Artificial insemination services to cattle farmers stressed

All field-level officials, employees and volunteers concerned should perform their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty to reach artificial insemination services to farmers’ doorsteps for improving cattle varieties and to fulfill the region’s gradually mounting demands for protein.

Large-scale promotion of the livestock sector is very important to remove the existing protein deficiency alongside ensuring food security. So, utmost emphasis should be given to promoting artificial insemination in cattle after the best uses of modern technologies.

Academics and researchers made the observation while addressing different technical sessions of daylong training titled “Vocational Service, Education and Empowerment: Artificial Insemination in Animals” here on Saturday.

BRAC and Rajshahi University (RU) jointly organised the training for the artificial insemination service providers at RU Narkelbaria campus.

Dean of RU’s Veterinary and Animal Science Faculty Professor Jalal Uddin Sarder addressed the training as the chief guest, while Professor Akhtarul Islam of the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences was in the chair.
Prof Syed Sarwar Jahan, Brac Zonal Sales Manager Abdul Mannan and Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Hemayetul Islam also spoke on the occasion.

Prof Jalal Sarder said the region has an enormous prospect of expanding the livestock sector through the best uses of its existing natural resources.

Highlighting the importance of the artificial insemination program he said the cross-breed calves are comparatively superior to the local ones so they need special care and improved management for their survival.

The unemployment problem in the region, especially in its rural areas, could be reduced to a greater extent through technology transfer and making dairy farming popular at the grassroots level.

Importance should be given to preserving high-quality semen in laboratories from cattle after importing the specimens. “If the high-breed cow can give 50-litre milk per day, why not the others,” he added.

Modern technology has helped increase milk production by one litre from every cow on average for the last couple of years.

He said artificial insemination has a vital role to play in the expansion of cattle breeding and the efforts should be expanded successfully by bringing all the villages under the coverage.

Prof Akhtarul Islam stressed the need for more intensive research on the genetic factors of domestic animals for generating more high-milking cows.

He hoped that the training would contribute a lot towards expanding the artificial breeding technology to the target group of people.

Prof Banu urged the participants to apply the new ideas acquired from the course so that the livestock farmers can derive total benefits from the program.

In his remarks, Dr Hemayetul Islam said that artificial insemination is now being judged as a proven technology and the genetic development of the livestock animal could be ensured through adequate promotion of the technology.

He said production of both milk and meat would be enhanced when the technology could reach the doorsteps of the grassroots farmers successfully. (BSS)