26 Jun 2017

Assistant Minister of Agricultural and Food Security says government has taken the decision to stop vaccinating cattle with no ear tags.

Mr Kgotla Autlwetse, who is also Serowe North MP,  said this in his ongoing consultative meetings when addressing  residents at Paje recently.

He said it was mandatory that farmers should tag their cattle for easy tracking of ownership and location.

“Government has intensified this national appeal to ensure that you tag your cattle,” he said.

He said government would no longer spend its resources on untraceable cattle, as it was difficult to determine whether it was owned by its citizens.

Mr Autlwetse further explained that the tags allowed traceability of the cattle.

He urged those who had not ear tagged their cattle to do so to disappointment.

Furthermore, Mr Autlwetse said government was concerned about the outbreak of measles as it was a threat to the economy and the cattle industry.

“This is a loss to farmers, butcheries and Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), as in this case, the carcass is condemned making it difficult to recover costs,” he said.

He noted that out of every 300 cattle slaughtered in the country, 20 were infected with measles, saying it was a major setback in the cattle industry.

“As measles is caused by cattle consuming human waste in the veld, we need to build toilets in the farms or ensure other preventative measures,” he said.

He said his ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, would introduce the use of measles pills in an effort to curb the disease outbreak.

Mr Autlwetse also briefed residents about the P1.1 million, which had been allocated to their ward. ENDS