By Tasi’u Hassan
In Nigeria, herders, particularly, Fulani, are faced with different challenges, thereby affecting the productivity of their livestock and fueling the herders/farmers crisis.
Some of the challenges faced by the herders include lack of grazing reserves, the criminalization of open grazing by some state governments, and the failure of the herders to embrace technology in some of their practices.
Other problems the herders have to contend with include unfavorable government policies on their activities and
poor infrastructure in the rural areas, making it difficult to transport their livestock to market or access veterinary services.
Some of these problems could be addressed, if the herders venture into artificial insemination, which is a tool for genetic improvement of livestock.
In this special report, Correspondent Tasi’u HASSAN takes a look at this powerful technology that is used in livestock in developed countries, to improve productivity.
Artificial insemination, which is a modern reproductive technique has revolutionised the World’s dairy industry, as it improves the productivity of animals, especially dairy cattle.
A professor of Animal reproduction with the Dairy Research and Development Center of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Ambrose Alikidon Voh, who specialises in artificial insemination said that with the advent of the technology, farmers can take advantage of genetically proven Bulls from livestock developed countries to improve indigenous breeds using artificial insemination.
He said the result of this breeding procedure is a crossbreed between the exotic and indigenous breeds which can yield twice the amount of milk produced by the indigenous breeds.
The artificial insemination expert, therefore, recommends cross-breeding as a short-term and rapid method of improving Nigeria’s dairy production, calling on herders to venture into it for improved productivity
Professor Ambrose Alikidon Voh used the medium to call on herders to key into the technology of artificial insemination, as a sure way to improve the productivity of their animals, and by extension, resuscitate the Nigeria’s ailing dairy industry.
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