Online Reporter
Patience Maturure
Agriculture Reporter
GOVERNMENT has been urged to provide supplementary stockfeeds and vaccines to promote livestock production and drive economic development, particularly in rural areas.
In a question and answer session in Senate on Wednesday, Senator Tambudzani Bhudagi Mohadi called on Government to continuously support livestock farmers, expand artificial insemination programmes and engage law enforcement agents to curb stock theft and the spread of diseases.
She said there was need to come up with strategies to increase the national herd to 11 million.
“We should concentrate on artificial insemination so that we produce quality breeds that are almost pedigrees,” she said.
Sen Mohadi said growing fodder crop was important in ensuring cattle have adequate nutrition.
During the dry seasons from August onward, grazings become insufficient, making it essential to have supplementary feed available.
“In Masvingo, the people in Mwenezi have big fields of fodder crops, people even buy that fodder crop to feed their cattle. Livestock production is the cornerstone of economic development, particularly in rural areas where animals are used for draught power,” she said.
