28 Jan 2015

Farmers have been urged to heed the Department of Animal Production (DAP) advice in livestock improvement.

The veterinary officer at the National Artificial Insemination laboratory in Ramatlabama, Dr Benjamin Sebonego said in an interview that DAP’s mandate was to meet farmers’ needs by providing the latest information on farming and assisting in development of new technologies such as reproductive technology and training of farmers in the animal husbandry practices.

Dr Sebonego said DAP assisted farmers to adapt to the latest technology such as herd health planning. “Through herd health planning, we ensure that what we discuss is implemented exactly that way, and if anything does not work out, we could make changes the right way,” he said.

Dr Sebonego indicated that the bases of any livestock operation were its reproduction aspect. “In other words, the difference between 60 per cent and 95 per cent calving rate in some farming operations may be P300 000, depending on the number and value of ones cattle. 

Again this can be applied to other livestock species like pigs, chickens, ostriches and small stock,” he said. Dr Sebonego said farming industry had totally changed in the last decade.

He said laws on disease status of livestock, including welfare of livestock were slowly putting a squeeze on the traditional Tswana farming methods. Moreover, he said in the future the need for professional’s involvement in one’s farming operation would be unavoidable.

Dr Sebonego said information sharing, data analysis and studies were the key elements that guaranteed the growth of any sector in the economy and therefore advised farmers to visit their office to ensure improvement of their farming.

He said their services were free of charge and they often visited farms to consult with farmers and also check livestock for reproductive diseases and vaccinate them adding that they also trained farmers on artificial insemination especially during the breeding season.

Dr Sebonego encouraged farmers to ensure that they engaged all  key stakeholders in livestock farming. ENDS