Australian export case study
 For the past 25 years veterinarian Dr Adrian Vietch, who lives and works in the remote south west of the vast Australian continent, has concentrated on the specialist field of ovine genetics.
Dr Vietch’s company, AllStock WA, exports frozen sheep embryos and semen to countries around the world, including India.
AllStock WA draws from a pool of many different sheep breeds, including Merino, SAMM, Poll Dorset and Darama, but it is the Dorper sheep which accounts for most of their exports.
The Dorper, a sheep from the desert regions of South Africa, was first brought to Australia around 20 years ago and then further bred for adaptation to semi-arid climates.
The Dorper sheep is farmed for its meat, not wool. An excellent lamber, this breed aims to give farmers three lambs in two years compared to only two lambs in two years from other breeds.
Since October 2005, AllStock WA has been working on a Dorper project in India with Asad Farms, a company located 150 km north of Bangalore in Andhra Pradesh State.
This project, the first of its kind in India, is supported by the State, as well as by the Government of India.
“Austrade was a tremendous help to us,” said Dr Michylla Seal, the AllStock WA veterinarian who is working on this project.
“In the first instance, they contacted the Australian Quarantine Information Service to facilitate the necessary approvals and clearances in Australia from the Department of Animal Husbandry in the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Then, when we were having problems getting the embryos into India, Austrade’s Hyderabad-based Ramakrishna Dastrala smoothed the way with our client and helped us get the first program up and running.”
The project called for the implantation of 2000 embryos, with the first implant completed in late 2005 and the first generation of offspring delivered in March 2006.
As part of this project, frozen Dorper embryos from AllStock WA’s laboratories are flown to India and implanted in local sheep, with a special laboratory established at Asad Farms to carry out the embryo transfer.
Dr Seal reports that AllStock WA is also now in negotiations to train vets in India in artificial insemination techniques, semen collection and frozen embryo work.
Company information:
Michylla Seal
All Stock WA Pty Ltd
PO Box 1072
Lot 607
Manning Road
Narrogin WA 6312
Tel: 08 9881 4848
Fax: 08 9881 4849
Email: mic@allstockwa.com.au
April 2007
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