Matopos research centre to monitor inseminated cattle
THE Matopos Research Institute Agricultural Centre of Excellence (MACE) will soon be monitoring more than 500 cattle that were inseminated in an artificial insemination programme this year meant to improve cattle breeds nationally.
MACE is one of the six Agricultural Centres of Excellence (ACEs) that were established by the Government under the European Unionfunded Zimbabwe Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Services (ZAKIS) project.
In an interview, MACE Cattle Production Section research officer Mr Bruce Tavirimirwa said there were plans to monitor 544 animals inseminated this year.
“In 2022, as the MACE working with Government district veterinarians, we have inseminated about 544 animals for farmers mainly in Matobo and Beitbridge districts using Tuli, Nguni, Afrikander and Brahman breeds.
“We also assisted the Khami prisons farm to kickstart its insemination programme, while in conjunction with Agritex we conducted farmer training on artificial insemination during the just ended Gwanda Provincial Agricultural Show.
“There are plans for monitoring the inseminated animals which will also include body condition score, pregnancy diagnosis, health-related issues among others,” said Mr Tavirimirwa.
He said working with the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), they would be carrying out observation of at least half of the inseminated animals in six wards of Matobo and three in Beitbridge.
Mr Tavirimirwa said very few inseminations will be carried considering that it was the dry season.
“We are now in the dry season so animals are no longer in good body condition for breeding except for dairy animals which are fed throughout the year and those farmers who are able to supplement their feed. Otherwise, we will roll out inseminations three to four weeks post the onset of rains,” he said.
In terms of other key programmes, he said they were working with the African Breeders Services Total Cattle Management Limited (ABS TCM LTD) which intended to roll out insemination of 30 animals per district in Matobo, Umzingwane and Beitbridge for a dairy model project they were piloting under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded Zimbabwe
Resilience Building Fund.
Meanwhile, with the assistance of the MACE, Esigodini-based cattle breeder, Mr Obert Chinhamo of Biano Simmentals Farm is set to carry out artificial insemination of 30 cows this month.
“We are looking to inseminate 30 cows mid-month. So far we have already inseminated 26 and this year our target was 60 but I’m sure we may still reach our target or slightly less than that.”
Commenting on the importance of artificial insemination, he said since not everyone could own a bull, insemination was assisting farmers grow their herds without bulls and regardless of their geographical location.
Giving an example, Mr Chinhamo said 100 people could use one bull that has proven traits that everyone wants through artificial insemination.
As a stud breeder, he said they mainly use common sires, that is bulls used for breeding purposes.
The term, sire, is breeding-specific, for a bull that fathers a calf, while bulls who have not fathered any calves will not be considered sires because they would have not yet sired offspring.
Mr Chinhamo added:
“In other words by using common sires, we want to compare progeny differences that are predictions of the genetic transmitting ability of a parent to its offspring, from different herds regardless of geographical locations and conditions.”
He said they had witnessed the success rate of artificial insemination as stud breeders and based on some of the works they have done with the MACE overtime, percentage wise the success was around 60 percent.
Mr Chinhamo said from the group of 26 cows that they inseminated in May, only six came back on heat which meant that out of 26, 20 were pregnant.