet gland are more susceptible to heat stress. Higher environmental temperature with a higher temperature-humidity index is the major contributory...

The variation in climatic variables like temperature, humidity and radiations were recognized as the potential hazards inflicting heat stress (HS) in all domestic livestock species including swine. India being a tropical country is among the most vulnerable area, since pathogens and epidemic diseases are widespread, climatic conditions are variable...

The variation in climatic variables like temperature, humidity and radiations were recognized as the potential hazards inflicting heat stress (HS) in all domestic livestock species including swine. India being a tropical country is among the most vulnerable area, since pathogens and epidemic diseases are widespread, climatic conditions are variable...

Iodine is anessential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in male reproduction (sexual behavior and semen production performance) by modulating thyroid function and the antioxidant status of the animal. Nonetheless, in Bos indicus bulls, a thorough evaluation of the effects of dietary iodine supplementation on antioxidant status, seminal qualit...

Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites, a significant impediment to the dairy sector and implicated in diseases such as Babesiosis, Theileriosis, Anaplasmosis, etc., and deteriorate animal's health associated with welfare issues which have a drastic impact on the dairy farm economy and livestock productivity. Researchers's understanding of possible...

Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites, a significant impediment to the dairy sector and implicated in diseases such as Babesiosis, Theileriosis, Anaplasmosis, etc., and deteriorate animal's health associated with welfare issues which have a drastic impact on the dairy farm economy and livestock productivity. Researchers's understanding of possible...

Estrus identification in dairy animals is always a point of interest as it is well established that the pregnancy rate associated with heat detection rate; therefore in the present study 80 multiparous and 24 cyclic heifers of Sahiwal cows were monitored by digital thermal imaging DarviDTL007 camera during estrus and non-estrus period. The vulval,...

The present study aimed to determine the effect of trehalose and glycerol as a modified freezing diluent on the post-thaw motility of poor freezable bull semen samples at different time intervals (0 min, 30 min, 60 min, 90 min and 120 min). In the proposed study semen was collected from four Sahiwal bulls (n=6) using an artificial vagina. Split sam...

The present study aimed to determine the effect of trehalose and glycerol as a modified freezing diluent on the post-thaw motility of poor freezable bull semen samples at different time intervals (0 min, 30 min, 60 min, 90 min and 120 min). In the proposed study semen was collected from four Sahiwal bulls (n=6) using an artificial vagina. Split sam...

The aim of study was to investigate the effect of parlour relocation on behaviour of lactating cows and to understand the effect of behaviour on post-adaptation milkability in dairy cows. Seventy-two crossbred cows initially milked in tandem milking parlour were relocated to herringbone parlour and observed for 45 milking sessions. Recording of beh...

Global warming and the greenhouse gas effect go hand in hand, leading to climatic vagaries. One of the major green house gases such as methane, whose major contributing holder is said to be the livestock population. The major greenhouse gas emissions sources in livestock production systems are enteric fermentation, manure storage areas, and feed pr...

India ranked 1st in cow and buffalo population in the world with annual production of 187.75 MT of milk and 8.11 MT of meat, livestock contributes 4.1% in of total GDP. Even though, production is inadequate to fulfill the nutritional demands of population of the country. To generate bulk quantity of food products to fulfill the demands required to...

In constrained availability of veterinarians and paramount study on the effectiveness of para-veterinary services, assessing the ability of these personnel vis-à-vis role proficiency and performance from stakeholder's perspective could act as impetus in reforming the animal healthcare and animal husbandry extension delivery system in India. The pre...

Sperm cryopreservation allows sperms to be used for future in artificial insemination. It is the process by which sperm cells are brought to a zero level of metabolic state which allows its storage for future use. It also helps to make a lot much number of cows pregnant from a single ejaculate of bull. Though having so many advantages, cryopreserva...

Mitochondria are vital organelles with a multifaceted role in cellular bioenergetics, biosynthesis, signaling and calcium homeostasis. During oxidative phosphorylation, sperm mitochondria generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) at physiological levels mediating signaling pathways essential for sperm fertilizing competence. Moreover, sperm subpopulat...

The present study was planned to understand the effect of scrotal surface temperature on semen quality and Infrared thermography as a tool for breeding soundness evaluation of Zebu bulls. The thermal imaging of the scrotum revealed significant differences in temperatures from the neck to the ventral portion of the scrotum. The average neck and vent...

Summer anoestrus is one of the major reproductive problems encountered in dairy buffaloes causing a huge economic loss to the buffalo breeders as well as the dairy industry. More than 50% of buffaloes were predisposed to summer anoestrus.Summer anoestrus is a multifactorial cause. Heat stress leading to decreased feed intake and hormonal disturbanc...

Para-veterinary personnel are eyes and ears of public veterinary services which makes them an important part of animal health care and animal husbandry extension delivery system in India. With acute shortage of veterinarians and paravets, in order to meet various criteria such as availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability, assess...

