ATA: FUNAAB advocates KR goat crossbreeding

                                                                                                  
The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), has advocated multiplication and distribution of Kalahari Red (KR) goats to farmers for upgrading local breeds in order to maximise the advantage of the high yield of the breed.  
 
The university adduced this in a paper presented at the recently concluded 40th National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD), made available to the Nigerian Tribune by the Special Adviser to Minister of Agriculture, Dr Olukayode Oyeleye.
Commercial goat farmers can crossbreed with the KR goats to improve the carcass mass of the indigenous goats. The KR goats have a very long deep body and are taller than local goats. The average weight of a buck is 113.4 KGs, while does reach 74.8 KGs. By contrast, mature weights of the West African Dwarf (WAD) and the Red Sokoto (RS) breeds are 20KGs and 26KGs respectively.
The KR goat appears to have the potential for use as an improver breed for WAD and Red Sokoto goats in terms of enhanced reproductive performance, meat and milk production. Efforts towards upgrading and multiplication of the indigenous breeds through crossbreeding will improve the protein intake and alleviate poverty of the populace, according to the university.
The KR goats were brought to Nigeria through FUNAAB in 2011. The current Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government is a ready pointer to the need for upgrading the indigenous (WAD, RS) goats.
The strategy for achieving availability of new improved cross breeds between KR and WAD goats is, according to the Transformation Agenda for Sheep and Goats, to upgrade the genetic profile of the local goat breeds through open nucleus breeding techniques.
To achieve this objective, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Shika and the Institute for Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR) at FUNAAB, in conjunction with state governments, will oversee the establishment of multiplication centres in the agricultural zones. Registered producer associations in each of the five agricultural zones will be able to obtain grade bucks for the purpose of upgrading their flocks. Each participating farmer will later contribute a stud to the scheme for the benefit of other farmers joining the cooperative associations. This will be supervised by the respective state ministry of agriculture.
In return, those registered breeders receive another male every three years in order to enhance the genetic variability of their flock.
FUNAAB urged the NCARD to mandate the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, IFSERAR and NAPRI to oversee the establishment of multiplication centres in the five agricultural zones in Nigeria.

source: tribune.com.ng