By Jimmy Muhumuza,
Entebbe.
The minister of state for Agriculture( Animal Industry) Bright Rwamirama has slammed officials of the National Animal Genetic Resources Center and Data Banka (NAGRC & DB for doing less to transform the animal in Uganda revising modern technologies to improve the genetic potential of national herds for increased milk and beef
Rwamirama directed NAGRC officials to stop swinging in office chairs and go to the field where farmers are waiting for their services.
While commissioning the trained artificial inseminators, Bright Rwamirama the minister in charge of Animal Industry is concerned that the agency staff are sleeping on Job with no commitment to improve breed standards and warned it’s not going to be business as usual going forward.
Rwamirama choked at the poor state of government farms with poor breeds of animals that can’t help farmers to improve breeds. He pointed at corruption and vandalism and tasked the new leadership of NAGRC to redeem the agency.
He also directed NAGRC to stop wasting resources on importing improved breeds of animals from abroad but rather import high-quality embryos and semen that can be incubated by surrogate local animals. He believes they can produce animals with better immunity.
Rwamirama commissioned 30 artificial inseminators who have been trained by NAGRC and dispatched them to the cattle corridors to serve farmers. They have been equipped with materials required in artificial insemination.
Nagric has received five tractors and three cars and the minister directed them to leave offices and go to farms where there is a serious need for their services.
Uganda currently has a herd population of about 14.5 million with over 90% indigenous breeds. With resources getting more scarce, artificial insemination and embryo transfer are the way to go.
