Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
GWANDA rural district councillors have called for the suspension of a cattle artificial insemination (AI) programme as it is not yielding positive results.The councillors said the programme could end up bringing poverty to the people, if allowed to continue.

In the recent Rural District Development Committee (RDDC) and full council meetings held in the town, councillors expressed disappointment with the insemination programme under Amalima.

The RDdC chief executive officer, Ronnie Sibanda, set the ball rolling when he asked for the evaluation of the programme and whether there was a need for it to be scaled up in the district.

An officer from the department of livestock production and development (LPD) revealed that although there were some success stories in the insemination programme, some farmers were let down as their inseminated animals did not calve.

“The report we have is that there seems to be a challenge with the programme. There are some cows and heifers which were inseminated last year and were supposed to give birth in March, but there was no joy for farmers.

“Amalima are saying that this could have been due to the poor conditions of some of the inseminated animals and the agreement was that these cows would be inseminated for the second time,” said the LPD officer.

Following the report, councillors said it would be best for the programme to be suspended and have cows conceive in the natural way.

They said the district sought to boost its livestock, hence negative results for the insemination programme were bad for the district.

Clr Ephraim John Nyathi of ward 17 said: “We can’t let the programme continue because when they inseminated, the animals were in good condition but not even a single cow calved. They wasted farmers’ monies and their time.

“This seems to be reducing livestock production in our district and it will bring poverty to the people. If the cows had been left to conceive in the natural way, they could be having calves by now. We’re really not happy.”

Ward nine Clr, Mozitha Moyo asked, “Are they going to compensate the farmers who had inseminated cows that did not produce expected results?”

Ward five Clr Adam Bhebhe said farmers in his area had taken part in the programme but were yet to find out whether the programme was a success. Some of the participants in the meetings believed that there was lack of expertise for the programme to progress well.

“When the programme started it was done in collaboration with Department of Veterinary Services but during the course of the programme, the coordinators started bringing in their own technicians,” a participant said.

A recent report showed that 301 cows and heifers had been inseminated in Gwanda in the various wards with farmers paying $30 to service providers.

Contacted for comment, the Deputy Chief of Amalima Project, Ntombizakhe Mpofu Mlilo, said: “Artificial insemination was identified as a possible option for increasing productivity and introducing new genetic material of adaptable and desirable cattle breeds that are better suited for harsher physical environments at reasonable costs.

“Amalima staff, in collaboration with the Department of Livestock Production and Development, the Department of Veterinary Services, Agritex and local paravets, facilitated the training and discussed the benefits and risks of artificial insemination, the process, timing and post-pregnancy diagnosis with farmers.”

Mlilo said farmer participation was voluntary and farmers were also free to select the breeds used.

She said the success rate of artificial insemination was not always 100 percent.

“In 2014, a total of 103 empty cows and heifers from the districts of Gwanda, Mangwe and Bulilima were exposed to the technology. The empty cows and heifers were inseminated with Tuli, Brahman, Bonsmara or Boran semen.

“Post insemination pregnancy diagnosis which was conducted by the service provider pointed to a success rate of 68 percent, which is good according to known international standards for beef cattle,” said Mlilo.

She said Amalima’s role in the process was as a facilitator to educate farmers on the insemination programme and arrange with a provider to ensure that services were availed locally.

“Amalima is conducting an assessment of the intervention to determine the successes, constraints and lessons learnt after the initial phase, which was a pilot phase.

“Results of the assessment will be used to chart the way forward for the intervention. The reasons that can cause failure to conceive may include, cow is infertile, cow has poor body condition, poor nutrition, cow not healthy or incompetent technician.

“Realising that conception is never really 100 percent, farmers pay $30 and that covers two inseminations. When the first fails, the farmer gets the second insemination for free. When the second fails, then it is usually assumed the cow has fertility problems and farmers in the commercial sector then sell the cow,” Mlilo said.

Artificial insemination is regarded as the most powerful tool employed for livestock improvement.