Kenya plans to use embryo transfer technology in order to improve its dairy cattle breeds, the government agricultural agency said on Thursday.
Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) Managing Director Richard Aiyabei told Xinhua in Nairobi that a significant proportion of the country’s dairy population consists of local breeds which have low milk production.
“Embryo transfer technology will be used to increase the average daily milk production from the current 15 liters per cattle to 30 liters per cattle,” Aiyabei said on the sidelines of the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations Bi Monthly talk series on Kenya’s Food Insecurity.
“Using Embryo transfer technology, we could easily upgrade dairy cattle breeds within a short time,” he added. ADC plans to roll out the embryo transfer technology in order to produce 50,000 heifers annually.
“Embryo transfer is a better way to improve cattle breeds as opposed to use of conventional breeding methods,” Aiyabei added. He noted that improved heifer breeds will be sold to small scale farmers at subsidized rates.
He noted that Kenya’s milk production is unable to meet growing demand. “The majority of the milk produced is from small scale farmers and hence we need to focus on them in order to enhance production,” the government official said.
ADC currently has over 1.6 million acres of land for both crop and livestock production.
Source: African News
