Improving production by optimizing reproduction: herbal approach

During the past 20 years, there have been significant improvements in animal nutrition, housing, waste management, and mechanization, but little progress has been made in increasing reproduction. Unfortunately, there are no quick and easy solutions for improving reproductive performance. Livestock farmers generally appreciate the time and input costs required to grow animals from birth to market weight. What is sometimes overlooked is the substantial expense involved with maintaining the mature breeding animals that are necessary to produce any stock for subsequent growing and finishing.

Profitability in any commercial livestock- breeding unit is related closely to reproductive efficiency. Unfortunately some producers and even many of their expert advisers pay insufficient attention to this aspect.

The fact that milk, meat, eggs and all other consumable foods of animal origin are obtained entirely through reproductive processes. If mature male did not follow their inherent urge to mate with female and similarly if mature females did not follow their inherent urge to reproduce, we would be without eggs, dairy products, meat, many associated by-products, and even less obvious commodities such as honey or caviar. Thus, enhancements of fertility and prolificacy are reasonable approaches to provide more marketable output at lower cost from less breeding stock. Practical and humanely acceptable methods to improve reproductive efficiency should not only enhance profits, but yield current or even increased production from fewer mature animals, thereby reducing potential for environmental degradation.

Although most domesticated animals never reproduce, anyone associated with livestock should realize that, obtaining and maintaining the breeding heard or flock, with all of the associated expenses for housing and feeding, represents a substantial proportion of total production costs. Adequate reproductive efficiency is essential to justify this investment.

In a typical animal farming, one male mates to multiple females so better fertility of the male is very important to reduce the production loss and improve the economy of the farm.

Although the reasons for infertility may be various and undetermined, oligozoospermia (decreased sperm concentration) and asthenozoospermia (Decreased sperm motility) are considered the most important causes of male infertility. Factors affecting fertility in male are endocrine disruptions, toxic pollutants, sexually transmitted infections, mineral deficiency, stress, ionizing radiations etc.

Present solutions are not enough to cure the problem and it is also having lots of shortcomings. Usage of synthetic hormones and chemicals to improve fertility have lots of side effects. Synthetic hormones disrupt the hormonal balance in the body which leads to abnormal body function. Gap in demand and supply and cost of these solutions also put very negative impact on the economy of the farmer and the farm.

Our nature had provided us with abundance of natural herbs which have potency to potentiate the vigor and fertility of male to improve reproduction. Herbal remedies help men address low testosterone levels, toxicity affecting low sperm count and poor sperm motility. Some of the herbs are Withania somnifera, Mucuna pruriens, Leptadenia reticulate, Asparagus racemosus, Hemidesmus indicus, Piper longum, Pueraria tuberosa, Zingiber officinale, Tribulus terrestris etc.

Withania somnifera and Tribulus terrestris are having active component like Sitoindosides, Withaferin A and protodioscin which Improves sexual function in male via activating Nrf2/ HO-1 pathway while inhibiting the NF-κB levels. Withaferin A also improves semen quality by reducing oxidative stress while protodioscin improves human sperm motility and viability and also work in the treatment of sperm abnormalities.

Herbs like Asparagus racemosus and Mucuna pruriens which contains active ingredients like shatavain I-IV and mucunine which is having activity like anti-oxidant and immune-modulatory. Mucunine is having high free radicle scavenging activity which increases sperm concentration and motility. It protects the sperm by oxidative damage and restored the levels of SOD, catalase, GSH and ascorbic acid in the seminal plasma.

Along with herbs nature has also provide many natural components like mineral wax which are good source of minerals (humin) and natural acids fulvic acid). Which improves the fertility and vigor by increasing total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS).

Ayurvet ltd. developed an herbal product called “Seminogen” in which all active ingredients of the herbs mentioned above and minerals mixed together in the scientific proportion to obtain a solution with optimum activity in improving sperm quality, fertility and vigor. These ingredients promote spermatogenesis by improving the testicular, seminal vesicle and epididymal functions. They stimulate testicles to produce more number of good quality sperms. They also improve the sperm count and the quality of semen possibly by increasing the LH-FSH producing basophill cells in the pituitary. This product is the outcome of scientific approach and traditional knowledge of herbs and minerals.

The main benefits of the solutions are, it is absolutely hormone free, contain no synthetic material, leaves no residue, eco and animal friendly and can be freely used in ecological farming.

To determine the efficacy of Seminogen in improving reproductive functions in male, a study was carried out in Hungary.

80 boars of 440 kg avg. weight was divided into two groups of 40 animals each.

Parameters like total anomalies of the semen, amount of semen produced per boar, motility percentage and proximal droplet percentage of the sperm was analyzed to see the efficacy of the Seminogen.

Semen produced per boar per ejaculate increases by 30 ml in the treatment group as compared to the control group after the trial period of one month. Seminogen treatment also increases motility % by about 6% in the treated group.

Proximal droplet % decrease in the Seminogen treated group show the improvement of the semen quality. Presence of proximal droplets causes decrease in fertility because it prevent the sperm to attach the female ova for the fertilization.

The experiment trail shows the efficacy of the Seminogen in improving the semen quality and decreasing the seminal anomalies of the treated groups of boar. Thus for Improving the Reproductive capability Seminogen proves to be a very good Option for Breeding farms.