By Standard Reporter
The use of sexed semen assures dairy farmers that the calf to be born will be a heifer, a leading scientist has said.
The method is more than 90 per cent accurate. This is unlike natural methods where the probability of getting a female calf is almost at 50 per cent.
Dr Josh Odhiambo, a breeding researcher with Worldwide Sires East Africa, said genetic improvement on local livestock assures the farmer of heifers that produce more milk.
“Our dairy farmers are paid on the basis of milk volumes delivered to processors. A farmer would not want his cow to calf down, only to realise the young one was a bull,” observed Dr Odhiambo.
“With this new technology, a dairy farmer is almost sure of the sex of the offspring months before it is born. A farmer who gets a heifer, is assured of increased productivity,” Dr Odhiambo said.
embryo transfer
He was speaking during a presentation at this year’s Brookside Livestock Breeders Show and Sale at Jamhuri Park, Nairobi.
The use of sexed semen comes hot on the heels of embryo transfer technology, currently being piloted by the Aryshire Cattle Breeders Society of Kenya in the North and South Rift.
“Technology is affording our farmers greater opportunities. Since our dairy farmers are paid as per volumes of milk delivered to processors,” said Aryshire Cattle Breeders Society Chairman Dr Muchemi Kariuki. “We are looking at embryo transfer technology where the receiving cow delivers an offspring whose parent has traits of high milk yields.” Critics have, however doubted the success of sexed semen. There are claims that conceptions levels were relatively low, compared to artificial insemination or embryo transfer.
Dr Odhiambo allayed fears of failure, saying that sexed semen technology was worth a try. Farmers attending the livestock fair also expressed reservations about affordability of both sexed semen and embryo transfer technology.
sector funding
They want the Government to subsidise the cost of adoption of the two methods of breed improvement.
A dairy farmer from Enoosaen, Trans Mara, Mr Edward Parpai, said most farmers in Kenya are smallholders, and that the Government ought to set aside funding to be used to roll out technology in animal genetic improvement. “As a farmer, I am interested in a technology that would increase milk yields. However, the State must come in and assist us in funding,” Parpai, who sells his milk to Brookside Dairy’s Siongiroi Cooling Station, observed. The chairman of Lelan Highland Dairy in West Pokot, Mr Kenneth Lomarka said there was need for training of farmers on the emerging technological achievements.
“Over the past ten years, there has been a slump in artificial insemination, and we wonder where the State’s extension services of the 1980s disappeared to,” Lomarka said.
Brookside Dairy Executive Chairman, Mr Muhoho Kenyatta, noted that the Company would continue to invest in programmes aimed at enabling Kenyan farmers to increase their daily milk yields.
Kenyatta decried over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture, saying it was to blame for erratic milk production witnessed in the country.
“As a company, we will sustain training of our farmers on feed conservation as a surety to continuous milk supply throughout the year,” he said.
“We are encouraging all dairy farmers to prepare silage and store hay as mitigation to the erratic milk production pattern witnessed throughout the seasons.” Deputy President William Ruto, who officiated at the fair’s official opening, underscored the Government’s commitment to the development of livestock industry as a key contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The livestock sector is a key employer, both directly and indirectly, and we are looking at boosting its contribution to the economy, currently standing at 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product,” Ruto said.
Exhibitors at the Show came from the entire East African region.
Livestock judges were drawn from all over the world, making the Show attain international stature ever since the first event was staged in 1999.
