MUMBAI: In a move that is likely to boost milk production in the state, the Maharashtra government is in the process of adopting `sexed or sorted semen,' a breeding technology which increases the chances of a cow producing a female calf.The technology, which was originally developed in the West, is now commonly used in many countries, among them the United States, to produce more cows than bulls. It uses biotechnology to sort sperms that have the X-chromosome (that produces a female) from those that have the Y-chromosome (that produces a male). A cow is then inseminated using the Xchromosome-bearing sperms to increase the chances of giving birth to a female offspring. Officials said that the technology has a 90 per cent accuracy rate.According to state officials, the chief idea behind adopting this technology is to increase milk production, given that Maharashtra's per capita availability of milk is 237 grams per day as against the national average of 337 grams. Gujarat , for example, has a per capita availability of 545 grams. The diary business in the state is also being pushed as a supplementary profit-making activity.Besides, old bulls are proving to be a liability for farmers especially after the beef and slaughter ban decisions taken by the BJP-led state government headed by Devendra Fadnavis .Officials said that the sorted semen samples will be frozen into 0.25-0.5 ml vials, which are also called as straws, and will be transported to village-level clinics where cows will be inseminated. "The insemination will be done in a controlled manner, it's not like all the cows will be inseminated and no bulls will be produced," said an official. Another official said that one of the issues with the project is the cost involved. The cost of one vial can go up to Rs1,600-Rs 2,200, and since the conception rate from this technology is lower than from conventional semen, in most cases more than one vial will be required, taking the cost further up. The government will be starting a laboratory in Pune where this reproductive technology will be refined for cattle varieties in the state. A budgetary allocation of Rs8 crore has already been made for the purpose, officials said.Minister for animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries development Mahadev Jankar said that the state government is in the process of setting up the lab. "This will lead to an increase in the production of milk in the state. Currently, we rely on private milk dairies to supply milk produced outside the state. We are working on policies that will make Maharashtra one of the top producers of milk in India," Jankar told TOI.Officials said that the Central government too was pushing the use of this technology, and a pilot project by the animal husbandry ministry has been started in states such as Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh .In 1976, the state had enacted a law banning slaughter of cows. In 1995, it made changes to the law by the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, which banned slaughter of bulls and bullocks as well. In February 2015, the President granted sanction to the law, and the Maharashtra government notified it.