Agriculture
Dairy farmers in Kiambu County have benefitted from subsidized Artificial Insemination (AI) services that seek to upgrade breeds of dairy cattle and better earnings for farmers in the region.
The AI services being offered under the country Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation are being distributed to farmers across in all sub-counties.
The County Executive Committee for Agriculture Wilfred Mwenda said the initiative aims at giving dairy farmers a new improved breed that will increase milk production from the current seven liters to around 12 liters per cow per day enabling farmers to earn more money from sale of milk.
County Government of Kiambu through the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation received semen and liquid nitrogen from the Kenya Animal Genetic Resource center to be distributed to farmers across in all sub-counties.
“We are calling upon the all-county’s cattle farmers to visit our sub county offices in their areas and take advantage of our certified semen and liquid nitrogen from the Kenya Animal Genetic Resource center,” Mwenda said.
Initially, farmers would pay between Sh1000 to Sh2000 for each cow served, but the initiative has seen this drop to Sh500 per animal.
He added that through the initiative the Department’s sub county offices have been provided with semen, nitrogen tanks, and technical expertise to offer AI services to dairy farmers through an initiative.
“The ultimate goal of this program is to ensure that farmers increase their milk production and get more value from it so that they can uplift their living standards,” he said.
The AI services support project is a partnership between the County Government and Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Center (KAGRIC).
“The initiative has significantly reduced the cost of AI services, while at the same time improving the quality of the breeds the farmers get, this will translate into increased milk production when the calves mature to start milk production,” Mwenda noted.
Farmers whose cows were served last year, when the initiative was launched have already calved and are excited looking forward to high milk production in coming years.
One of the beneficiary farmers, Grace Wanjiku from Githunguri Sub County, whose cows have calved said she has increased her herd from two to five cows’ courtesy of the support from the county government.
“When I started, I just had two cows but now, I have five cows. So far, four of my cows have been served with the improved breed semen and I am expecting more calves before the year ends, and slowly I am expanding by adding my stock,” said Wanjiku.
Consequently, in a report done by the Agriculture Sector Development Support Program (ASDSP), Kiambu County is one of the highest milk producers in the country, with 430 million liters annually.
Meanwhile, the national production per cow every day stands at 10.1 liters, while Kiambu has been registering a production of 12.6 liters per cow.