The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), in conjunction with Real People Concept Limited, has inaugurated the national livestock breed improvement program in Osun State, to improve indigenous cattle breeds for dairy production.
The consultant for the project and Managing Director, Real People Concept Limited, Mr Tunmise Olagbaju, during the flag off ceremony held for the project in Osun State at Makaiza Farms, Iwoye-Ijesha, noted that the program targets at improving indigenous cattle breeds for dairy production.
Olagbaju explained that the program will involve artificial insemination with exotic dairy breeds to our indigenous cows so that the offsprings they produce will produce more milk so that is the essence of the programme.
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“There is a need for us to have a programme where we can monitor the development of these animals. There must be a way to follow them up, to select the highly performing ones. This will help us to be able to identify next generation of cattle that are highly performing.”
While stressing the need for farmers to participate in the program, Olagbaju stated that it is important for farmers to participate in the program for them to be able to benefit from it and it and improve their farm practices.
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According to him, the insemination is going to be done with sex semen because it is sex specific, which means that more than 95 percent of all the offspring will be female while possibility of male should not be more than five percent.
He appreciated Makaiza Farm Limited for their efforts in nation building through agriculture and provision of job opportunity for the youth, while calling on all hands to be on deck so that the program can boost livestock production in the state and bring about economic growth and development of Nigeria.
