February 9, 2026: In a major step towards strengthening the Dairy Sector in West Bengal, Pune-based BAIF Development Research Foundation, committed to the prosperity of smallholder farmers in the country, and Kolkata-based Paschim Banga Go-Sampad Bikash Sanstha (PBGSBS), a State Implementing Agency under the Animal Resources Development Department of the Government of West Bengal, entered into a strategic partnership for advancing genomic technologies to support the livelihoods of dairy farmers in West Bengal.
Based on the experience of BAIF in digital data collection and advanced genomic technologies, under this collaboration, as a Technology and Knowledge Partner, BAIF will provide technical support to PBGSBS for implementation of a full-fledged Genomic Selection programme for accelerating genetic improvement of cattle and enhancing dairy productivity in West Bengal.
The virtual event was graced by Dr. Gouri Shankar Koner, CEO, PBGSBS and MD, Banglar Dairy Limited, Dr. Utpal Kumar Karmakar, MD, West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation Limited (WBLDCL), Dr. Biswajit Saha, APD (MIS), PBGSBS and Dr. Sharadindu Shil, APD, Centre for Laboratory Animal Research and Training (CLART), WBLDCL.
The BAIF team was led by Dr. Bharat Kakade, President and Managing Trustee. Dr. Kakade, emphasised that this collaboration reflects the strong, shared commitment between BAIF and PBGSBS to leverage genomic selection technologies for long-term, sustainable livestock improvement. He further announced that with this association, West Bengal has become the 18th operational state of BAIF in the country. Dr. Jayant Khadse, Vice President – Livestock Development and Scientific Research, Mr. Rakesh Warrier, Programme Director and Regional Director – East, Dr. Sachin Joshi, Chief Thematic Programme Executive – Animal Genetics, Breeding & Genomics and Dr. Santosh Deo, Associate Thematic Programme Executive, BAIF Bihar, were also present.
Dr. Gouri Shankar Koner stated that this initiative will strengthen dairy value chain, improve the productivity, and ensure better economic returns for dairy farmers in West Bengal in a structured and time-bound way.
The key contributions of the PBGSBS team and BAIF’s Animal Breeding Genetics team led by Dr. Sachin Joshi and comprising of Dr. Vinod Potdar, Dr. Kaustubh Bhave, Mr. Yuvraj Gaundare, Dr. Santosh Jadhav, Dr. Velu Dhanikachalam, Dr. Akshay Joshi, Dr. Shantanu Shinde, Mr. Nikhil Punde, and Mrs. Tejashree Shirsat were duly acknowledged.
