The Ekiti state government has adopted artificial insemination to boost livestock production and enhance food security in the state.
The commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, said artificial insemination has the potential to revolutionise the livestock industry by improving production, fertility and herd management as well as reducing disease transmission.
Boluwade stated this on Tuesday, July 16, in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital during a three-day capacity-building programme for the Extension Agents and Livestock Extension Service Providers on Artificial Insemination by the Ministry of Agriculture under the World Bank-funded Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) project.
He noted that the use of reproductive technological intervention would change the dynamics in livestock production by allowing farmers to breed high-quality animals as well as increase their overall profitability.The commissioner who reiterated the commitment of the government to boost food production, said Governor Biodun Oyebanji-led administration has provided palliatives to farmers in the state to enhance food security amidst inflation in the country.
His words: “It is something that can change the dynamics of livestock production in Ekiti State. They are taking the semen of the animal to meet the female one through artificial means. They don’t need to meet physically. You can see in the United States or European countries where they have pig industry.
“In doing that, it creates more jobs for our people, more profit and productivity for them. The little we are doing, they are getting more. The result is what we are looking at to change dynamics across livestock production”.
The L-PRES state project coordinator, Olayinka Adetipe said the workshop was organized to expose the participants to the rudiments of artificial insemination and cascade the techniques to farmers in all the 16 local government areas of the state.Read Also: Ekiti govt,
He said: “Artificial insemination is critical when it comes to animal production. The set of people we gathered here are extension agents and livestock service providers. We decided to make it all-encompassing throughout the 16 LGAs in Ekiti State.
“We selected the personnel so that by the time they are through with this training, they will be able to go to the communities to enlighten the farmers and introduce this artificial insemination.“We want to also try as much as possible to avoid diseases. Most of these diseases spread through sexual intercourse. It will be reduced because we don’t need the male to come in direct contact with the female animals”, he added.
