Australian dairy genetics could soon be helping to improve the productivity of the Indian dairy industry, with agreement between the two nations on health requirements for the export of frozen bovine semen and in-vitro fertilised bovine embryos into India.

Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, said the agreement on health requirements meant exports of bovine genetic materials to India could commence immediately.

“The export of Australian dairy cow genetics to India is a real win-win, supporting improved productivity and food security in India, while also creating new opportunities for Australian exporters,” Minister Joyce said.

“Our dairy industry operates across a range of climates that are similar to those in India, and achieves high levels of milk productivity—our annual average milk production per cow has more than doubled over the past 35 years, to 5593 litres in 2014–15.

“This makes our bovine genetics well suited to India’s dairy industry, with the potential to significantly improve the milk productivity of Indian dairy cows.”

In the two years to September 2015, more than 860 thousand doses of cattle semen and 5000 cattle embryos were exported from Australia to 42 countries. India will join our most valued export markets for bovine semen and embryos, including the USA, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, China, Uruguay, South Africa and Japan.

Minister Joyce said Australia and India shared a strong and productive relationship, including in agriculture, with total two-way agricultural trade valued at $1.16 billion in 2014–15.

“Growing populations, higher incomes and increasing urbanisation will see world demand for agrifood products increase significantly—for example, in India the real value of food consumption is set to rise by 136 per cent between 2009 and 2050,” Minister Joyce said.

“There is an opportunity for Australia to play a role in supporting global food security and access to nutritious food—not only through exports of tangible commodities, but also by exporting our skills and services in agricultural productivity, and genetics is one of these areas.

“This agreement in India builds on work by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in streamlining genetic exports.

“These are exciting times for Australian agriculture, and this Government is committed to backing the sector with practical policies and genuine investment, including our $30.8 million under the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper to give Australian producers better access to premium overseas markets.

“This includes five new agricultural counsellors working on the ground in key export markets to help open channels with key trading partners.”​​