Philippine carabaos can be surrogate mothers of artificially produced and preserved embryos of genetically superior Murrah river buffalo from India.

Such potential of the native carabao was found in a study titled "Propagation of river buffalo calves using swamp buffalo as surrogate mothers of in vitro produced vitrified embryos."

Aim to produce genetically superior native water buffalo, the research was conducted by Drs. Danilda Duran, Prudencio Pedro, Hernando Venturina, Perigrino Duran, and Libertado Cruz, all of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) based in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. It was funded by the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

In the study, selected occytes (eggs before maturation) from the ovary of female slaughtered buffaloes from India were artificially nurtured to maturity in a culture medium containing serum and antiobiotics placed in a humidified incubator.

The oocytes were then artificially fertilized using frozen-thawed semen from India's top progeny-tested riverine buffaloes, preserved, and transported to the Philippines for embryo (fertilized egg) transfer.

Of the 80 Murrah buffalo embryos transferred nonsurgically to 40 Philippine carabao recipients owned by farmer-cooperators, four normal calves reached their full term of pregnancy, three of which were delivered alive.

"The technology promises to optimize reproduction and production performance in farming areas, thus will help improve farmers' economic well-being," the PCC researchers concluded.