Farmers With More Than Ten Cows Will Have to Inseminate Them to Increase the Birth Rate

The cattle population of Cuba has fallen up to 70% compared to the years of the Soviet subsidy. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, 23 February 2018 — Cuban farmers who have more than ten cows will be required to employ artificial insemination techniques to increase the birth rate of their herds and the production of meat and milk, the Business Group of the Island’s Livestock reported this Thursday.

To that end, 347 technicians are currently being trained in insemination in the western provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa, and Mayabeque, the central provinces of Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, and Camagüey, and the eastern provinces of Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo, explained specialist Carlos Acosta.

They are also working on the certification of guarantees for the use of technology for artificial insemination or the use of a genetic stud from registered mothers, as well as in the creation of breeding points to contribute to the improvement of the existing livestock mass, indicated the expert.

In agreement with Acosta, 75% of the females included in the plan of artificial reproduction belong to the private sector, according to a quote from the report of the state Cuban Agency of News (ACN).

It also showed that livestock technicians and producers participate in workshops related to food, reproduction, genetics, and bovine health.

It specified that with the purpose of facilitating the activity of the veterinarians and the technicians of the sector, it foresaw the acquisition of modes of transport and thermoses to store liquid nitrogen, a product utilized in the conservation of bovine semen.

Cuba has some 17 million doses of frozen bovine semen, from more than 30 species, which comply with the standards of quality to develop livestock, according to experts from the Management of Artificial Insemination, belonging to the Cattle-Raising Group.

Translated by: Emilee Sullivan 

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