Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
MATABELELAND North has at least 751 000 cattle valued at US$256 million amid concerns that the provincial herd is growing at a slower pace than expected.
This has resulted in the herd in Matabeleland North province being overtaken by provinces that were not known for livestock farming.
Officials blamed the lack of growth in livestock farming to poor farming practices as well as stock theft.
Speaking during a livestock field day at Rouxdale B Farm in ward 14 Bubi, Matabeleland North yesterday, acting Matabeleland Agritex provincial director Mr Dumisani Nyoni said there is a need to grow the livestock sector considering its strategic value to the country.
The field day was at Mr Knox Moyo’s farm who has more than 100 head of cattle and supplies his livestock mainly to butcheries.
“The value of cattle in Matabeleland North is US$256 million and we have a total of 127 000 bulls, 157 093 steers, heifers 127 000 and calves 112 766. We are hoping that our livestock herd increases to 1 million because if you look at the statistics our herd is now smaller than provinces such as Masvingo,” said Mr Nyoni.
“What is causing this is that the number of calves we get is very low; it is below 40 percent. So, it means from 100 in-calve cows we only get 40 calves but what is expected from these 100 in-calve cattle we should get at least 80 calves. And in that our herd will grow fast.”
He said it was worrying that the province was being overtaken by other provinces in livestock farming.
“Having these other provinces overtake us in terms of livestock should concern us and if we are to put the issue into perspective, the Cold Storage Company was strategically constructed in Bulawayo, because we were the hub of livestock farming in the country. But now we are having more cattle in Mashonaland and Masvingo yet our pastures are favourable for livestock farming and the meat is tastier,” he said.
Mr Nyoni bemoaned that livestock farmers do not invest in taking care of their animals so that their herd can increase.
He said there is also concern over stock theft and livestock being eaten by wild animals.
“The prices for livestock are also very low. It makes us believe that we are just discarding our animals. But the reality is that we do not sell quality beasts, we are just selling cattle in identity form. If we were selling cattle like the ones we saw today, yes you can negotiate on prices. But in most cases, we are forced to sell cattle because of problems that we would have encountered. We sell the cattle when we need to pay school fees for our children, when there is someone ill in the family as a result we sell at a very sick price,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said there is a need to reduce the mortality of calves while coming up with anti-stock theft committees in communities.
Mr Nyoni said farmers need to improve the quality of their herds through buying bulls of better pedigree.
“We also need to adopt artificial insemination and improve the quality of cattle that we have. Even the Government is encouraging us to adopt artificial insemination and better breeds of bulls,” said Mr Nyoni.
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