In the present study, the effect of cholesterol‐loaded cyclodextrin (CLC) on the quality of low sperm doses at post‐thaw was evaluated. Twenty four ejaculates (6 from each bull) were collected and split into eight aliquots. First four aliquots were diluted up to 20‐, 15‐, 10‐ and 5‐million sperm/0.25 ml, and remaining four were treated with CLC at...

Retained placenta also known as retained foetal membrane or retained cleansing commonly occurs in animals. It occurs when the calf's side of the placenta (the fetal membranes) fails to separate from the mother's side. Separation of the membranes normally occurs after the calf is born. Retained placenta is usually defined as the failure to expel fet...

Para-veterinary personnel are eyes and ears of public veterinary services which makes them an important part of animal health care and animal husbandry extension delivery system in India. With acute shortage of veterinarians and paravets, in order to meet various criteria such as availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability, assess...

Animal biotechnology related to production has contributed to many improvements in agriculturally important traits in livestock. Although, artificial insemination was the first assisted reproductive technology used to enhance farm animal reproduction and propagate superior genetics, reproductive cloning and the development of transgenic animals are...

Calving difficulty is associated with cow mortality, calf loss, veterinary and labor costs, and causes delayed return to estrus and lower conception rate. Dystocia is common in heifers, and the frequency decreases with the increasing age of the cow. Farmers need to consider both genetics and management factors in an attempt to reduce dystocia. Calf...

In farm animals, several estrus synchronization programs are based on the use of hormones such as Progesterone, Prostaglandin F2α and their various combinations with other hormones such as Estrogen and Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) are available. Besides the advantages and disadvantages of each system as well as the management capabilities...

Ticks infestation considerably reduces milk yield of dairy animals due to blood sucking and poor feed intake. NDRI has conducted field trials on using polyharbal medication comprising neem and nirgundi leaves in eight villages of three districts in Haryana during 2019-2020. When the medication was used with 203 animals in 47 dairy farms, ticks were...

Superovulation, embryo recovery and transfer, cryopreservation, and IVF are all well-established and effective techniques that are used in hundreds, if not thousands, of commercial businesses around the world. The method of extracting one or more embryos from a donor female's reproductive tract and transferring them to one or more recipient females...

The present study compared the effect of mitochondria-targeted (Mitoquinone, MitoQ) and untargeted cytosolic antioxidant (Resveratrol, RESV) supplementation on lipid peroxidation (LPO) and in-vitro sperm functions of cryopreserved buffalo bull semen. To optimize additive’s concentration, sperm pellet obtained from twenty-four ejaculates was supplem...

Postpartum anestrus is a major cause of infertility in buffaloes. The resumption of estrus in such animals depends on several factors such as nutrition, management, suckling, and so on. Season too affects estrus expression in buffaloes. Estrus expression during summer months is decreased in buffaloes which makes estrus detection difficult in them....

Background: Improper estrus detection causes huge economic losses due to inaccurate time of insemination leading to poor conception rate. So, here pedometer proved to be a promising tool in defining optimal time of insemination,improving fertilization rates based on increased number of steps. The study is to determine the relationship between incre...

The present study was undertaken to identify the difference in sperm kinematics in Murrah buffalo bulls in different seasons. Eight Murrah buffalo bulls maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, ICAR-NDRI Karnal. Frozen semen samples of the bulls were obtained and sperm kinematic parameters were measured by computer-assisted sperm analyzer...

Male fertility is an important factor in bovine reproduction as a single bull is generally used to breed numerous cows especially after the introduction of AI technology. Therefore prediction of fertilization potential of sperm becomes the primary goal of semen analysis. Visual evaluation of sperm motility in semen samples using light microscopy is...

The objective of the present study was to measure pixel intensity mean (Echogenicity) and pixel intensity standard deviation (Heterogeneity) of testicular parenchyma in constantly low or high sperm concentration producing bulls. The average sperm concentration/ml in ejaculate over thirteen month's period (≥100 ejaculates) was recorded. On the basis...

The objective of the present study was to measure pixel intensity mean (Echogenicity) and pixel intensity standard deviation (Heterogeneity) of testicular parenchyma in constantly low or high sperm concentration producing bulls. The average sperm concentration/ml in ejaculate over thirteen month's period (≥100 ejaculates) was recorded. On the basis...

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) and human immunodeficiency viruses are belonging to the lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses with class VI, ssRNA-RT viruses (+ strand or sense) RNA with DNA intermediate in life-cycle. Genome has a special reverse transcriptase enzyme which serves to synthesize DNA from retrovirus RNA. India ranked 3rd in the...

Livestock industry is one of the important pillars for country economy. Sperm sexing has the potential of significantly improving the quality and quantity of production in the livestock industries. Over years several attempts, involving several different parameters of sperm cells, have been made to develop an efficient sperm sorting procedure. Till...

Background: The testicular biometry such as scrotal circumference (SC) and scrotal volume, affect semen quality hence bull fertility and thus testicular biometry can be used for breeding soundness of bulls. Methods: The present study was carried out to study the testicular parameters of 77 Sahiwal males of different ages and to establish its import...

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