LUCKNOW: Choosing cows over bulls , the UP government is pushing for sex selection among bovines.Under a pilot project started earlier this year, around 2,700 cows were artificially inseminated to produce female calves. The exercise has borne fruit with 26 of the 27 calves born through this method being female.The project is a means of cracking down on the lakhs of stray cattle, usually male, which are being abandoned routinely.“Due to the regular abandoning of cattle in drought-hit areas, a large number of them are roaming in the state and wreaking havoc in fields due to the ban on cow slaughter. So, we needed to come up with a solution. In January this year, a pilot project was sanctioned by the previous SP government to artificially inseminate cows with semen sorted to ensure female progeny. However, the real push to the programme came from the BJP government. The pilot project in Lakhimpur Kheri, Barabanki and Etawah has started showing results and we intend starting this across the state,” said a senior official of the animal husbandry department.The government will now push the project in Bundelkhand, where hundreds of cattle are being abandoned because cattle keepers have no money or food to keep them. “Bundelkhand will be our primary focus and we are also in talks to set up a semen sorting plant in Babugarh Farm in Hapur district. Meanwhile, an MoU has recently been signed with two foreign companies to provide us with the raw material for this project. The technology is so far not available in India,” said an official.The animal husbandry department has requested for a budget to propel this project.