EUFF Trains Artificial Insemination Technicians

KINGSTON — To ensure the sustainability and efficiency of the small ruminants industry, 14 Artificial Insemination (AI) technicians have been trained under the just concluded €5.8 million European Union Food Facility (EUFF) project.

The technicians were presented with Certificates of Competence, as well as AI kits, during the closing ceremony on the lawns of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hope Gardens, Kingston on Wednesday (November 30).

Director of the Ministry’s Veterinary Services Division, Dr. Osbil Watson, said that the training, which focused mainly on the insemination of goats, would now increase the AI technicians’ level of extension service to farmers raising pigs, cattle and sheep.

Dr. Watson said he was thankful for the assistance from the EU, starting with its Banana Support Programme, under which the veterinary laboratory at the Bodles Research Station in St. Catherine was restructured.

“The EU Food Facility offered additional support in putting in equipment that was necessary to complete the work, (and) to begin real technology in AI, and we hope further down the road (will include) embryo transfer,” he stated.

Dr. Watson said he was particularly pleased that the EU support resulted in the saving of “a lot of money” noting, for example, the liquid nitrogen plant acquired under EU funding, which saves the Agriculture Ministry some $18,000 per day in liquid nitrogen costs,  amounting to savings of $3.1 million per year.

“We also benefited from the supply of AI field equipment, so that we can equip our field staff to offer the services in the field,” he said.

According to a brief on the project’s AI campaign, some 200 goats were inseminated with semen from Australian Boer goats, known for their superior genetics, that should translate into a faster growth rate, larger body size and better meat-producing capacity.

“The exercise, in addition to importing 52 goats of quality stock (Boer, Alpine, Toggenberg) into Jamaica, as well as importing over 1,000 quality stock semen strains of Boer, Nubian and Alpine breeds for further artificial insemination, is expected to improve Jamaica’s breeding stock and boost livestock development and production,” the document read.

In keeping with efforts to strengthen the Government’s national food security programme, the EUFF project sought to improve agricultural productivity, and increase the income of vulnerable households. It was implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry.

Since the programme began in 2009, more than 3,000 persons including farmers, members of the 4-H clubs, the Jamaica Goat Farmers’ Association and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) have been trained by the EUFF in critical areas, to strengthen food security. In addition, over 5,000 crop and livestock farmers have received direct assistance from the EUFF.

By Alecia Smith-Edwards, JIS Reporter