A section of dairy cow at Wasio Primary School, God Jope Ward launched by county government
By Nicholas Anyuor
More than 1000 farmers in Migori County will benefit from over 500 dairy cows and sahiwal bulls after the county government yesterday distributed 127 animals in its third phase of the programme.
The programme dubbed ‘one cow per sugarcane/tobacco farmer’ was initiated in 2014 by the county’s department of Agriculture and Livestock in efforts to promote milk production, nutrition and to raise living standards of the farmers.
During the distribution for the third phase at Lichota Showground in Migori town the county Deputy Governor Nelson Mahanga reiterated the importance of the programme and appealed to the beneficiaries to ensure the animals are protected.
“Our extension officers must ensure they visit the farmers so that care is taken. Our animals should be treated at the right time for the farmers to realise the fruit of the programme,” he said.
He added, “sugarcane takes long before harvesting. Therefore, the county government of Migori initiated dairy farming to cushion farmers as they wait to harvest canes. Today we are giving out 80 dairy cows and 47 sahiwal bulls. The bulls have been introduced to farmers in drier areas moreso Nyatike to help upgrade the zebu cattle in the area.”
More than 400 dairy cows have been distributed to farmers in Rongo, Uriri, Suna East, Suna West, Kuria East, Awendo and Kuria West while the over 100 sahiwal bulls have been given to farmers in Nyatike Sub County in order to improve animal breeds in the region.
“We have done the distribution fairly and vetting of the beneficiaries was done by members of the public in every ward. We are happy every ward has been represented,’ said CEC member in charge of Agriculture Valentine Ogongo.
To improve on cattle genetics for better milk production the county government has invested in Artificial Insemination (AI) service. Initially, one insemination was costing a farmer up to Kshs 2,500. But county government purchased 16 AI kits for subsidized services of Kshs 50, Khs100 and Kshs700 for zebus, crosses and grade animals respectively.
“The AI that we have introduced to our farmers is really helping us in livestock farming. We have realised a lot of improvement and this is expected to be better,” said Mahanga.
Migori County’s Agriculture department has also initiated a farm input programme where farmers are provided with seeds and fertilizers at subsidized prices. This has led to supply of DAP and NPK fertilizers to 7,539 farmers while 12,000 farmers were supplied with maize seeds; increasing the average yield of maize from 6 to 15 bags per acre.
