Subsidised insemination plan to boost milk production

Dairy cattle in a zero grazing unit. Nyeri County government is set to roll out a plan to provide subsidised artificial insemination services to its dairy farmers in a bid to boost milk production. PHOTO | ANTHONY KAMAU | NATION MEDIA

What you need to know:

  • Nyeri county currently produces 172 million litres of milk annually.
  • The semen will sell at Sh600, down from the market price of Sh1,200, while the sexed semen will be sold at a proposed Sh4,000 down from the current Sh7,000.
  • Farmers also advised to adopt zero-grazing as a way of controlling livestock pests and diseases.

Milk production in Nyeri County is set to increase through a plan to provide subsidised artificial insemination services.

The county government’s plan, targeting more than 140,000 farmers, is also aimed at improving cattle breeds.

The county currently produces 172 million litres of milk annually with an estimated turnover of Sh50 billion.

Milk production is at seven litres per cow daily, but the county intends to double the amount by providing pedigree semen.

“Farmers should ensure they properly manage the calves from pedigree semen by feeding them well to safeguard their health to guarantee breed multiplication,” said Mr David Nyaga, the county’s agriculture chief officer.

Mr Nyaga said with the cheap cost, they expect the demand for the services to grow exponentially.

“We’ve procured semen which we will sell at Sh600, down from the market price of Sh1,200. As for the sexed semen we are proposing to sell it at Sh4,000 compared to Sh7,000 of the prevailing price,” he said.

Already, Sh5.5 million has been budgeted for the service this year with hopes to raise the amount to Sh8.6 million by the next financial year.

The chief officer said bull insemination was the tradition but the ratio of bulls to cows in the county was low.

He also asked farmers to adopt zero-grazing as a way of controlling diseases.